How do you manage change and innovation with your FM suppliers?

1 Assess your current situation

Before you embark on any change or innovation project with your FM suppliers, you need to have a clear understanding of your current situation, challenges, and opportunities. Conduct a thorough analysis of your FM performance, processes, and contracts, and identify the gaps, risks, and areas for improvement. You also need to have a clear vision of your desired outcomes, objectives, and metrics, and communicate them effectively to your suppliers. This will help you establish a common ground and a shared vision for the project.

2 Involve your suppliers early

One of the key factors for successful change and innovation is to involve your suppliers early in the planning and decision-making process. This will help you leverage their expertise, experience, and insights, and foster a sense of ownership and commitment among them. By involving your suppliers early, you can also avoid potential conflicts, misunderstandings, and delays, and ensure that the project is aligned with your expectations and requirements. You can use various tools and methods to engage your suppliers, such as workshops, surveys, brainstorming sessions, co-creation platforms, and feedback loops.

3 Establish clear roles and responsibilities

Another important aspect of managing change and innovation with your FM suppliers is to establish clear roles and responsibilities for each party involved in the project. This will help you define the scope, deliverables, timelines, and resources for the project, and avoid duplication, confusion, and ambiguity. You also need to assign a project manager or a contact person for each supplier, who will be responsible for coordinating, communicating, and reporting on the project progress and issues. You should also have regular meetings and reviews with your suppliers to monitor and evaluate the project performance and outcomes.

4 Encourage innovation and creativity

To achieve the best results from your change and innovation project, you need to encourage innovation and creativity among your FM suppliers. You can do this by creating a supportive and positive environment that fosters trust, openness, and collaboration. You can also provide incentives, recognition, and rewards for your suppliers who come up with innovative ideas, solutions, or practices that add value to your FM operations and objectives. You should also be open to learning from your suppliers, and adopt a flexible and agile approach that allows you to adapt and adjust to changing circumstances and feedback.

5 Manage risks and challenges

Change and innovation are not without risks and challenges, and you need to be prepared to face them with your FM suppliers. You need to identify the potential risks and challenges that may arise during the project, such as technical issues, budget overruns, quality problems, resistance to change, or stakeholder dissatisfaction. You also need to develop contingency plans and mitigation strategies to deal with them effectively and efficiently. You should also communicate the risks and challenges to your suppliers, and seek their input and support to overcome them.

6 Celebrate successes and learn from failures

Finally, you need to celebrate the successes and learn from the failures of your change and innovation project with your FM suppliers. You need to acknowledge and appreciate the contributions, efforts, and achievements of your suppliers, and share the positive impacts and benefits of the project with them. You also need to conduct a post-project evaluation and review, and identify the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of the project. You should also solicit feedback from your suppliers, and use it to improve your future projects and relationships with them.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?