Facilities Check List
Practical, step-by-step guides for the busy FM
April 2002
Strategies for Implementing Technology Projects
The key to the ultimately successful implementation of any technology solution is to understand the three critical components that make up a healthy organization. They are:
- the people
- the process
- the technology itself
It cannot be overstated that successful deployment of technology is less about the technology than it is about aligning the people and processes that will be affected by that technology.
Thus, the facility manager must develop a strategic vision, or business plan, that documents the business drivers, the process issues, and the surrounding technology structure that bring those three critical components into alignment. The strategic vision should provide a focused understanding of what must be accomplished, its feasibility, and specific recommendations for achieving desired business goals.
Four lines of inquiry can assist the facility manager in developing a compelling strategic vision that embraces new technology:
- Objectives: What are the character and the scope of the changes that this organization expects new technology to implement?
- Innovation: How can this organization open up new perspectives and new solutions by integrating new technology into its existing processes and workforce?
- Successful Result: What will successful implementation of the technology look like in this organization and what will it take to achieve that?
- Resources: What is the optimal balance of the vision versus resources—time, skill, money—in this organization?
Plan for Success
The facility manager will need to develop a procedural framework with enough structure to hold a technology project together. The framework must also be flexible enough to keep decision options open, to modify strategy if needed, and to provide for contingencies when (not if) plans must be changed. Bear in mind the following six considerations before preparing an implementation plan for a project involving technology.
Project team:
Successful projects are the result of both an excellent planner and an excellent client—that is, an informed, participating client. The potential benefits apply to both the facility manager and the client. The consequences of an unproductive relationship extend well beyond the symbolic to whether project goals will be met at all.
Project planning:
It is almost impossible to be too careful during the early phases of a project. Information obtained and decisions made early (by relatively few people) profoundly affect actions, results, and a great number of people at the end of the process. But we tend to concentrate most of our resources near the end of the project and well after all critical decisions have been made—where they have the least strategic impact. Put another way, the beginning of a job is where we make our million-dollar mistakes; the end is where we achieve our hundred-dollar savings.
Managerial process:
Technology often changes how work is done, and significant changes may require marketing this notion to those who will be affected by a change. For example, switching telecommunications carriers may impact a number of other operations, such as videoconferencing, corporate travel, or even budget preparation. Management needs to ensure a clear understanding of the reasons for making the change and of the resulting benefits, to ease the transition for end users and to keep them focused on project objectives.
Upgrading skills:
Many technology enhancements require a skill upgrade. Significant training resources—both time and money—may be required before professional and support staff can master complex new functions and realize the full benefits of their new equipment. This point applies to mission-specific systems and to facilities management systems because of the ongoing increase in the technological capacity of facilities generally.
Hardware and software:
Most facility managers are not directly responsible for selecting and managing much of the hardware and software used in their buildings. They have to work closely with those who usually install data and telecommunications systems, make necessary building modifications, relocate computers, install and manage cables, set up videoconferencing facilities, and create the work environment that supports such technology. Teamwork will be the key to a successful implementation.
System design/organizational interface:
Working with technology requires a basic understanding of its design and its effects on corporate operations, job design, and organizational structure. A facility manager should also know how it is selected and managed in order to maximize support of organizational goals.
This installment of FM Check List is adapted from BOMI Institute’s Technologies for Facilities Managment (www.bomi-edu.org/13041.html), a course in the Institute’s Facilities Management Administration (FMA) program.
