Important Abilities for Every Site Manager

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There are probably a few traits that come to mind when you think of a competent and successful facility manager. It goes without saying that a facility manager needs to have solid knowledge of industry standards for operational elements like energy efficiency, sustainability, and construction.

To be sure, these hard skills are what set average site managers apart from the exceptional ones. Leadership skills, communication skills, and the ability to solve problems and resolve conflicts are just as important as hands-on experience and industry knowledge.

Today's and tomorrow's successful site managers will need to make sure they have these "soft skills" stocked up in their toolboxes alongside the traditional "hard skills" of fixing things.

The ability to interact with others

Site managers may spend most of their time dealing with machines, buildings, and supplies, but they must never forget that their facilities are home to real people. Tenant management can be just as crucial as building maintenance in many cases. Facility managers must be as adept with people as they are with tools, whether they are addressing tenant complaints or resolving conflicts among maintenance staff.

Tenacity

Historically, the site management department has been treated as an autonomous entity from the rest of the building's executive leadership. In spite of this, the field of facility management has been undergoing some changes over the past few years, with an increasing number of structures merging maintenance and inventory management into a more executive role. Even if their background is in procurement rather than sales, site managers still need to be able to sell effectively. Obviously, you're not selling items; rather, you're trying to promote your division. In particular, it is the responsibility of the facility manager to emphasize the value of maintenance management to the entire structure. There needs to be a change in attitude among building administrators to make them realize that issues like energy conservation and stock control affect everyone there. Everyone should have a vested interest in extending the building's useful life and maximizing the building's efficiency if proper maintenance budgeting is to be achieved.

Flexibility

The ability to adjust to unanticipated or even undesirable circumstances is just as vital to facility management as the implementation of regular maintenance plans. In the facility management industry, unexpected situations of any kind are commonplace. The most effective facility managers are those who can keep their composure in the face of any emergency, whether it's fixing a burst pipe or addressing a budget that doesn't match up with expected figures.

Communication

Despite its reputation as a "soft skill," the ability to effectively convey ideas and information is essential for nearly every operational endeavor, from completing maintenance tasks to revising financial records. More and more variables in the complex ecosystem that is the modern building will be the responsibility of the facility manager. They need to keep their finger on the pulse of how everything is operating. For instance, the precision of building maintenance schedules is dependent on budget and inventory data, which in turn necessitates capital forecasting. Personnel issues can have a significant impact on any or all of these variables. Although keeping track of all the moving parts of a building can make facility management feel like juggling, the ability to coordinate among all the vital components is a crucial skill for any administrator.