liam davis
Liam Davis works as part of our Facilities Management team, placing talented Project Managers into some of the UK's leading FM organisations.
Skilled project managers are in demand. By 2027, employers will need 87.7% million project management professionals, and there’s already been a 15% growth since 2007. Facilities management – like every other sector – needs more project managers.
In this post, I’ll discuss these 7 essential skills for facilities project managers:
- Scope management
- Project planning and monitoring – including risk management
- Budgeting and cost management
- Contractor selection
- Team management
- Stakeholder management
- Problem-solving skills.
Facilities project management – let’s start with the basics
What’s the difference between a project manager in facilities management and a facilities manager?
There’s an important difference. A facilities project manager focuses on a project that has a clear end point. Whereas a facilities manager will manage the upkeep of a building on an ongoing basis.
Here are our 7 essential skills that a facilities project manager needs.
1. Scope management
There’s a reason why I’ve got scope management at the top of my list
And that’s because if you don’t get scope right, you won’t know how much time, money and resourcing you’ll need. And if you don’t manage scope once the work is underway, your project may lose its identity and sprawl out of control.
A great way to define scope is to document your project goals and requirements. Then break them down into the tasks and deliverables needed.
But even if you get scope right at the beginning, you’ll still need to manage it throughout the project. Avoid what’s known as scope creep, when uncontrolled scope additions threaten the success of the project.
Scope management - step by step
Here’s my simple three-step process for managing scope:
- Write a project scope statement and a scope management plan to define the scope. These will include guidelines for tracking scope once the project is underway.
- Define a scope baseline to control the scope, and get it approved by key project stakeholders.
- Monitor and control your project scope against the baseline you’ve agreed throughout the project lifecycle.
workspace design for a hybrid working world
2. Project planning and monitoring
We’ve come to the core project management capability – project planning and monitoring. And because it’s a bit of a biggie, I’ve broken it down into five important skills:
You’ll need to know how to create a project plan. Your plan should contain the key milestones, stages and tasks of the project – along with deadlines and completion dates.
You can then assign and schedule tasks to team members. You’ll find that this can involve a range of tools and methods, such as the Gantt chart. A skilled facilities project manager should offer deep knowledge of at least one project planning tool.
We’ve already discussed changes in scope. That’s just one change that can impact the project plan, along with other factors like resource availability and cost increases. So it’s vital to have the skills and processes to keep your plan up to date and your stakeholders informed.
Think about how important risk is in the world of facilities management. Well, it’s no different in project management. Facilities project managers need to know how to identify, assess and manage risks to your project.
Organise your risk management processes around these three types of risk factor:
- Cost: Potential impact on your budget
- Schedule: The risk of delays, including scope creep
- Performance: Risks to project performance or productivity should be estimated and recorded.
We all know how important legal and regulatory compliance is in facilities management. Well, it’s the same in project management. Along with facilities management regulations, there may also be standards that affect your project management itself, like ISO 9001.
You’ll need a good working knowledge of project management software and you should also have advanced spreadsheet skills.
3. Budgeting and cost management
Although your project plan will include a cost element, the project budget is your most important financial tool. In the budget, you’ll consider three main elements – human resource costs (via estimated hours), materials and equipment.
Once the project is underway, you can draw on your facilities management expertise to manage costs. Your experience of the building, its facilities and the people who work there will be invaluable.
Don’t abandon your facilities management knowledge as you develop as a project manager.
That’s the beauty of the facilities project management skillset – you can combine your facilities management knowledge with the project management skills we’re describing in this post. It’s a great way to improve your career prospects.
Another transferable skill you can put to good use when budgeting is communication. Any change of costs should be communicated early and often to stakeholders. You should explain the reasons for the change and how it affects the project plan.
4. Contractor selection
For construction projects
Facilities projects often involve the hiring of contractors. You may have to oversee the selection process. And because the contractors often hire subcontractors to do the work, you need to choose carefully.
Again, you’ll need your facilities management experience here. This will help you choose the right contractor and spot any problems before they damage your project. Plus, your facilities management know-how can help you in the negotiation process, keeping the costs down.
But be careful that you don’t over-rely on your industry experience. Follow best practice as well.
Here’s my five best practices for hiring contractors.
- No matter how impressed you are, always ask to see evidence of skills, knowledge and experience. This should include qualifications, training, affiliations, and examples of previous work. And be prepared to quiz them about relevant legislation, standards and best practice.
- Ask for references and follow them up.
- Make sure site risk assessments are in place, if appropriate, and that they’ve set up safe work systems.
- Find out what management processes they’ll be following to supervise the work.
- Check their health and safety record.
5. Team management
Successful project managers combine their management skills with team leadership skills. You’ll need to make sure your team is working productively and that you’re managing any conflicts.
Think about team-building activities to strengthen relationships at the start of the project, and maybe at key milestones too.
Your team management skills partly depend on your project scheduling. If you can’t balance the work fairly across the teams, you’re likely to run into problems.
Don’t be one of those facilities project managers who hide behind their project plan and budget spreadsheet. You need to be out there, connecting with people and communicating openly. Projects are all about collaboration – people working together to achieve a common goal.
6. Stakeholder management
Don’t neglect your stakeholder management skills. The best facilities managers are good at networking right across the organisation. You may feel you don’t need a broad network of stakeholder relationships to manage a small project.
But you’d be wrong.
Your ability to build a strong network of relationships in every business area, and at every level of seniority, are essential to project management success.
And negotiation is a particularly important skill when it comes to stakeholders. It will pay dividends if any disagreements or conflicts arise over the course of the project.
What if one powerful stakeholder wants to stretch the project scope out to include something that will benefit their department? How will you handle that? And how will it affect other stakeholders and the project itself? You need to know how to push back diplomatically and balance competing interests as effectively as possible at all times.
7. Analytical and problem-solving skills
Your ability to understand problems and find workable solutions will be important in every job you ever do, and in every industry. This is certainly true for facilities project managers.
What many people fail to see is that a project is just a great big problem waiting to be solved. We need a new facilities management system. Our building looks tired and reflects badly on our brand. You get the picture.
So think of our project as a puzzle that you have to work out. And then once the project is running, you’ll face lots of smaller problems. How to make sense of all this operational data? What to do when that expensive piece of kit doesn’t actually do what it promised to do? Or how to get agreement on a project budget that’s higher than you thought it would be?
For all these project problems, you need highly developed critical thinking – getting a clear understanding of the issue, gathering relevant information, and coming to an informed decision.
And then one further step will really develop you as a professional project manager. If you can take the time to assess which solution worked best, you will apply new learnings.
What’s more, you’ll grow both as a facilities project manager and as a person. Because sound problem-solving is something you can use in just about every area of life. And you know what? The same is true of almost every project management skill. You will thrive in team environments, and your life at home will be smoother and richer.
Do you have the skills to be a project manager?
In a rapidly evolving facilities management landscape, professionals who possess these seven essential skills will not only excel in their roles but also contribute significantly to the success of their organisations.
As the demand for skilled project managers continues to grow, mastering these skills is an investment that promises a rewarding and impactful career in facilities project management.