|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|
|
|
Back to Facility Manager
Contents |
 |
|
|
By Jim Brown For some of us more seasoned facility managers (notice I did not say older), we can remember the musical group ABBA. One of their hit songs was “Knowing Me, Knowing You.” However, a greater majority of us are familiar with the saying, “It’s not what you know, but who you know.” No matter which one of these you’re more familiar with, they both can serve as reminders to us in a key aspect of dealing with a crisis situation. In a crisis, the most important aspect is communication. The effectiveness of the communication can be based upon several factors. However, one factor that leads to successful communications is if the parties involved have some type of previous relationship established. Having a pre-established relationship is probably the single most important factor in handling a crisis. Other factors playing key roles are: knowing who (what other departments/organizations) will be involved, who the key players of that department/organization are, and understanding the role of other departments/organizations. It’s important to establish these relationships prior to a crisis be - cause it will help eliminate the feeling that you only call when you need something. Here are some guidelines that can be used to establish quality relationships: 1. Develop a list of possible partners (organizations/departments, individuals, etc.) that you’ll potentially be working with: • Staff • Tenants and other facility residents/university departments • Police (university) as well as local municipalities, police departments, sheriff’s departments, state patrol, U.S. marshals, etc. • Security (non-uniformed) • Food and beverage company • University departments, such as maintenance, housekeeping, grounds, parking, marketing and communications • Health department • Fire marshal (supplies us with EMTs, paramedics, ambulance services) • Media: newspapers, radio stations and television stations • Sponsors • Military institution(s) 2. List the points of contact for those organizations/departments. Collect pertinent data for those individuals — names, addresses, phone numbers (direct and alternate work numbers, cell and home), e-mail addresses, pager numbers, etc. 3. Meet with the aforementioned groups and/or individuals. Meet with your established points of contact on a regular basis. The frequency of interaction between some of the groups or organizations (your partners) on your list with your facility should dictate the schedule of your meetings as well as the type of meetings. Group meetings. Staff (full-time and part-time), university maintenance, university police, university physical plant, food and beverage company, housekeeping company, security company, university A/V department, tenants, HPR department and campus recreation. There can be several benefits, but the primary one is that everyone gets to know what is going on and gets to know others that are a part of our operations. These meetings are done on a weekly basis. Individual meetings. There will be certain members from your list of partners that should meet individually outside of the group meetings. The reasons for these meetings can vary; however, one of the primary reasons for these meetings is that it gives you a better opportunity to know your point of contact on a one-to-one basis. Benefits include better understanding of how each department works, strengths and weaknesses of each department, discovery of different resources, etc. Some of these individual meetings are done on a weekly basis and some are done monthly, quarterly or at least annually. More Meetings It is important to note that certain members of our staff (usually at the supervisor or manager level) will reach out and conduct their own meetings with their counterparts and/or colleagues from other departments. By empowering our employees at this level, it shares the responsibility of collecting data and sharing information with everyone. Some of their weekly meetings may actually be monthly or quarterly meetings for supervisors or senior management staff. The most important reason for establishing relationships (especially before a crisis) is that it will not only lead to better efficiency in handling a crisis, but it should also assist in the overall operating efficiency of your facility. The motto we use is to establish relationships (before we need them), nurture and enhance relationships, and maintain relationships regularly. We believe if we are successful at fulfilling our motto, we will not have to refer to another one of ABBA’s songs, “S.O.S.” In closing, I would also like to remind you of a couple of other important meetings that are coming up: this year’s annual University Venue Management Confer - ence (UVMC) and the IAAM Annual Conference & Trade Show in Anaheim, Calif., July 24–30, 2008. For more information on these meetings, please go to the IAAM Web site at www.iaam.org. Gotta go, I have a meeting. See you in Anaheim! fm Jim Brown is associate director of the Ervin J. Nutter Center at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio. |
||
|
©
2002-2008
International Association of Assembly Managers
635 Fritz Dr. Coppell, TX 75019 USA Phone: 972/906-7441 Fax: 972/906-7418 |