Customer requirements for their workplace

Citation

(1998), "Customer requirements for their workplace", Facilities, Vol. 16 No. 1/2. https://doi.org/10.1108/f.1998.06916aab.011

Customer requirements for their workplace

Customer requirements for their workplace

The Serviceability Scales, now American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) and American National Standards Institute (ANSI) standards, are available as part of the ST&M Toolkit™, and the results can be graphed using the just released BestFit™ software. The serviceability scales serve three main purposes:

(1) one set of scales is used to define the workplace requirements of the "customers";

(2) the other set of scales is used to measure the quality and functionality of buildings and facilities as a whole; and

(3) matching customer requirements against product capability.

The BestFit™ software makes it easy to present the results to senior management on one page (see Figure 1).

Figure 1 BestFit process ­ matching people and the facilities they need

These ASTM/ANSI serviceability standard scales respond to a newly recognized set of needs. On the one hand, senior management needs to assess quickly the impact of the workplace on its staff, not just cost and quantity. On the other hand, the building industry needs to measure the performance of its product in terms of quality and functionality, and to know the requirements of its customers in a more objective and systematic way. Benchmarking and auditing, due diligence and customer satisfaction are high on everyone's agenda.

"For building evaluations to be useful, they must relate directly to a comprehensive description of what the customers and other stakeholders require ­ presented in a format and language easily understood by non-technical people", says Gerald Davis, chairman of ASTM committee E6 on performance of buildings, chairman of the IFMA standards committee, and US ANSI delegate to the ISO technical committee 59 on building construction.

"Unfortunately, there is no tradition of systematically evaluating the performance of the building product as a whole, and few comprehensive, generic instruments for measuring its quality and whether it meets the requirements of the ultimate customers, the occupants. Instead, over the years, the focus has been mostly on testing and evaluating building components. When single whole projects have been evaluated, the evaluators reinvented the wheel, treating each project as a one-of-a-kind event and getting lost in the technical details.

"Buildings represent more than 25 per cent of the fixed asset of corporations. Yet senior management still undermanage this essential resource. Until recently, the workplace was perceived as an overhead, not as a performing asset which can have a major effect on the bottom line of a company.

"Buildings are among the largest, most complex and long-lasting products that humans create. The purpose ­ to provide shelter ­ responds to a primary human need. Yet the building industry is fragmented, with poor institutional memory, little research about the building product, and almost no feed-forward from past projects. These new serviceability scales provide a tool for capturing the information necessary to capture that institutional memory and for feed-forward", says Davis.

Early users of ST&M have commented on the power of the ST&M approach and on the quality and comprehensiveness of the information gathered in a short time and, most importantly, on the enthusiasm of the building users.

"Using the serviceability scales with the members of a focus group helped them to deal with many aspects of their requirements in a consistent and organized way", says Don Henning, senior adviser at Public Works Canada until his retirement a few months ago. Henning used the ST&M approach to develop profiles for many groups. "The scales are written in everyday language", says Henning, "and they are easy to use with non-professionals. In every case, as the facilitator and as the contact for the corporate real estate-facility management (CRE-FM) provider, I was able to go through all the scales with a group in less than a day, and sometimes even in half a day, and get a consensus on most items."

Members of a users group in a large multi-national corporation used the serviceability scales in preparation for their next move and each member of the group took responsibility for a few topics. "The users are enthusiastic", says the facilitator responsible. "They now feel that they own the statement of requirements for their new space, and that the scales give them information that allows them to talk in an informed way with the professionals".

On the other hand, the serviceability scales are also a versatile tool for strategic asset and portfolio management. It is particularly appropriate when the organization needs to assess its facilities in relation to drastically changing circumstances, such as during a merger.

"I would highly recommend this valuable tool to anyone embarking on a strategic asset management process", says Margaret Ebrecht, responsible for implementing the ST&M process at the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia (ICBC). "Through the use of ST&M, we have been able to obtain a snapshot on all ICBC's facilities and requirements in less than a year. This will now enable us to support the strategic plan. ST&M has been an excellent tool to utilize over a fairly short period of time on such a large portfolio, consisting of 49 sites (Claim Centres and Head Office), to be merged with the Motor Vehicle branch (MVB) with 24 additional facilities", says Ebrecht. Ebrecht took the ST&M courses offered jointly by ASTM and the International Centre for Facilities in the spring of 1996.

Facility managers also see the value of ST&M for use on an ongoing basis to prepare requests for bids from developers or to give their brokers when looking for space to lease.

After taking all three ST&M training courses in the fall of 1996, Donn Williams, Director, Facilities, for the Rand Corporation is currently implementing ST&M for on-going use. "ST&M will become one of my key tools for assessing the needs of our own staff. ST&M allows me to quickly match requirements with facilities that we are currently using or that are on offer. It is easy and fast to use, yet not simplistic. It hits all the key performance indicators that I need to take into account", says Williams.

The new ASTM/ANSI serviceability standards scales are part of a set of tools and methods, and are bundled into the ST&M ToolKit.

The ST&M ToolKit is an expert system to support decision-makers and the professionals working in the facilities management, corporate real estate, architectural, and related sectors.

This approach is particularly useful for strategic and front-end planning.

If there is a need to:

• •

  understand, document and manage organizational requirements for space;

• •

  get buy-in from occupant groups and increase their satisfaction;

• •

  match people with the type of facilities they need to support their work;

• •

  identify why a particular facility is more suited to specific people;

• •

  assess or manage a facility or portfolio of properties;

• •

  respond quickly and accurately to queries from various stakeholders;

• •

  present findings for decision making in an easy to read graphic format;

• •

  benchmark results, check for compliance, and provide due diligence;

• •

  quickly and effectively get results ... then the ST&M ToolKit is the system to choose.

The ST&M ToolKit includes the serviceability standardized scales (standardized by ASTM and recognized as American National Standards by ANSI), enhanced with quick and easy to use software and supported with documented processes and methods that have been tested and refined in practice. The ST&M ToolKit has been created to transfer knowledge to the providers as well as their customers. It is the opposite of a "black box" approach. Included in the kit is other valuable information in an easy to read format. For example, the quick area estimation model is useful to determine the amount of occupiable area a group will need in a specific facility. The ST&M ToolKit will enable professionals in the building and CRE-FM industry to make their customers more productive because they will be accommodated in facilities that provide the best match and the best fit!

The new BestFit™ software makes the processes in the ST&M ToolKit simple to use and illustrate. Just enter the data ­ the comparisons are generated automatically. Graphic customer and facility profiles and reports for management can then be created and printed. The BestFit software is quick and friendly to install but, if support is needed, a help desk is available. The ST&M ToolKit also includes formats for describing the profile of the organizational unit, group and for estimating the quantity of space required.

Why measure the quality of CRE-FM services and products?

No matter where you sit in the building industry production chain, you need hard evidence of the quality of your service delivery process and of the quality of the end-product: the facility provided to your customers, whether leased, or owned, built new, retrofitted, renovated or repaired.

Measuring performance is the order of the day, whether you are an in-house or external service provider. "Success" can be defined by criteria such as relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, responsiveness, flexibility, quality of services and products, timeliness and informed communications. These criteria can be measured using different research tools, including customer satisfaction survey instruments, benchmarking questionnaires and the serviceability standardized scales.

What are the serviceability scales?

The serviceability scales are two matched, multiple-choice sets of questions on over 100 serviceability topics. One scale is used for setting workplace requirements for functionality and quality. It describes customer needs ­ demand ­ in everyday language, as the core of front-end planning. The other matching scale is used for assessing the capability of a facility, or its design, to meet those levels of requirement. It rates facilities ­ supply ­ in performance language, as a first step towards an outline performance specification.

Each scale provides for levels of functionality and quality calibrated from 0 to 9 (less to more). Each set of scales can be used separately and independently of the other.

The data developed using the serviceability scales can now easily be displayed with the BestFit software. The information is presented as bar chart profiles, based on the levels assigned to each topic. These customer and facility profiles can then be compared with each other in any combination. Reports for management can be generated to select and show only the data highlights which require attention.

Knowing your customer is a must

A customer profile brings together an array of information about a specific customer organization. Developing customer profiles takes the guesswork out of CRE-FM responses to senior management. Different groups have different needs. Segmenting the overall population of the target organization is important. The requirements of the groups within the organization may be mostly overlapping, but some key differences may make or break their productivity. The more knowledge and understanding a facility organization has of the unique needs of each customer group, the better able it is to convince senior management that it is being responsive to customer needs.

Enlist the support of your customers ­ prepare them for an advocacy role

To prepare your customer profiles, use a process that involves them and get their "buy-in". When your customers are more knowledgeable about their space and what you do to respond to their needs, they will be more satisfied and understanding of all those things that are "right" about the environment you provide. Improving communication with your customers, and demystifying "technical" information will make it easier for you to get their support for your activities. Keeping customers involved and advertising their involvement helps to ensure that you have their support.

Don't be afraid to inform them and to help them understand what you do, and how their facility can enhance their productivity. In the building industry and facility management business, 90 per cent of customer evaluation of the building and FM performance comes from the customers' perception of what service you provide and how you provide it. If you are not "marketing" your services to them, you cannot help them separate rumour and perception from reality. Objective, comprehensive, systematic approaches like the ST&M ToolKit will give you the means to improve both process and product. Witness the following: The CRE-FM group of one large multinational corporation used this serviceability approach and ToolKit to define the requirements of a core business unit. As a result, the individual in charge was nominated by the managers of the core business unit for the in-house yearly CRE-FM award for innovation.