PDF: Introduction to Executive FM

If Facilities Management is constantly firefighting, the problem is probably not effort. It is structure.

Executive FM Consulting provides diagnostic-led advisory services to help senior leaders in post-secondary institutions assess the current state of Facilities Management, identify the structural causes of underperformance, define the target operating model, and develop a sequenced roadmap for transition.

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Facilities Management Consulting for Universities, Colleges, and Polytechnics

Regain Control Before Institutional Exposure Becomes Visible.

We work with FM leaders and executives with institutional accountability who know something is not holding together, even though nothing has failed. You may recognize this:

♦️ Operations technically function, but nothing feels stable

♦️ Every month feels heavier, without a clear cause

♦️ are one incident away from scrutiny that you are not ready for

♦️ team is working hard, but the system is quietly burning them out

♦️ You spend more time explaining FM than leading it

♦️ can see the risks, but you cannot yet prove them in a way that leadership will act on

♦️ If something goes wrong, it will look like a leadership failure, not a system failure

Executive FM intervenes when operations are still functioning, but control is slipping, and exposure is increasing. We stabilize what is under strain, clarify what actually matters, and turn unease into evidence before visibility forces the conversation.

What Executive FM Does - The Structural Control System

We help post-secondary institutions where Facilities Management feels overloaded, reactive, or out of step with institutional needs. Together, we identify what is getting in the way, define what the function needs to become, and create a practical roadmap to restore performance, credibility, and the capacity for change.

Our work focuses on the structural conditions that shape results, including positioning, governance, decision rights, role clarity, operating maturity, and service delivery design.

Our strength is seeing structural misalignment faster than most people, turning ambiguity into an intelligible operating picture, and giving leaders a practical sequence for restoring coherence.

The final product is not a report but an executive decision package. That package includes current-state diagnosis, target state, gap analysis, roadmap, risks, sponsor decisions required, and first-90-day priorities.

Start With a Quick Win - The Structural Scan

A short, structured scan will clarify where pressure on FM operations is coming from and what to address first. It is designed to be fast, low-disruption, and focused on producing a decision, not a report. It will identify"

Where instability is being created

• What is driving workload and risk

• The right first move to restore control

Learn How the Scan Works

The Scan Will Deliver

♦️ A clear, external view of where pressure is coming from.

♦️ A defined starting point based on structural conditions, not symptoms.

♦️ A practical path to restore stability and control.

♦️ A way to move forward without expanding scope, cost, or disruption.

Move to a Full Structural Control System to Restore Control in Facilities Operations

Engagements are delivered on a fixed-cost basis with clear scope and defined outcomes, giving clients certainty over time, cost, and risk while allowing the work to be tailored to their priorities.

Context and Signal Review

Focused discussions establish institutional context, surface visible pressures, and determine whether a structured diagnostic is warranted. Early signals of instability and constraint are identified.

Evidence and Structural Diagnosis

Interviews, organizational design, budgets, planning processes, service performance, and governance arrangements are assessed together to isolate the patterns driving rework, loss of control, reactive workload, and stalled improvement. Targeted surveys or focus groups are used where additional validation is required.

Future-State Design

Governance conditions, decision rights, role clarity, service model structure, and management disciplines are defined as an integrated system designed to restore control and stabilize performance.

Roadmap and Execution Path

A sequenced, decision-ready action plan is established, enabling leadership to stabilize operations, redesign critical elements, and move forward with clarity, control, and measurable progress.

Leadership and Consulting Experience in Complex Institutions

Executive FM Consulting draws on senior leadership and consulting experience across universities, colleges, polytechnics, healthcare, and municipal government. That experience provides a practical understanding of how governance, decision-making, and operating conditions shape Facilities Management performance inside complex institutions.

Experience includes senior leadership, advisory, and transformation work in institutions where Facilities Management performance is shaped by competing priorities, constrained resources, and complex governance.

Grant Sommerfeld

Founder and CEO

Grant Sommerfeld brings 17 years of Chief Facilities Officer experience, including nine years as a university Associate Vice-President, leading complex facilities operations across post-secondary, healthcare, and municipal environments.

His work focuses on a specific problem: why Facilities Management functions become trapped in reactive service delivery despite capable people and significant investment.

Across institutions, the pattern is consistent. Facilities teams are positioned downstream of the decisions that drive workload, cost, and risk. They are then held accountable for outcomes they did not create and cannot fully control.

Grant’s approach is to diagnose and correct those structural conditions. This includes clarifying decision rights, redesigning operating models, and aligning roles and workflows to how work actually moves through the institution.

His work is practical, phased, and grounded in lived executive experience. It is designed to restore control, reduce failure demand, and stabilize service performance without defaulting to additional staffing, systems, or capital.

Credentials

MBA
Certified Educational Facilities Professional (CEFP)
Certified Facilities Manager (CFM)
Chartered Facilities Management Surveyor (FRICS)
Certified Management Consultant (CMC)

Fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. President of the IFMA Facilities Management Consultants Council.

Grant Sommerfeld

MBA, CMC, CFM, CEFP, FRICS

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Start the Conversation

Institutions typically begin by discussing the context they are facing and exploring whether a structured diagnostic would be useful.

If the discussion suggests that a deeper examination would be helpful, Executive FM Consulting can outline how a structured diagnostic would proceed and what the institution could expect from that process.

What Happens Next

If you reach out:

We schedule a short introductory conversation.
We discuss the institutional context and current challenges.
If appropriate, we explore whether a structured diagnostic would be useful.

There is no obligation to proceed beyond that conversation.

Contact Grant Sommerfeld

Email: contact@executivefm.ca

Mobile: 1-587-226-1205

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