Is winter the hardest time of the year for Facilities Management? thumbnail image Published on 5th December 2016 by Gemma Harding

Facilities Management is a year round task, with each season bringing its own challenges. That being said, winter could definitely make a strong claim to being the most challenging season for Facilities Managers. Whether it’s dealing with property maintenance in the face of difficult weather conditions, or maintaining the grounds with fewer hours of daylight, Facilities Managers will need a strong infrastructure to manage at this time of year.

Managing the Building

When it comes to Facilities Management most people will immediately think about running a building, and during the winter months even running things indoors becomes more challenging. Ideally, a preemptive maintenance survey and plan will have been undertaken, but even with this in place the British weather is always able to cause a surprise. With cold weather causing burst pipes, and storms causing leaks and water damage, it’s likely an emergency call-out could be required at some point. In order to be able to react quickly to events such as this, it’s important that communication between facilities managers and key service providers, such as maintenance people, are maintained 24 hours a day.

Managing the Site

As all Facilities Managers know, the role can encompass much more than just the building. When it comes to winter, managing the outdoors of your site can be just as difficult as the building itself. In a world of ever growing compensation culture, ensuring gritting and snow clearance is done properly is a must. Similarly, supporting grounds people with proper training and PPE for the cold weather is another important task during the winter months. Add to this things like flood defences in low lying areas and there is plenty to keep a Facilities Manager busy, and a lot of service providers for them to be liaising with.

Another aspect of Facilities Management that is often overlooked by people outside the industry is securing the site during the long winter nights. Working with security and lighting firms becomes particularly important over winter, and as these service providers operate at night, it’s important to have systems in place to keep your lines of communication with them open.

How CALLCARE can help

Outsourcing call handling could be the best kept secret of Facilities Management. When it comes to orchestrating so many different services, call handling ensures that all your service providers can get through to you 24 hours a day. This means that regardless of when their service is needed, and whether it’s a regular or occasional need, there is always a direct line of communication between them and the Facilities Manager to ensure the highest standard of service is maintained at all times.

Call handling also allows outsourced Facilities Management providers to ensure they always meet their SLA’s with their clients. With a call handling service, clients can always reach their Facilities Management team in the event of an emergency, which becomes increasingly likely during the winter months. Another benefit of using a call handling service is that they can handle your emergency call-out lines, enabling rapid response to incidents like burst pipes or power cuts at a property.

At CALLCARE, we provide call handling services that can help Facilities Management teams and outsourced Facilities Management services liaise with their key service providers and respond to incidents of emergency at any property. To find out more about how CALLCARE can work for Facilities Management providers, contact us today on 0345 055 8444.