Maintenance and Operations, Sustainability/Business Continuity

A Guide to Smart Budgeting for Facilities Managers

The many strands of facilities management across property, buildings, and operational assets require professionals to take a lifecycle approach to their charges. With the FM market expected to pass $2 trillion globally by 2030, and growing work demand and work orders, the numbers for any organization will continue to get bigger. 

Facilities managers must take proactive and total control over budgets, and their dispersal, to ensure that all facilities and assets are fit for purpose for years to come in a changing operational and staffing landscape.

FM People and the Landscape Are Changing

Recent recruiting and hiring data puts the number of facilities managers in the U.S. as pushing 150,000 professionals with an average age of just over 50. That’s good news for institutional awareness, operational knowledge, business continuity, and budget management. 

However, many in these roles are fast approaching retirement age. And with the 2024 Manpower talent shortage survey highlighting that “75% of employers report difficulty in filling roles,” the challenge of hiring replacements and giving them confidence to succeed grows with every year.

However long you’ve been in facilities management at your current organization, a fresh approach to 2025 will help you and successors maintain a high-quality approach to operations. Data is moving from spreadsheets to bespoke software, and the integration of AI tools is changing the pace at which FM operators work. 

Take Charge of the Budget and the Big Picture

Alongside the ongoing need to study the latest in regulations, industry trends, asset portfolios, and operational needs, FM professionals must understand their business strategy and facilities’ place at the top table. 

These, along with the dynamics and approach to hybrid and remote working, will help teams understand how the business plans to operate in the coming years and what facilities will be required to deliver for office, sales, and other departments. 

With that in mind, a firm grasp of the budget and careful management of it is key to delivering results and winning favor from the executive suite. 

From enterprise-focused apps like MaintainX and Infraspeak, there’s a range of software tools to organize your data. Even small organizations need quality FM data, and if you lack the experience, you can make use of small business accountants and other services to gather it. 

With quality data, your teams and business can reduce outages and shorten repair times, meet service-level agreements (SLAs), track budget expenditure to remain on track, and highlight difficult decisions before they become a crisis. 

And in a world where organizations are increasingly data-focused, being ahead of the game with budgeting will support preventative vs. failure maintenance comparisons, help manage labor costs, and identify opportunities for growth and efficiency. 

Master the Figures to Avoid Business Disaster

There are many real-world examples where facilities management took a wrong turn. Major projects, from the Oroville Dam in California to the Flint water crisis, are big-ticket examples of FM gone bad, but from regional airlines down to local factories shutting down due to one oversight, there are many tales to tell around the facilities campfire. 

Some will say they were too big to be avoided, but there are millions of examples globally where firms have avoided similar outcomes through stronger management will, and a desire to track budgets all the way down, or to be the right FM person at the right moment

To deliver the best outcomes, building owners and managers must adopt proactive asset management strategies. This includes investing in modern asset management systems, conducting regular risk assessments, and staying ahead of maintenance schedules. Ultimately, taking a strategic approach to asset management not only prevents crises but also helps maximize asset performance and long-term value.

Taking the Whole-FM Approach 

For a best-practice approach to facilities management, operators and managers must take charge and responsibility by:

  • Tracking data from across the business and linking data siloes or using applications that integrate all data for a joined-up view. 
  • Apply cost estimates (assisted by AI) for best, normal, and worst-case maintenance budgets, along with cost expansion requirements. 
  • Prioritize budget expenditure, focused on return on investment and keep-the-lights-on essentials. 
  • Prepare to be flexible as budgets shrink or expand, and change your plans in advance. 
  • Make FM a living entity, not a static creation with an annual budget and rigid expectations. 

Progressive businesses are looking to software and AI to drive much of this decision-making, but it is only with a strong investigative team providing quality data and insights that any of those tools will work.

Conclusion

If your business spends $5,000 to avoid $100,000 of lost business or productivity, facilities management must be treated as the hero it is. Your team can only claim that glory by being up to the minute on budgets and deep into the data across property and factory floor machinery, transport, and other areas of the business. 

And when contractors, partners, and sales team see your business has a good eye for that level of financial and forensic detail, better deals will emerge, as they will know you can’t be fleeced on the bottom line. 

Howie Robleza is a freelance writer interested in tech, legal, and property trends. When she’s not writing, she works in commercial property management.

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