Insights and Lessons Learned

Case Studies and Thought Leadership

There is No Teacher Like Experience

Executive FM Consulting delivers measurable improvements in facilities management performance across post-secondary institutions. These articles and case signals highlight how diagnostics and operating model redesign drive real outcomes for leaders. ​They were learned during my 17-year career as a chief facilities management officer and are constantly reinforced in my consulting experiences. 

Published IFMA Facilities Management Journal

Fix It Before It Fails: Reinvesting in educational facilities (July 7, 2025) ✅
Despite aging infrastructure, deferred maintenance, and rising expectations, facility leaders in education often struggle to make the case for strategic investment in the learning environment. To strengthen their case with the administration, FMs must clearly present a rationale, language, and tools to win support and funding.

The Full Perspective: Eight common blindspots in FM (September 29, 2025) ✅
Facility teams are among the hardest-working groups in any institution. They manage the infrastructure, protect institutional continuity and support day-to-day experience. Yet, despite their critical function, FM teams are often undervalued, misunderstood and viewed as cost centers. Too often, their work is invisible until something goes wrong. Organizational blind spots keep FM teams stuck in reactive cycles. Unchecked, these traps erode credibility and performance.

Published on LinkedIn

FM: The Missing Piece in Higher Education's Crisis Response
Higher education in Canada is facing a financial crisis. Institutions are scrambling to close budget gaps, adapt to new realities for international students, and find efficiencies wherever possible. If institutions are serious about tackling financial pressures, student housing challenges, and long-term sustainability, they cannot afford to sideline FM.

FM as a Proxy Battleground in the Era of Reduced Government Support
Governments are not opposed to post-secondary education; they are disillusioned by how institutions operate. The steady retreat from funding is not personal or ideological, but rather systemic, reflecting broader shifts toward privatization, performance management, and skepticism of institutional autonomy.
 
​FM sits squarely in the middle of this shift, often without realizing it. Facilities Management is one of the largest cost centres in any institution, second only to academic payroll. As governments scrutinize efficiency, FM becomes a proxy battleground for broader concerns about waste, misalignment, and inertia.

Annual Facilities Operations Expenditure
The AFOE (Annual Facilities Operations Expenditures) is a calculation that compares total FM costs with gross institutional expenditures to provide a metric for gauging the value of FM operations relative to the costs incurred. It is a comprehensive tool for strategic planning, operational efficiency, and sustainability in higher education. It empowers senior leaders to ensure their facilities management operations are aligned with institutional goals, optimized for cost efficiency, and prepared for the future.

Counting Steps: Action over Perfection (And the Power of Casual Conversation)
Pursuing grand renovations and technological innovations in Facilities Management often captures our imagination and resources. However, one of my most fulfilling experiences in FM revealed that transformative change could emerge from small, thoughtful adjustments deeply rooted in understanding the daily challenges faced by those we serve.

Deferred Maintenance as an Example of When To Engage Facilities Management​
The landscape of facility maintenance in higher education institutions is undergoing a paradigm shift. Traditional approaches, characterized by compartmentalized departments and outdated methodologies, must be equipped to address the escalating deferred-maintenance crisis.
 
A new, forward-thinking approach is imperative, one that integrates facilities planning across the institution's fabric and harnesses contemporary solutions. Critical to this approach is a plan to refurbish and reinvigorate our aging campus infrastructure, enabling colleges and universities to reclaim stewardship of their facilities, which are currently at risk of undermining their educational missions.