What are the biggest challenges in FM risk monitoring and evaluation, and how can you overcome them?

1 Challenge 1: Data quality and availability

One of the main challenges in FM risk monitoring and evaluation is the quality and availability of data. Data is essential for identifying, measuring, and prioritizing the risks that may impact your facilities. However, data can be incomplete, inaccurate, outdated, or inconsistent, which can compromise your risk analysis and decision making. Moreover, data can be dispersed across different sources, formats, and systems, which can make it difficult to access, integrate, and analyze.

To overcome this challenge, you need to establish and maintain a robust data management system that can ensure the reliability, validity, and timeliness of your data. This means defining clear data standards, policies, and procedures, as well as implementing effective data collection, storage, and quality control mechanisms. You also need to leverage data integration and analytics tools that can help you consolidate, visualize, and interpret your data from multiple sources and perspectives.

2 Challenge 2: Stakeholder engagement and communication

Another challenge in FM risk monitoring and evaluation is stakeholder engagement and communication. Stakeholders are the individuals or groups that have an interest or influence on your facilities, such as owners, tenants, users, contractors, regulators, and insurers. Stakeholders have different expectations, needs, and preferences regarding your facilities and the risks associated with them. Therefore, you need to engage and communicate with them regularly and effectively to understand their perspectives, align your objectives, and address their concerns.

To overcome this challenge, you need to develop and implement a stakeholder engagement and communication plan that can define your stakeholder groups, their roles and responsibilities, their information needs and preferences, and the methods and channels of communication. You also need to use appropriate communication tools and techniques that can facilitate clear, concise, and consistent messages, as well as feedback and collaboration. Furthermore, you need to monitor and evaluate your stakeholder engagement and communication activities to ensure their effectiveness and improvement.

3 Challenge 3: Risk assessment and prioritization

A further challenge in FM risk monitoring and evaluation is risk assessment and prioritization. Risk assessment is the process of identifying and analyzing the potential threats and opportunities that may affect your facilities. Risk prioritization is the process of ranking the risks according to their likelihood and impact, as well as their urgency and importance. Both processes are crucial for determining the appropriate risk response strategies and actions that can optimize your facility performance, safety, and sustainability.

To overcome this challenge, you need to apply a consistent and comprehensive risk assessment and prioritization framework that can cover all the relevant aspects of your facilities, such as physical, operational, environmental, financial, legal, and reputational. You also need to use reliable and relevant data, methods, and criteria that can support your risk identification, analysis, and ranking. Moreover, you need to involve and consult your stakeholders in your risk assessment and prioritization processes to ensure their input, buy-in, and accountability.

5 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?