On Standards

In today's environment where the world often seems to change at a pace too rapid to keep up and facility managers face ever-increasing complexity in the FM scope, having a management system standard in place to ensure process continuity will provide benefits in the near term, long term and during unanticipated events. If not yet implemented, the task of putting that system in place might seem overwhelming. However, as with any significant initiative, planning and executing an ISO management system standard (MSS) starts with applying basic project management principles to create a clear path of intentional steps culminating in certification to ISO 41001 or any other that might fit the demand organization's strategic objectives.

The Project Management Institute released a new project management framework for 2020 that organizes activities and tasks into three domains: people, process and business environment. The following is an adaptation of this framework to organize the activities to implement an MSS into manageable and understandable components.

People

When beginning to implement an MSS, the "people side" cannot be overstated. Within ISO 41001, there is a need to obtain a commitment from top management and determine resources, competence and knowledge requirements for the FM organization and to maintain the MSS.

In terms of project management, FMs will:

• Build a shared understanding

• Build and lead the team

• Empower team members and stakeholders

A critical first step to establishing the MSS is to develop shared goals and objectives for its implementation of the MSS. Identify all stakeholders and include them in this activity. Develop a business case for implementing or aligning to the FM MSS to the demand organization’s strategic objectives. Demonstrate the benefits of the project, such as improving operational efficiency or facility readiness to gain top-level management support.

Expect that there will be some conflict in every project and proactively work to analyze the potential sources and timing of the conflict. Common conflicts may be found around the priority of the need for an MSS that will require funding over other organizational initiatives, the demand of resources competing with daily job functions, or the perceived authority the MSS may give to the FM organization because of the "shall" statements. Proactively monitoring and addressing conflicts will help break down barriers to completing the project.

To build a team and promote engagement of staff and stakeholders, be sure to:

• Communicate the value, or the “WIIFM” (what’s in it for me), of an MSS. Be sure the team has the capacity and support to tackle the project before assigning roles. No one wants to be assigned additional responsibilities when they are already overwhelmed with daily tasks.

• Seek diversity and inclusion. The team needs to represent all the essential stakeholders in the organization, which includes understanding all the different perspectives of the people that will be affected by the project.

• Adopt a collaborative leadership style. For an FM MSS to be successful, it must be a collaborative effort and include buy-in and support from all the stakeholder groups.

• Support team performance. Evaluate skill sets and make sure team members are adequately trained for the task at hand. Continuously assess and refresh team capabilities

• Address and remove impediments, obstacles and blockers for the team. 

Business Environment

The requirements clauses of ISO 41001 and all ISO management systems begin with "Understanding the Context of the Organization." This means understanding the needs and expectations of stakeholders and determining how the MSS can successfully support meeting the strategic objectives of the demand organization.

The project manager will analyze the organization and the context of the project across the organization:

• Plan and manage project compliance

• Evaluate and deliver project benefits and value

• Evaluate external business environment changes for impact on the scope

• Support organizational change

Keep in mind, the objective of this project is to comply with the MSS, whether ISO 41001 or another. It is important to understand how compliance affects other business units; therefore, it is also important to:

• Deliver project benefits. Monitor and track the delivery of the intended project benefits to ensure they are being realized at appropriate stages of the project. The project must deliver value to the organization, which is easy to accomplish with the well-planned implementation of a management system standard.

• Monitor and address external changes to the business environment. This could include changes to the business units outside of the FM organization or broader changes outside of the demand organization. The project should continually evaluate these changes and adapt the project implementation to address them.

• Support change through the organizational culture to establish the new norm that will be inevitable with the implementation of an MSS as a result of new policies, processes, and procedures for the organization.

Process

In the MSS framework, the "People and Business Environment" encompass Clauses 4-7: Context of the organization, Leadership, Planning and Support. The finals three Clauses, 8-10, would be the heart of the MSS: Operations, Performance evaluation and Improvements. 

In the same manner, process is where the rubber meets the road for this project. This will define how the business value is delivered and is critical to the success of the MSS implementation. 

Process activities include:

• Engaging stakeholders

  Every organization has a culture that will direct how team members are expected to interact with one another. Understanding how work is executed within the context of the organizational culture will frame the ground rules of engagement and communication for both internal and external stakeholders. Project information and updates should be communicated on a regular basis to keep all stakeholders informed and engaged.

• Executing the project with urgency 

  Implementing ISO 41001 should be executed with a high sense of urgency because the benefits realized can transform the FM organization and deliver benefits to the bottom line, the quality of the workplace, and the wellbeing of the building occupants.

• Establishing a project governance structure

  A governance plan will be needed before project execution so that any conflicts can be resolved, or any project issues can be addressed in a structured manner. A governance plan should incorporate a resolution methodology and an escalation path. This will help mitigate personal agenda, address prioritization of deliverables and resources or questions of authority.

• Planning and managing the:

  • Scope

    Determining the scope, or boundaries, of the MSS is solely up to the organization and is not dictated by the standard. The project team must understand the capabilities and capacity of the team to implement and maintain the MSS and of the demand organization to support it in the future.

    The defined scope from the planning phase should be used to baseline and manage the project scope and address scope creep.

  • Schedules

Applying an integrated approach to scheduling so the team can see the critical path and effects of missed deadlines will help all stakeholders understand their role in the overall project. 

Progress should be continually monitored and measured against the planned schedule milestones. A dashboard that demonstrates budget, schedule and quality at predetermined intervals will provide a foundation for tracking basic project progress.

• • Risks

Continual assessment and mitigation of risks is a typical project management task that cannot be overlooked when implementing any MSS. This effort should continually evaluate and prioritize potential risks.

 

There are two risks to consider:

1. 1. 1. the risk to the project itself (e.g., falling behind schedule or being over budget)

      2. the risk that the MSS will not achieve its intended outcomes or delivers undesired effects. 

• • Quality of deliverables

After determining the metrics for evaluating quality at the different stages of the project, consistent quality reviews should be conducted to validate the project deliverables meet the MSS requirements and deliver value to the demand organization.

 

• • Project closure and transition

Closure, in this case, is that point when the organization is ready to apply for certification. Assuming a successful closure, the project will transition from implementation of the MSS to maintaining and improving it (clause 10 of the MSS requires continual improvement). This requires an honest retrospective review of the project.

 

Document and review lessons learned. Understanding gaps, deficiencies and strengths can be very useful for identifying areas for future improvement.

 

Additionally, maintaining historical records of the decision-making process and develop a means for knowledge transfer and sharing.  A clean paper trail will support the final stage of the project closeout and provide a basis for evaluating the project performance. 

While implementing an MSS will require planning, time and resources, it does not have to be an overwhelming event. A solid plan and a competency in project management will see you to the finish line. The prize is a dynamic FM organization that is prepared to meet the challenges of today’s business environment while continuing to ensure the quality of life and productivity of people in the built environment.