Facility managers today understand the importance of linking facility management to their business’s overall strategy. Still, many have difficulty finding the time or resources to devote to developing a strategic facility plan.

To help the International Facility Management Association has released a white paper that provides information on the strategic facility planning process, its requirements and benefits, and gives facility managers the basic tools to launch and successfully complete a strategic facility plan.

“Strategic Facility Planning: A White Paper,” outlines the key principles of strategic facility planning and details all stages of the process, including understanding, analyzing, planning and acting.

“Strategic facility planning’s ultimate purpose is to provide a framework to link business strategy to capacity planning,” said Gary Broersma, director of strategic facility planning & development at Covance and past chairman of the IFMA board of directors. “Well written, flexible plans account for growth as well as contraction, providing strategies for seizing opportunities and for reacting to economic downturns.”

The new white paper defines what strategic facility planning is and what it is not, using accepted business planning methodology and applying it to facility capital planning. It presents a four step facility planning process that is clear, concise and repeatable, while recommending tools that can assist in each step of the process. The strategic facility planning process can be defined as the process by which a facility management organization envisions its future by linking its purpose to the strategy of the overall organization and then developing goals, objectives and action plans to achieve that future. The result of the strategic facility planning process is the strategic facility plan.

The SFP is a two-to-five year plan encompassing the entire portfolio of owned and/or leased space that sets strategic facility goals based on the organization’s strategic objectives. Strategic facility planning recognizes that every decision made in business planning has a direct impact on an organization’s real estate assets and needs.

The purpose of the SFP plan, therefore, is to develop a flexible and implementable plan based on the specific and unique considerations of the individual business. A four-step process provides the general format to accomplish this mission.

Understanding

Thoroughly understand the organization’s mission, vision, values and goals. Many organizations follow a balanced scorecard of four key measurements: financial performance; customer knowledge; internal business processes; and learning and growth.

Analyzing

Use analytical techniques, such as SWOT analysis, SCAN, SLP or scenario planning, to explore the range of possible futures and the triggers used to analyze an organization’s facility needs.

Planning

Develop plans that meet the long-range needs of the organization. At minimum, the SFP should be reviewed annually and further updated periodically as conditions require.

Acting

Take actions as planned and implement the SFP. Feedback from actions taken can be incorporated into the next plan and/or project to provide continuous improvement to future SFPs. The cyclical nature of constant planning for the changing future and adopting plans along the way are normal events. These changes and updates must be managed to ensure they are achievable.

Once the organization’s business plan has been established, and a clear understanding of assets and capabilities has been gathered, it is possible to identify which strategic business goals require a facility response. Gap analysis is an appropriate tool to use for this comparison.

Essentially, the difference, or gap, is established between the current situation and the analyzed and verified needs. This gap is the area requiring more detailed planning. Gap analysis is a business resource assessment tool that enables a company to compare its actual performance with its potential performance. For facility planning, this gap analysis compares existing space and its condition to the needs of the organization. At its core are two essential questions: Where are we? Where do we want to be?

The SFP can then be formulated to identify the types of facilities needed, the best geographic location for these facilities, the expected costs and a timeline for bringing them consistently in line with the business plan goals.

Components of the strategic facility plan may include: Facility portfolio analysis and documentation; condition surveys; building and site usage, and capacity analysis; industry benchmark studies; staff and technology projections over time; project identification; cost projections; presentation materials for board approval; and a facility development schedule.

The strategic facility plan guides a master plan by adding longrange strategic analyses of project drivers and restrainers. The facility manager does not make these assumptions in isolation, but rather brings in detailed analyses from all units in the organization.

A gap analysis of current versus future requirements can be aided through data collection prior to any analysis. These analyses might be of labor pools, market conditions, transport geographies, logistics and operational requirements, information technology plans and analysis, organizational or personnel structure.

Although the SFP process model ends with the hand-off to a tactical facility plan, the reality is that the process of strategic planning should be neverending. Seldom does a building go untouched after it is built. A facility may be evaluated several times during its lifetime. The cost of the original planning, design and construction of a building is only a small percentage of its total cost of ownership (TCO).

As the reiterative process of strategic facility planning continues over the lifetime of a building, it is imperative that the facility manager take into account it’s life cycle cost (LCC). LCC is the cost of the building over its lifetime, in present value-terms, which includes all costs associated with the planning, design, construction, operations, maintenance and capital improvements over time and ultimately the cost of disposition. This is especially true in a multi-building setting.

With multiple buildings, there will always be buildings in different states of condition, from new to end of useful life. To properly develop an all-encompassing SFP, the facility manager must consider the total cost of each building—taking into account all of the sunk costs to date, as described above, as well their current functionality.

For more information or to download a copy of “Strategic Facility Planning: A White Paper,” go to www.ifma.org.