Archive
could FMs become sought after by other functions?
I’ve been thinking a bit about transportable skills over the last weeks or so, prompted by some mentoring activity for someone who is trying to settle into one discipline, but with a background in an allied, but different field. Such issues will not come as any of my readers from the Facilities Management sphere because many of them, like me, came into FM from other functions. Read more…
would you be a leader or a manager, and does it matter which you are?
I write a lot here on leadership issues; it features a lot in what I do and is something that has fascinated me for many years. This week I was reading in an on line forum where the difference between a manager and a leader was under debate.
That there is a difference between managing and leading I don’t think is at issue, but there is no reason for me why the same person can’t be both, and I would go further and suggest that many of the best leaders are also good managers. Read more…
monday musings on leadership and motivation
The ability to motivate is one of those traits that we expect in a leader; keeping the team positive, productive and, for at least short bursts, galvanised should be bread and butter to a good leader as should the ability to keep the team’s collective heads up when things are not going too well. Read more…
would you rather be a leader or a manager?
I was reading the other day an on line forum where the difference between a manager and a leader was under debate. That there is a difference between managing and leading I don’t think is at issue, but there is no reason for me why the same person can’t be both, and I would go further and suggest that many of the best leaders are also good managers. Read more…
Dad’s Army: FM Pioneers?
Scene: Walmington-on-Sea church hall, Vicar’s office. Captain Mainwaring sits at his desk reading an order from HQ.
As he reads the letter a smile begins to play around his lips. There is a knock at the door; he looks up. Read more…
Great teams come from characters, not clones
He set out that morning in good spirits; for late December it was a bright day and heading slightly north he didn’t have to worry too much about the low sun in his eyes. The English countryside was at its Winter finest and he felt good about the day to come; a few hours working with a small group who not only sought his advice, but had readily paid in advance. The mile flew by with some help from Classic FM and he was soon turning into the drive of the venue, an old country manor, now a hotel. Read more…
the office of the future needs to be flexible and productive; but what does that mean?
I saw a headline that said the office of the future would need to be flexible and productive, but that’s a bit like saying that a house has to have walls and a roof. Let’s examine those words in more detail though. Read more…
getting facilities management out of the closet and into the mainstream
I am often asked what I miss most about no longer being an operational Facilities Manager, and I have a two part answer; on the up side I am glad I no longer have to put up with sitting at interminable meetings where the chair and many of the participants are ill prepared, but on the down side I miss making things happen. Read more…
with feet of clay it pays to tread carefully
I started this a couple of weeks ago, but didn’t quite finish and wrote a different Musing for that week, although it might have been quite prophetic given the news over the last week. I had been reading a few biographies and had been struck by one thread; whilst all of the people concerned have been highly regarded by some, or many, they have been flawed as individuals. Read more…
unclutter your organisation
I wrote last week about supporting the front line, and the importance of having a focus on what you have to do to deliver what your customers need. As regular readers will know I have a strong dislike of process for the sake of it and a belief in concentrating on what you need to do and not allowing yourself to be distracted by nice to have fancies. Read more…
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