Frequently Asked Questions

What does Executive FM Consulting do?

Executive FM Consulting helps universities, colleges, and polytechnics diagnose and improve the structural conditions affecting Facilities Management performance. The work focuses on organizational effectiveness, governance alignment, operating model clarity, workload management, and infrastructure execution rather than technical facilities operations alone.

What is a Facilities Management diagnostic?

A Facilities Management diagnostic is a structured assessment used to identify the organizational, operational, and governance conditions affecting service stability, workload pressure, accountability, decision-making, and operational performance. The objective is to distinguish symptoms from underlying causes so leadership can make informed decisions about where to focus effort and resources.

Why do Facilities Management organizations become reactive?

Facilities Management organizations often become reactive when workload demand, governance structures, decision rights, priorities, and operating expectations become misaligned. In many cases, chronic firefighting reflects structural overload rather than workforce failure or lack of technical capability.

What kinds of problems can the work address?

Engagements may address issues such as deferred maintenance escalation, service instability, workload overload, unclear accountability, prioritization failures, leadership transition, governance friction, operational coordination challenges, customer frustration, role ambiguity, and operating model redesign.

Does the work only apply to large organizational transformation projects?

No. The methodology can be applied to both focused operational concerns and broader organizational challenges. Some institutions engage Executive FM Consulting to address a specific issue or provide diagnostic clarity before determining whether broader changes are necessary.

What is the FM Structural Scan?

The FM Structural Scan is a focused gateway diagnostic designed to identify the dominant structural conditions affecting Facilities Management performance. It provides leadership with a clearer understanding of where instability is originating, what should be prioritized first, and which issues are most likely to improve overall system performance if addressed.

What makes this approach different from traditional consulting?

Traditional consulting approaches often focus on organizational charts, benchmarking, staffing levels, or technical recommendations in isolation. Executive FM Consulting focuses on how governance, workload, decision-making, operating structures, and organizational conditions interact to shape operational outcomes over time.

Is this primarily a technical facilities assessment?

No. While technical conditions matter, most recurring operational problems are influenced by organizational and governance conditions that shape how work is prioritized, coordinated, and executed. The methodology focuses on the operating system surrounding Facilities Management, not only the physical assets themselves.

What does a successful engagement look like?

Successful engagements produce greater operational clarity, improved alignment between leadership expectations and operational reality, stronger prioritization and accountability, reduced organizational friction, and more stable and reliable execution under pressure.

How are engagements structured?

Engagements are designed to be practical, bounded, and sequenced according to institutional needs. Work may begin with a focused Structural Scan and expand into targeted advisory support, operating model redesign, governance clarification, or broader organizational effectiveness initiatives where appropriate.

How much of my own time will be required?

We understand how busy it gets in facilities management and will adjust our activity to align with your availability.  Obviously we need to spend time together upfront to fully understand the situation and expectations and we'll need access to staff and stakeholders to gather information, observe work as it happens, and so on. These activities will be conducted virtually and on-site and include meetings, interviews, surveys, focus groups, and site tours.

How does pricing work?

All engagements are performed at a fixed cost quoted up front for budget certainty.  The Scan is a easy entry point providing a solid, fact-based assessment and starting point.  It can be conducted virtually and for under $9,000 CAD. The Control System goes into more detail and moves from assessment to solution design.  Costs will vary depending on the scope. Clients can also seek support of issues they've identified.  In these situations a fixed-price quote will be prepared upfront based on the work required.

Are there satisfaction guarantees?

Yes. We'll keep working until you're 100% satisfied. Period.