Article

European Facility Management Conference day two

27-05-11 BIFM

Richard Byatt reports.

Perhaps it was the cooler weather but the second day of EFMC 2011 in Vienna seemed more energised than the first. [Read the report on day one here]

The event got off to a great start with the ’FM Debate of the Year’ which followed a rapid and entertaining format. Bernard Drion, Associate Professor at NHTV Breda University of Applied Sciences in the Netherlands, set out a number of propositions around work and the workplace. His opponents, Peter Prischl (CEO, Reality Consult, Austria and Kathy Roper, Associate Professor Georgia Institute of Technology, School of Building Construction) then had two minutes to respond, followed by delegate voting.

The 12 propositions were deliberately provocative:

• Facility management is the management of all services that are needed to support people in creating added value for the organisation
• Analysis by generations (babyboomer, X, millennial etc) is nonsense
• Employers must trust employees
• It doesn’t matter where you work
• Forget technical specs, determine guest journeys
• IT renders corporate offices superfluous
• Adopt the Martini concept; with no check-in
• We must build more bazaars rather than cathedrals*
• Hospitality based on company’s DNA creates added value
• FM’s main issue should be future scenarios
• Buildings, furniture, fixture and equipment: it’s all commodities
• FM should be redefined as hospitality management

* a reference to the influential writings of Eric S. Raymond under the title ’The Cathedral and the Bazaar’

Drion argued that managing the physical environment should not be FM’s top priority but fourth after services, hospitality and what he called "the personal context" of the building user.

He said measurements such as cost per square metre or FTE were no longer interesting or relevant, although cost per guest might be useful. Organisations need to use different dashboard metrics such as diversity, tolerance, creativity and serendipity.

Prischl and Roper thought Dron’s definition was too all-encompassing. FMs cannot ignore their fundamental responsibilities and should be wary of becoming jacks of all trades. On classifying by generations they thought life stage was more important than age.

Despite Drion having plenty of time to expound on his views, the responses from Prischl and Roper were sufficient to carry the day with a narrow 6:5 points victory and one draw.

The research and business streams came together for a joint session to hear about an almost unique case study, to paraphrase Alexi Marmot’s description. Irmelin Aarberg Andersen, a project manager with SpareBank of Norway and Dr Siri Hunnes Blakstad of the Norwegian University of Science & Technology, presented the project to create a new headquarters for the bank in Trondheim. It is the largest financial corporation in the region, employing 1,100 people at 56 different locations including two adjacent headquarters buildings in Trondheim, built in 1882 and 1978. The goals were to align the new HQ with organisational objectives, which include contributing to the community.

Blakstad and Andersen sought to combine two perspectives in the research - setting goals and defining targets during briefing and design, and later evaluating the results according to the same measures after completion. Cooperation between bank and researcher lasted all the way through the project, which commenced in 2005. What makes it perhaps unique is the willingness of both the client and the wider professional team to be measured against published objectives.

A study trip to the UK prompted the team to coin an acronym as a "brand" for the project. SMART stands for Samhandling (cooperation), Miljø (environment), Attraktiv (attractive), Rasjonell (rational), and Teknologi (technology)

The bank occupied the new complex in November 2010. Ambitions, objectives and measures were identified. Occupancy data and interviews are used to compile a scorecard and a quarterly report on KPIs for the bank’s board. The ambitions can be summarised as: A stronger brand; more synergy and innovation through cooperation; increased productivity.

It is clearly still too soon for definitive conclusions but greater cooperation appears to be an early benefit. The researchers say this might partly be a result of the new building, but also be related to the processes that have been conducted during the relocation: "There has been a strong focus on developing the organization, locating people with potential benefits of working together in the same workspace. All departments were asked to analyze and work for better cooperation with the other units. The process of appointing people with a special responsibility for facilitation cooperation and new work processes (the SMART ambassadors) is also expected to be important for good results."

A well-established feature of EFMC is the Student Poster Competition. Presentations to the judging panel produced a shortlist of three which were voted on by the audience at the final conference session. The winner was Sigrid van der Pluijm from the Netherlands who wins entry to this year’s World Workplace in Phoenix and $1,000 towards travel costs. Van der Pluijm looked at optimising the ratio between facility costs and customer satisfaction.

EFMC2011 finished with a quick-fire session by the futurist and founder of Global Change Ltd., Patrick Dixon. He really connected with the audience by showing that he understood the risks that FMs have to manage and the contribution good FM can make to the goals of an organisation.

Dixon said "front of house" staff are crucial. He trained as a physician and said hospital cleaners save lives. In fact, cleaners are important in all organisations – they help create first impressions, particularly as the first thing many visitors to buildings do is visit the toilet. And if some of the most important conversations happen in rest rooms, then cleaners also help to build teams!

Around 500 people attended EFMC2011, from more than 20 countries. Almost a quarter were from academia or the sciences; 16% practising FM; consultants 12%
Over 60% were either at board level/directors (32%) or managers (32%).

EFMC 2012 will be in Copenhagen, 23 - 25 May

http://www.efmc-conference.com/