Facility management (FM) is a dynamic and diverse field that requires a combination of technical, operational, and interpersonal skills. As an FM professional, you may aspire to take on a leadership role and advance your career. But how can you prepare for such a challenge and demonstrate your potential? Here are some tips to help you develop your leadership skills and readiness in FM.
The first step to prepare for a leadership role in FM is to clarify your goals and vision. What kind of leader do you want to be? What are your strengths and areas of improvement? What are the expectations and requirements of the leadership position you are aiming for? By defining your goals, you can identify the gaps in your knowledge, skills, and experience, and plan how to fill them.
The second step to prepare for a leadership role in FM is to seek feedback and mentoring from others. Feedback can help you assess your performance, identify your blind spots, and learn from your mistakes. Mentoring can provide you with guidance, support, and advice from someone who has more experience and expertise in FM leadership. You can seek feedback and mentoring from your manager, peers, colleagues, clients, or external sources, such as professional associations, networks, or coaches.
The third step to prepare for a leadership role in FM is to expand your network and influence. Networking can help you build relationships, trust, and credibility with key stakeholders, such as senior management, clients, vendors, and other FM professionals. Influence can help you persuade, motivate, and inspire others to support your goals, ideas, and initiatives. You can expand your network and influence by attending events, joining groups, participating in discussions, sharing your insights, and collaborating on projects.
The fourth step to prepare for a leadership role in FM is to learn new skills and knowledge. As an FM leader, you will need to master not only the technical aspects of FM, such as maintenance, operations, sustainability, and compliance, but also the strategic, financial, and human aspects, such as planning, budgeting, communication, and team management. You can learn new skills and knowledge by taking courses, reading books, watching videos, listening to podcasts, or following industry trends and best practices.
None of the Leadership position or preparation could be thinking and staying at one place. Multidirectional and multidisciplinary approach is always the key. Beyond the regular operations and sales metrics the control over Finance and Budgeting, response on people management and keeping the industry trends for growth and opportunities is the next level details. Also keeping a positive percentage of risk taking ability is also a great step in being a learned Leader.
The fifth step to prepare for a leadership role in FM is to take on more responsibility and initiative. Responsibility means being accountable for the results and outcomes of your work, as well as the work of others. Initiative means being proactive, creative, and innovative in finding solutions and opportunities for improvement. You can take on more responsibility and initiative by volunteering for challenging tasks, leading projects, proposing changes, or mentoring others.
The sixth step to prepare for a leadership role in FM is to demonstrate your value and impact. Value means showing how your work contributes to the goals and objectives of your organization, client, or industry. Impact means showing how your work makes a positive difference in terms of quality, efficiency, safety, or satisfaction. You can demonstrate your value and impact by setting and measuring key performance indicators, documenting and reporting your achievements, and showcasing your success stories and testimonials.
Taking Leadership role in FM demands you work area of FM in various industry: You must know how to work in Factory areas, corporate metro offices, modern safety and security system: You must be in depth knowledge of sustainability and and procurement: You must know about the Facilities management and real estate things about various sectors, FMCG, banking, services industry. Leadership is not only knowing about FM but finance, HR and supply chain too.
In my experience, once you decided you want to be a manager, you shall evaluate your present situation to decide what you have to acquire in order to get where you want. In my particular situation, I needed to my technological college graduation some managerial knowledge and skills such as specializations on customer’s satisfaction, quality of services, personnel management, and business administration. Took me effort, hard work, and many years, but I did it.