I've been diving deep into developing a training course on the future of facilities management and how professionals should navigate what's coming next. It's quite an undertaking, considering the rapid pace of change we're witnessing. My research has taken me through evolving workplace dynamics, sustainability imperatives, mounting cost pressures, artificial intelligence, and countless other transformative forces reshaping our industry. Yet through all this complexity, one fundamental truth emerges: EVERYTHING COMES BACK TO PEOPLE. No matter what technological advances we implement or infrastructure changes we make, success hinges on understanding and serving the people connected to our buildings: The occupants who work within these spaces daily The visitors and customers who experience our facilities The stakeholders who fund and invest in these assets The technicians and service providers who keep everything running The managers and leaders who make strategic decisions And crucially

My main job is as a management consultant specialising in property, facilities, procurement and change but I do other things as well including coaching, training and assessment even though I often spend more time on it than I should. However, there is a really good reason for this, I love it! I get a real buzz out of helping people progress in their careers whether marking an assessment or giving the benefits of my knowledge at a training course. It is especially good when someone makes me think and expands my own knowledge as the more you learn, the more you realise you still have to learn! One of the big challenges of training is to make the courses interesting and fun, which can be a stretch in some of my topics such as risk management, but by using innovative techniques and pushing interactivity, you can get people interested in the driest of topics. I mean, how many trainers actually ask you to get your phones out in a training course! If you want to discuss training or coaching w

When specifying a facilities management service there are two key phrases that should always be considered “if it looks right, it is right” and “you only get one chance to make a first impression” So why is this important? Support services such as facilities management are enabling services that most people who benefit from simply don’t see, understand or fully understand. This means that they need confidence that the service they receive is safe, legally compliant and of a high quality. So, for example with their facilities management service, if they see well-presented operatives with clean vans and well-arranged worksites delivering it, they will feel this unless events prove otherwise. Alternatively, if someone arrives looking unprofessional, and that doesn’t mean a cleaner wearing a suit and tie!, they have to prove their abilities in a way that a well presented operative wouldn’t. This approach should also be extended into all of your communications including signage, documents a

Good to have delivered another successful training course with my friends at Quadrilect. This one was on "Understanding FM Support Services Operations" The course gave an insight in what needs to happen to allow people to manage facilities in a way that delivers a great service, great value and, of course, a safe and legally compliant environment. It also helps people gain facilities management qualifications and helps me to understand what matters to a wide range of people From a personal perspective I get a real buzz from helping people progress in their careers. If anyone wants to discuss training, coaching, consulting or knowledge sharing, please get in touch

It was really rewarding yesterday to deliver some training for Quadrilect (www.quadrilect.com) yesterday where my particular area of focus was on risk and minimising it for building occupiers and their facilities managers. It is always enjoyable to meet with a range of people from different organisations and backgrounds as I often feel that I learn as much from them as they do from me - well almost! For those who have never been to one of my training sessions I always try to make them interesting, no matter how dry the subject, by using interactive tools and techniques with this particular course ending with a quiz that always gets very competitive! Sharing knowledge is great fun and positive for our industry

I have just led the successful mobilisation of one of this year’s largest facilities management contracts ( worth hundreds of millions of pounds) covering a large and diverse estate for a diverse organisation Whereas I am not going to say this has been easy or straightforward the following five steps have been key to success: 1. Great People By having the right people working with and for me, we have been able to deliver the right tasks to the right standard at the right time 2. Working with the Service Provider The Service Provider also wanted a successful mobilisation and a great platform to build on during the life of the contract therefore understanding what matters to them, their risks, issues and concerns was key. In this case the Service Provider exceeded my expectations 3. A robust specification with strong milestones I took great care to define the requirements for mobilisation and ensure they were issued in the tender so the Service Provider knew what to expect during mobilis