Grant Sommerfeld, MBA, CMC, CFM, CEFP, FRICS

Persistent FM Strain Is a Design Problem, Not an FM Problem

You are accountable for outcomes you do not fully control. Priorities arrive without capacity. Decisions are made upstream, and Facilities absorbs the consequences. More effort will not fix that, because the cause is structural.

Executive FM helps universities, colleges and polytechnics find out why the strain persists and what to change. The work establishes three things:

What is actually driving the instability
Which conditions FM can correct and which need an institutional decision
What must change, in what order and under whose authority

You can start small. The Signal Scan is a rapid diagnostic that shows whether deeper work is warranted. The Institutional Operating Assessment identifies root causes. The Operating Model Assessment and Roadmap turns them into a sequenced plan. Every engagement is fixed price.

I spent 17 years as a chief facilities officer in post-secondary, health care and municipal government, including nine years as a university Associate Vice-President. I have led teams of 750, operating budgets of $45M and more than $250M in capital projects. I hold the CEFP, CFM, FRICS and CMC designations and an MBA, and I serve as President of the IFMA FM Consultants Council.

My book, Just Because You're Necessary Doesn't Mean You're Important, was featured in APPA's Facilities Manager magazine.

If you suspect your FM challenges are bigger than people and budgets, you are probably right. Start with a conversation.