Managing business facility

 

Introduction

West End College entails an institution located in London, United Kingdom. The college shares facilities with the neighboring institution which is the University of Cambridge. Both institutions are located in the same region and offer nearly the same courses. A committee was elected to supervise the process of shared facilities since both institutions reside in the same compound. With this aspect in common the university and the college drafted a memorandum of understanding which governs both institutions towards sharing the facilities. Recently, both institutions decided to come up with a facility management committee which will be responsible of controlling the whole procedure of facility sharing. Therefore, top officials from both the university and the college were elected.  The committee has the obligation or duty of conducting an assessment concerning the current situation of shared facilities and generates a report to conclude about the possible improvements which need attention. The committee however, is also bound to observe and maintain the procedure as required in the memorandum of understanding. The memorandum of understanding contains several rules which were written by some of the officials within the committee in order to avoid any chaos which might arise following the procedure of sharing the facilities. This is because one institution might tend to claim for the bigger share within the facilities or create kind of biasness. The chairperson of the elected committee is bound to ensure that the proceeding of the committee remains smooth as well as ensuring that both institutions abide by the memorandum of understanding. In addition, the chairperson is bound to approve all the proceedings of the report and present the amended report to the required authorities after he approves that it is fine. Therefore, the paper addresses certain areas related to the committee and the problems within the entire organization together with the possible recommendations.

Role of the facility manager

The facility manger is the leader of the elected committee dealing with the shared facilities. Although the facility management has the overall authority on deciding the policies to govern the process of facility sharing the committee still lies under the governance of the memorandum of understanding. The facility manager is entitled to several roles

Decision maker of the committee

Although ideas and proposal concerning the implementation or amending some changes come from different members, the facility manager holds the final decision upon which route to follow. This is the reason why He has to guide the committee to the right path. The facility manager judges the ideas and chooses the best of all. That is the reason why the manager should poses leadership qualities.

Approving completed projects and budgets

The facility manger should sign and open the starting of any project concerned with shared facilities. For example, if the committee decides that they need to construct new rooms for the students, the manager should approve the plan of the building and the budget concerning the construction. In addition, the facility manger should approve the completion of the same project before handing it over to the correct authorities or department (Lavy & Dixit, 2012, p.81).

Determining profit and loss generated by shared facilities

The facility manager has another responsibility of evaluating whether the shared facilities within the organization generate any profit or loss. Therefore, the facility manager combines the desired financial data to determine the annual or monthly profit from the shared facilities. Therefore, the manager will be in a position to determine and project the possible improvements required if the business does not generate the required profit.

Supervising the maintenance process of facility sharing

The reason why both the college and university decided to form a committee was purposefully for managing the shared facilities. Therefore, the facility manager is entitled to understand and comply with the requirements of the memorandum of understanding and carry on the process of supervising the maintenance of the shared facilities. For example, the facility manager has to ensure that every facility remains in the required state/condition and ensure that renovations and repairs are done accordingly (Hicks, 2011, p.12).

Methodology

Methodology entails the process of incorporating the convenient tools in collecting and recording data to determine the problem within an organization and the possible solution for the problem. Therefore, the elected committee needs to utilize the case study method in order to understand the problem within the shared facilities. The committee should therefore review the records indicating the performance of shared facilities in the previous years. In addition, the committee will conduct some research through questioning few students and employees from both the university and the college to determine the opinion from the client side about the kind of service they get from the shared facilities. Therefore, data collected from previous records and views from both the students and employees will indicate the problem arising from shared facilities and the appropriate measure to improve the condition of the shared facility service. This will therefore ensure that the students get quality services from the shared facilities since they are the clients of the business.

Shared facilities

The West End College and the University of Cambridge share several facilities. In this case, porterage and janitorial services are some of the facilities shared by both institutions. In addition, both the university and the college share the same security services together with parking management services. Both the institutions share the same reception and front office services as well. Again, both institutions share cleaning services since they share the same compound.  The other facility that both institutions share is space and room allocation. Finally, both the university and the college share the same health and safety services. In general, both institutions share several facilities since they share the same compound.

Space planning and business needs

Space planning

Space is one of the facilities that both the university and the college share. This is obvious since both institutions reside in the same building. Space shared by the two institutions in this case includes the compound used by both institutions when enrolling new students. In addition, the university and the college use the same compound when holding ceremonies like graduation ceremonies. Therefore, in order to sustain the needs of the entire organization in terms of space, the facility management should have a clear plan of the structures within the compound together will implementing the best plan which will take the minimal space possible when constructing new projects. Sharing of space between the university and the college helps save cost (McGregor, 2012, p111).

Business needs

As explained earlier, the facilities within the entire organization also play the role of business. The students pay fees in order to receive certain services from the organization. Therefore, every business aims at making their customers delighted and contented about their services. The facility committee runs the business and it’s their obligation to ensure that the students and employees get quality services from the shared facilities. The memorandum of understanding also requires that every student and staff has a right to access the shared facility like everyone else without biasness.

Room allocation

 The facility manager is also involved in the room allocation of the shared facility (Ferreira, Erasmus & Groenewald, 2009, p.206). One of the reasons why the two institutions decided to share facilities is to help ensure that the there is enough room available for both the students and the workers in the institution. During room allocation the facility manager has the responsibility of ensuring that the numbers of room available are equally shared between the two institutions. The facility manager must ensure that he or she addresses all the problems associated with room allocation. This implies that the facility manager must ensure that he or she makes the necessary plans to deal with problem associated with room allocation for both the lecture rooms and the hall of accommodations.

Accommodation rooms

 The facility manager must ensure that all the accommodation rooms are equally shared between the university and the college students. The facility manager should ensure that all the accommodation rooms are installed with the same facilities. This can help to prevent any form of competition from the student during room allocation. However, it is also important for the facility manager to ensure that the students with special need are accorded rooms with special facilities. In addition, the facility manager should also follow all the accepted code of ethics during room allocation.

Lecture rooms

The facility manager is also involved in the allocating lecture rooms in the shared facilities. The facility manager therefore needs to ensure that the lecture rooms are equally shared between the college and the university. In order to deal with the problems associated with lecture room the facility manager must ensure that a workable timetable is drawn to ensure that the college lectures do not collide with the university lectures. In addition the facility manager should ensure that all the lecture rooms are equipped with the same conditions.  

Health and safety in shared facilities

Health

Health is an important aspect in the management of the shared facility. This is because poor management of the health issues may lead to outbreak of contagious diseases. In relation, to the health of the shared facility the facility manager needs to ensure that all the essential areas such as the washroom are cleaned daily. In addition the facility manager should also ensure that the windows are properly dusted. Moreover, the facility manager is also involved in ensuring that cleanliness of the entire compound. This can help to ensure that the college continues to give a good first impression to visitors who visit the institution premises.

Safety

 The facility manager is also involved in ensuring that safety is maintained in the shared facility. In relation to this the facility manager needs to ensure that all the rooms are equipped with a fire extinguishers and first aid kits. This can help the student to fight fire in case there is a fire outbreak. The facility manager should also ensure that the floors of the various rooms are properly maintained. In relation to the facility manager need to ensure that the floor of various rooms are not slippery. This can help to prevent any possible accident that result from slippery floor. Moreover the facility manager needs to ensure that the he or she adheres to the various health and safety rules and regulation. In relation to this the facility manager need to ensure that the facility management carries out risk assessment on the shared facilities (Nah, & Osifo-Dawodu, 2007, p.127). This can help to prevent any potential danger that may occur from the shared facilities. It is also evident that the facility manager needs to organize a training session to train the entire workforce on health and safety practices. This can help to equip the entire workforce with the necessary knowledge on the heath and safety practices.

 Ethics role in shared facilities

Ethics refers to the various accepted code of behavior that governs how people should behave in an organization (Mandal, 2010, p.172) In this case, the facility manager needs to ensure that ethics are maintained in the management of the shared facilities. In relation to this, the facility manager needs to ensure that the equality is maintained during service delivery from the facilities. In addition, the facility manager needs to ensure that the management activities of the facilities are carried out in an open and transparent manner. This can help to ensure that the various fund allocated for various projects are properly utilized. Moreover, the facility management needs to ensure that they do not purchase expensive material during the repair and maintenance of the facilities. The management team needs to ensure that there is no discrimination during services delivery. Moreover, the facility management also needs to ensure that they take strict measure to anyone found violating the various codes of ethics. Most importantly, the facility management needs to organize a training session to educate both the staff and the student on the importance of maintaining ethics in the shared facilities.

Recommendation

 The two institutions should ensure that they provide enough funds to the joint facility management committee. With enough funds the joint facility management committee can be able to equip the shared facilities with the necessary technological requirement. For instance this can help to ensure that all the rooms are equipped with internet cables to facilitate online learning. Moreover, with enough funds the facility manager can be able to ensure that the various shared facilities are maintained in good condition. In addition with enough the funds the facility manager can be able to organize the various training sessions suggest in this report. With well-trained workforce the facility management can be able to ensure that the various services provide from the facilities meet the expected standard. This can also help to ensure that the two institutions continue to be the choices of many students who want pursue their higher education.

Conclusion

From the above it is evident that the facility manager plays a critical role in the management of the shared facilities. In relation to this it is evident that the facility manger is involved in ensuring that the interests of the two of institutions are maintained in the management of the shared facility. The facility manager is also involved in integrating the physical facilities with the various activities of the institutions. The case study also helps to illustrate the role of the health and safety in the management of the shared facility. It is also evident that the case helps to illustrate the importance of ethics in the management of the shared facility. Moreover, the case study helps to explain the role of the space planning. Effective space can help to ensure that the two institutions are able to deal with any problem associated with space shortage. In addition, one of the critical recommendations made by this report is that the management of the two institutions should avail enough funds for the management and repair of the shared facilities. This can help to ensure that the shared facilities meet the expected international standard.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

References

Ferreira, E. J., Erasmus, A. W., & Groenewald, D. 2009. Administrative management. Lansdowne [South Africa: Juta Academic.

Hicks, R 2011, 'The Facility Manager's Role', Sustainable Facility, 36, 5, p. 12, Business Source Complete.

Lavy, S, & Dixit, M 2012, 'Wall Finish Selection in Hospital Design: A Survey of Facility Managers', Health Environments Research & Design Journal (HERD), 5, 2, pp.

Mandal, S. K. 2010. Ethics in business and corporate governance. New Delhi: Tata McGraw-Hill Education.

McGregor, W.2012. Facilities Management and the Business of Space. Burlington: Arnold.

Nah, S.-H., & Osifo-Dawodu, E. 2007. Establishing private health care facilities in developing countries: A guide for medical entrepreneurs. Washington, D.C: World Bank