How to review your Facility Management Partner?

Kaarya IFM has played an active role in the development of organized Facility Management in India especially introducing the SMB Segment, RWAs / Housing Societies and New Age Startups to the benefits of professional Facility Management. As part of our IFM Knowledge Series, we list down some key measurable yardsticks, milestones, and monitoring systems to engage effectively with your outsourced partner.

Remember your Facility Management Partner is not merely a supplier of contract workers for your requirements, they are the custodians of your building assets as well. Facility Management Industry in India today is a ‘quarter of a century’ old with established SOPs, scientific methodologies, skilled professionals with millions of case studies strong; they are the doctors, the lawyers, the engineers and the protectors of your building & real estate assets; as a ‘new outsourcer you should trust them to do their jobs and have expectations from them commensurate with that of a professional. 

An effective life cycle of a relationship should consist of:

1. Agreement

   1. Clearly worded letter of engagement or/and agreement advisably vetted by a legal professional

      1. This should mention the legal parties involved

      2. Scope of work with specific deliverables

      3. Service level agreement SLA. 

         1. To decipher what SLA means, it essentially is a list of service expectations from either party across the entire range of scope of work along with points of action in case of failure to achieve the same. Here your FM partner may have clear expectations of payment receipts and may charge you a commercial interest in case of delay in payments

   2. SOPs to be followed as an accompanying annexure

   3. List of government compliances and liaisoning to be executed

   4. Commercial arrangement

   5. Escalation matrix

2. Dashboards

   1. Weekly Dashboards that list performance of your partner across all service segments

   2. Monthly compliance checklist of government regulations as well as building assets

   3. Training & Maintenance Schedules Trackers

   4. Expense Tracker across all segments whether repair & maintenance, housekeeping consumables

   5. AMC status of various building assets

   6. Any update to any laws and regulations that may be applicable to you.

   7. Monthly end user satisfaction survey.

3. Monthly Review Meetings

   1. It is always advisable to have a face to face meeting with your site Facility Management team as well as their supervisors from the IFM company. This serves as a transparent platform to share feedback and set an agenda for future.

4. Value Adds

   1. There is always an opportunity for value adds and as a customer you are well within your expectations to look for some from your IFM partner whether

      1. Efforts that may have resulted in asset longevity

      2. Reduction of expenses

      3. Energy conservation

      4. Trainings

      5. Automation tools 

Remember, a professional IFM partner will be more than happy to adhere to such expectations and standards. As you start “PARTNER” engaging with your IFM provider, be ready to be PLEASANTLY SURPRISED.

For any of your IFM queries, we are more than happy to help - do write to us at info@kaarya.co.in