2026 is a new year and brings with it new opportunities for facilities management practitioners to recalibrate. As facilities managers, we have the opportunity and the challenge to impact people and their ability to get their work done or live in a safe, productive, and satisfying environment.
No doubt, the struggle is real as we continue to devise invaluable strategies for improving the way we deliver our services to clients particularly with regards to getting executive buy-in for facilities projects. There are many lessons, and experiences, with proven skills sets to help in convincing the C-Suite for better approval outcomes.
Many facilities managers struggle with having to convince the corporate leaders that facilities management is a vital and strategic investment of the business and not just a cost center.
For experienced and upcoming facilities managers, there are critical strategies that should serve to assist, across industries, to better counter the ever so popular phrase “not in the budget this year.”
One such strategy is to build conversations around risk rather than on costs. This is in fact very important. Corporate executives respond better to business cases where risk management is a focal point instead of maintenance requests.
For example, creating a case that failure to perform a particular activity will result in major down time and system shut down resulting in higher cost for rework will attract immediate reaction for approval The point made has gone from being a repair cost to a major organizational work disruption that may affect the ability to fulfill a major organizational purpose.
Another interesting strategy is using visual communication that executives will understand. Color-coded facility maps showing urgency to the C-suite. Red will mean “high risk”, yellow will be “caution” and green will show that “all is good”. This is helpful since many executives do not have time nor wish to read large facility assessment reports.
Another intriguing strategy is to leverage loss aversion psychology as research shows people are more risk averse. People, by human nature, are mostly motivated to avoid losses than to pursue equivalent gains.
This emphasizes the need for facilities managers to constantly demonstrate what the organization stands to lose by not taking certain steps. For instance, steps to prevent safety incidents, increase worker productivity, reduce disruption in operations etc. This may be particularly useful for organization with limited funds
Another powerful strategy is to align every facility’s request with organizational goals. If one organizational goal is to have a highly dynamic workforce with work/life balance to avoid mental health issues, then cultivating a work environment that focuses on the wellness and well-being of all staff will demonstrate a very aligned impact and mission commitment that produced approved budgets and guarantees future funding. This means everyone thrives beyond compliance.
Blending technical knowledge and practical insights with these impactful strategies provide facilities managers with strong grounds to get business leaders’ buy-in which ultimately leads to better results.
Building sustainable and efficient workplaces should be the ultimate goal of every facilities management practitioner this new year.
