The new CEO has been on-board for four months, taking time to understand the operations and meet with group leaders. The core business operation is third-party health care records management. IT, the production department (records management) and the facility team have separate operating protocols. The CEO is now ready to hold open conversations with the group leaders.

If offering advice to the director of the facilities and knowing that the FM department protocol is somewhat out of date, especially as concerns disaster preparedness and business continuity, what do you recommend that the FM should do and in what order? Today is Friday and the meeting with the CEO is Monday afternoon.

From Val Moraes, CFM, MBA Assoc RICS 

Ahead of the meeting on Monday with the CEO, I would make the following recommendations for action by the FM department. Reviews should be undertaken jointly with the IT and production departments:

  • Assess risks facing the business now and in the foreseeable future. The output should be a risk matrix and a risk mitigation plan to ensure that we are prepared for disasters and have a current business continuity process in place. Ideally this plan should eliminate all risks but, where this is not possible or practical, the plan should minimize the potential impacts of risks on the business. This review should be repeated regularly to ensure that it remains current. The plan should be tested by undertaking exercises involving all involved parties.

  • Determine the appropriateness of the current FM operating protocols for today’s business model. The review should include a SWOT analysis and recommendations for changes to FM processes. This review should investigate whether there should be shared protocols across the departments, to ensure they remain in step and to futureproof operations in the wider interests of the core business.

  • To examine the existing operating protocols across all three departments, to identify any conflicts, omissions, overlaps or redundancies. The output of this review would be operating protocols aligned with business needs, with the three departments acting as co-partners or stakeholders.

These recommendations would demonstrate FM’s commitment to the ongoing success of the business.

From Stephen Brown, CFM, FMP, SFP, ProFM, CPE, CPMM, MBCP, CBCP, CESCO, REM

Emergency Response/Disaster Preparedness and Business Continuity (ER/DP/BC) are critically important and too often neglected within organizations. This CEO appears attuned to this and wants to ensure procedures are in place to minimize disruptive impacts. As a result, the FM is well advised to apply best efforts to meet expectations.

Organizations that do not have a formal business continuity office often presume or assume the FM unit is the de facto responsible party. Regardless of the formal declaration, FMs should make the ER/DP/BC plans a priority to ensure they remain current and relevant.

I would offer two recommendations for the facility manager:

First, schedule a thorough review and update of the FM disaster preparedness and business continuity plans. Include the need to organize departmental exercises to confirm that the unit heads are familiar with their roles and responsibilities. In this instance, the FM may have to dedicate time on the weekend to be prepared to communicate the department plan of action.

Second, listen carefully during the open meeting to appreciate direction from the CEO. If not otherwise mentioned, the FM should propose:

  • The three principal parties (IT, production, and FM) agree to confer and to carefully align their separate protocols with the business requirements of the core business.

  • An organization-wide exercise (table-top) as soon as the parties update their plans.

From Dr. Doug Aldrich, CFM

This meeting is fraught with opportunity and danger. You don’t know what the CEO has been told or concluded about FM during the initial four months. You hope it’s good or at least neutral, so one goal is to find out. In advance, check with the admin on scheduled meeting length, but you can request an hour.

Plan the get-together for sharing information, outlining what’s going well (and hopefully obtaining concurrence), and presenting a framework to correct what you already know is out of date. The CEO could ask what you’ve been doing about it Have that answer ready too.

Prepare a 1-2 pager to give to the CEO after you’ve met, as a recap, not to be read as you’re talking.

  • Introduce yourself with a brief background prior to joining the organization and then what you’ve been focusing on since.

  • Review your key department metrics: building mission(s), sizes and types, occupant numbers, expense and capital financials, safety record etc. Keep them concise.

  • Highlight the three FM areas that are going well and why, with some well-chosen bullets. Ask the CEO if that is her/his impression to date and elaborate on any questions.

  • Identify the one area for improvement: review three or four steps required to assess, integrate all group needs/options, and recommend actions. Ask directly to lead this effort.

At this point, your organization and preparation should lead to a healthy give/take. The CEO might go beyond schedule or ask for another meeting to discuss your team proposal and details. Good luck!