Applying the Three Ps of Facility Management in Your Organization

Facility management is a complex, multi-faceted field. An essential component across all major industries, the role comprises a wide range of tasks and responsibilities.   

A well-managed facility provides a greater experience for all visitors, employees, and operators. We have discussed the benefits of facility management software at length: 

• Fast, secure, user-friendly visitor management 
• Streamline and digitize emergency management 
• Consolidate communications in one place 
• Provide real-time updates on visitors and security 
• Ease compliance with industry standards 
• Supply Actionable Insights and dynamic reports

Today, we look beyond the software to discuss an essential focus for every facility operator – the Three Ps of facility management. We explore each of the three Ps in-depth, highlighting their importance and covering practical tips and strategies you can use to engage them. This blog will provide valuable insights and information for facility managers of all experience levels. 

What are the Three Ps of Facility Management 

The smooth operation of any facility requires a clear understanding of the three Ps. A Facility manager who applies strategies to engage these three factors drives efficiency, safety, security, and experience – contributing to a more successful organization. The three Ps are: 

1. People 
2. Process
3. Place

Effective facility management occurs where all three Ps intersect. 

People 

In facility management, the people are any persons in or directly interacting with the facility.   

Your workforce is a permanent factor. Employees are there on a consistent basis, generally working within specific hours and parameters. Managers need to maintain a safe and secure environment that minimizes barriers for their employees.

One example of this is employing technology to optimize access control. Smart access control integrations protect your workforce and organization by keeping unregistered people out of sensitive or protected areas. Only those with the proper access are able to enter the controlled gates, doors, or turnstiles.  

At the same time, smart technology makes it easy for those granted access to enter. The workforce is granted access by simply scanning cards, badges, or QR codes. This allows fast, easy access without wasting valuable time or requiring a security guard at each controlled entrance.  

While the workforce is permanent, temporary visitors offer a greater challenge. These people may include: 

• Clients 
• Vendors & Suppliers 
• Contractors 
• Temporary Employees 
• Cleaners 
• Interviewees 
• Friends/Family 
• Investors 
• Inspectors
• Partners 

Managing the flow of visitors is especially important for maintaining efficiency. Permanent employees may already have cards or badges and are familiar with sign-in processes and where they need to go. Visitors, however, take longer to process and may need to submit documentation and become familiarized with emergency procedures.  

A visitor management system is a sound solution for processing visitors and employees alike. People coming into the facility enter using a self-guided sign-in kiosk. There is no need for an individual to manually check them in, saving on resources while also increasing the speed of entry and ensuring that all necessary information is inputted and stored.  

Managers can take advantage of visitor badge printers to print off. Once the sign-in is complete, the kiosk automatically prints off a visitor badge, sharing pre-selected information about the guest and their visit. This allows security to recognize on sight whether or not someone has completed their sign-in.   

In addition to the identification and purpose of the visit, users can be prompted to complete surveys, provide contact information, or review safety videos and orientation. Using visitor pre-registration further increases efficiency. Facility visitors can complete the sign-in on their phones before arrival, allowing them to sign in with a QR code.  

A clear understanding of who is in your building, and enabling automated processes that cater to the different types of visitors, streamline the organization. 

Process 

The processes are the operations or activities that occur within the place. Industry and business type significantly impact the processes in your facilities and the regulations around them. Facility managers need to be aware of these regulations to protect the reputation and safety of their organization, as well as to avoid penalization.  

For instance, any organization that manufactures or imports defense articles or provides defense services must adhere to ITAR regulations. This affects organizations in the aerospace and defense industries and can extend to company types like universities and research labs that develop or use these technologies.  

Failure to comply can lead to civil and criminal fines that can cost up to $1,000,000 per violation and even lead to jail time. Automated facility management software can employ features like watchlist screening during visitor sign-ins to ease compliance. Explore the ITAR Compliance Checklist for more information about the regulations and how to ease compliance.  

While not all industries carry the same threat level as defense, compliances and standards can have a wide-reaching impact. For instance, the food and beverage industry has special considerations to prevent the spread of sickness through contaminated food. The FDA enforces FSMA compliance through third-party certification and food safety audits.  

Managing audits and certifications requires careful practices and detailed logs. Digital visitor logbooks help store and organize vital information, minimizing the impact and cost of audits.

While compliance is vital for every industry, understanding processes is also important for improving all sorts of operations within the facility. Consider factors like: 

Place 

The place is the actual physical location and infrastructure. For example, a warehouse, airport, school, or manufacturing plant. Facility operators must consider all aspects of their place to create an intelligent facility management plan. The plan looks at all aspects of the building, from the products within it to the building itself and even to external features like parking lots and transportation.  

The place can inform all sorts of initiatives, such as determining where access points are and which should have visitor kiosks or security. As well as where front desk automation may most impact reducing lobby traffic and increasing efficiency.  

Having a clear picture of the features of the place informs the technologies required. For instance, parking lots and loading docks may require features like wayfinding or access gate controls.   

The product and building types can also inform safety hazards and help determine emergency response. Most organizations have internal mandates to improve emergency processes and evacuation times. Understanding the hazards present and the needs around emergency communication have a dramatic impact on improving emergency response and decreasing the downtime and costs of running evacuations and drills – all while increasing overall safety.  

Features like evacuation tracking, SMS roll calls, and automated reporting improve emergency responses at both the facility and enterprise levels. 

Upgrade Your Facility Management Toolbelt 

Understanding the Three Ps is a great starting point for establishing facility management best practices. However, to maximize your performance and ease the complex operations in enterprise facilities, managers need to employ smart, efficient technology.  

iLobby's Facility and Visitor Management platform provides turnkey solutions to meet the unique need of your facility. Bundling automated software and hardware that arrives ready out of the box enables powerful solutions to streamline processes and performance.  

Book a personalized 15-minute demo today to discover what iLobby can do for you.