Implementing change

Facilities management is very much about people, and this can sometimes be forgotten.

Facilities management is the enabler for any organisation, and there is a need to engage with end users to ensure the service we are offering allows them to carry out their day to day business. When we start to disrupt this service, even if it is actually for the better, it can still be very emotive.

This chapter addresses the issues that surround the implementation stage of change projects from an FM perspective, considering the communications issues of move management, the practical issues involved and methods to minimise the disruption associated with a move. It draws on a practical case study example to illustrate the facets of communication in move management. The issues arising from changes to working environments can be hard for facilities management staff to engage with. There is very often an approach that ‘it just has to be done’ and this results in a lack of engagement and communication from the facilities management staff to the end users (Donald, 1994;La Framboise et al., 2003; Price and Fortune, 2008). There is existing literature in relation to the importance of change communication and how the lack of a communication strategy can impact on the satisfaction and engagement of staff in the long term, but little is written about this from a facilities management perspective. Included within the chapter is a case study based on research in a blue chip organisation that focused on staff satisfaction following a change to working practice and also on the communications method used.

Alongside the issue of communication, the chapter also considers the politics of move management, with recommendations on how to engage staff so they are fully participatory in the move, building the right project team and how to evaluate the communication strategy used and the overall satisfaction of the staff after the move.