IFM Tour London Summit – Panel One Highlights

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• IFM Tour London Summit – Panel One Highlights

13 April 2023 | Updated 24 April 2023

ThisWeekinFM attended the London Summit of Infraspeak’s IFM Tour this year as its official media partner in the UK.

The Intelligence for Maintenance Tour arrived last year. The maintenance and facility management community got together to discuss the challenges facing them, looking at how technology was improving processes and shaping new systems of work.

This year Infraspeak came back for a second instalment of the tour with a brand new focus: "Collaboration". It wanted to further the conversation around mutually beneficial service relationships and integrated partnerships.

To do so, two-panel discussions were held as well as a fireside chat.

 

Field-leaders Discuss Working as One

 

The first panel discussion kicked off the theme, revolving specifically around the concept of achievement through cooperation. Invited to discuss their own success stories were three industry experts, Mike Bass, Brian Rogers and Claire Curran. 

Mike Bass has been in a managerial role at Foster + Partners for over twenty years, now with six years as Head of FM in charge of a global team across all its international offices. This of course includes coordinating a network of diverse skills and the hard and soft services they employ across the company portfolio.

Brian Rogers became a Head of Property and Facilities with a property developer, winning best operational PFI at the annual BIFM awards, after a distinguished military career. He now runs McArthur Business Solutions and sits on the awards judging panel for the Institute of Workplace and Facilities Management (IWFM).

Claire Curran is Managing Director of Linaker Limited, President-Elect at BESA, Vice Chair of Education Committee BESA and also an IWFM Judge. She's had a diverse background in working with most areas and geographies of the facilities services industry, making her a strong real estate professional.

 

Watch IFM Summit 2023 Panel Highlights Part 1 – Choosing Service Partners

 

 

 

Best-practice Partnerships

 

The panel members were quizzed about how they ensure they are working with the right people – where should FMs seek to be firm on quality assurance in choosing suppliers and partners, in order to bolster their own company ethos? The merit of communicating well and building trust in a personal way rather than just a formulaic procurement process was brought to the table for discussion.

Consequently, the relationships that are formed on promises need to be nurtured and expectations adjusted with open discussion along the way, as inevitable issues are uncovered and solved. Transparency and proactivity were championed here, for example communicating about realistic mobilisation times. They continued from this point to give valuable insights about how they act on this advice in their own businesses, expressing their role model knowledge on the subject matter in the exemplary anecdotes.

 

Managing Relationships with Service Providers and Communication Within FM Businesses

 

The panel also discussed how to manage client expectations and maintain an honest relationship with their suppliers. They agreed that, as FMs, being the first person to inform their client of any potential issues or turbulence helps to build trust.

When discussing communication within their own businesses, some panelists highlighted the dangers of “over-communication” and data overload, whilst others promoted regular face-to-face contact and the merits of asking the opinions of people working on the ground at client sites.

 

Watch IFM Summit 2023 Panel Highlights – Parts 2 & 3

 

 

 

Picture: the panel info-graphic. Infraspeak.

Article written by Bailey Sparkes | Published 13 April 2023

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