Thank You, Operations and Maintenance Pros
This holiday season let’s all take a second to recognize the dedicated facilities operations and maintenance professionals who make the amazing built environment we live in a reality. They work tirelessly to keep the buildings and facilities we depend on for so many things safe and functional. Their behind-the-scenes work is what…
Facilities Maintenance Tips For Falling Temps
A few weeks ago, I heard someone on a radio program tell the audience that “cold late-October days are nature telling us winter is coming.” Instead of trying to wrap your head around the absurdity of that statement, let’s just say that winter will be here soon. With that in mind, here are…
FM Teams That Have “Always Done It That Way” Should Think Again
Near the top floor of a downtown NYC building, there is a remarkable facilities engineering department. In a hallway near the team office space, you’ll find a sign with this quote: “The most dangerous phrase in the engineering language is: ‘We’ve always done it this way’” The sign is a…
How To Reduce Stress For The Facilities Pro
As a facilities manager, the boundary between your work and private life can get pretty thin. Issues happen on their own schedule, not yours, and when they come up, a lot of people look to you. We were recently at a retirement party for a resident manager when he got…
Paper isn’t just a mess… it’s a liability
It’s no secret that technology is making building operations more efficient than ever. But checking boxes, filling in blank fields, and circling your selection on paper log sheets is still standard practice when performing building inspections and rounds. And it works great…right? Paper log sheets are tangible and low tech….
The FM product making happier tenants and owners: Reliability
Reliability is the most important deliverable for your facilities maintenance team. It’s your product: the resulting state of your building after everyone has done their jobs right. Once you start thinking about reliability as your service or product, you’ll unlock ways to improve it, making you more valuable to your…
Implementation Stress Is No Issue With New FM Tech
FM professionals tell us all the time that they “don’t want to deal with implementing software for some new system.” Having been through FM software implementation on the client side…I don’t blame them. It’s downright traumatic. I’ve been on facilities teams dealing with this kind of ordeal on more than…
How To Build A Maintenance Rounds Routine (log sheet template inside)
Over my years working on LogCheck’s setup team, I’ve helped create hundreds of digital logbooks for facilities to use during routine inspections and maintenance checks. Along the way, I’ve seen a clear divide: some teams are really on top of their rounds routine and some just aren’t. If your team…
Why Your FM Team Needs A Strong Maintenance “Blueprint”
With O&M as the greatest expense over the lifetime of a building, the “blueprint” of your routine maintenance plan should be as thorough as your architectural blueprints. Blueprints convey lots of information about a structure. They can easily share an overview and, as you look closer, reveal the finer details that…
Is Data Security A Deterrent To FM Technology?
When it comes to implementing new technology, is “my data won’t be safe” the new “dog ate my homework”? Many facility maintenance pros aren’t convinced that building inspections data collected on a mobile device is secure. I encounter engineers who still believe paper is better, no matter what, on a…
