Prospects for the development of facility management after quarantine

The coronavirus pandemic and the quick response of governments, as well as unprecedented quarantine and post-quarantine measures, will have serious consequences for the whole world. In this situation, safety and minimizing the risks of infection inside the building come to the fore. And this is just the work of facilitation services and the management of the operation of a real estate object comes to the fore.

Today, facilitation management around the world ensures the safety and productivity of key employees by managing hospitals, schools and mission-critical transportation infrastructure, as well as helping us all with practical steps to return to business and feel safe.

As before, a positive user experience will play a key role for FM, only the emphasis will shift. The main criterion is security and trust in the property and the company that manages it. To meet these demands of facilitation, specialists will have to significantly increase the quality of the premises through more frequent cleaning activities, disinfection, and the creation of bright and well-ventilated spaces.

More attention will be paid to managing the flow of people in public spaces and retail spaces. Over the past three months, crowding has become increasingly troubling and alarming, which is why ensuring social distance also comes to the fore.

For office and business centers, flow control will have a slightly different character. Since the obvious rush hours are arrival at work and the end of the working day, as well as a lunch break, facilitators in cooperation with the management company will have to look for ways to distribute the flows of people over time. For example, the organization of lunch delivery to the office at the workplace, the organization of free work hours, etc.

One of the important tasks for facilitators around the world is to evaluate the effectiveness of the measures being implemented. There are objective criteria, such as the frequency of cleaning, the effectiveness of the filtration system, the analysis of the number of bacteria on the surfaces. However, all these indicators can be at a high level, and at the same time, the real estate object will still not cause trust among customers, employees, guests. Assessment of user experience, identification of alarming factors, as well as regular reporting of measures taken – this is what will become a prerequisite for management facilitation in the short term.

In general, the role of FM in the life of a property becomes even more significant than before quarantine. Another important component of managing the operation of real estate is marketing and regular informing everyone in the building about hygiene, protection methods and actions taken to improve the epidemiological situation.