10B — October 11 - 24, 2019 —Southern New Jersey — M id A tlantic
Real Estate Journal
www.marej.com
S outhern NJ
By Jamie Gutkin, HF Planners, LLC Managing expectations in the modern world of communication
E
xpectations can be de- fined by a strong be- lief that someone will
be difficult to separate the fact that the facility manager has a life outside of work, or has other projects to work on. Managing expectations is crucial with the use of modern technology because everyone involved on the project needs to be under- standing of the working hours and what is expected of them and when. Stating set hours on the signature of an email can easily help manage the expectations for an end user. With the availability of instan- taneous communication comes an unrealistic expectation that there should be instantaneous responses. However, being
upfront with communication styles, set hours, and scheduled phone calls or times to commu- nicate on a project eliminates the unrealistic expectation can be eradicated. Along with the expectation of today’s modern communi- cation of instantaneous re- sponses, comes the unrealistic expectations of instantaneous results. Instant gratification is becoming increasingly more prevalent, but part of the facil- ity manager’s job is to be clear with deadlines and progress results throughout the project. Another important facet for a facility manager in today’s world of technology is to recog- nize the level of understanding of the process the end user has. This may be their first rede- sign or their tenth redesign. It is important to understand how experienced they may be because experiences correlate with expectations. Even with someone that has managed a redesign in their commercial space prior, they may have worked with other designers who had different communica- tion styles or design processes. A facility manager who is adept at managing expectations will correctly do so from the start. Being clear with the duration of the process, including each phase, will ease any unreal- istic expectations concerning any unrealistic expectations in today’s dynamic and instant gratuitous culture. As a part of the ever-chang- ing and instantly satisfied cul- ture, social media plays a large role. With current marketing through many digital plat- forms, there is an immediate expectation of what the final outcome should look like for the end user’s end. The chal- lenge for the facility manager is to initially understand the expectations of the end user based on what marketing tools captivated them initially. With such a vast display of targeted ads, it becomes difficult to reign in the expectation and manage it accordingly, yet it is a crucial step. Social media shows the best display of the top work. This could include any office space that perhaps inspired the redesign in the first place. As the facility manager, it is im- portant to communicate what the final vision and the steps to getting there. The inspira- tion for the redesign could have started with a Google office continued on page 18B
ever, as a facility manager or consumer, how do you align your expectations with the other? With so many forms of communication like email, or phone or text, many ideas or messages can be lost in translation. Not to mention many forms of social media, prospective clients are only seeing over-achieving work, perhaps way out of the scope and budget. The modern world of communication often consists of instant gratification, but in the design and construction world, progress takes time! All of these headaches that align with the problems in the mod-
ern world of communication can be solved by appropriately managing expectations. Today, people are always on their phone or computer, with unlimited access to email or a means of instant communica- tion. Communication is now continuous despite ever being in person. Modern communi- cation with today’s technol- ogy is a balance between the good and the bad. As a facility manager, it becomes difficult if the hours of your team do not directly align with that of the customer’s. Leaving work becomes more difficult even if you are not in the office. It can
o r s h o u l d a c h i e v e something . A p r ima r y function of a facility man- ager’s job is t o manage the expecta- tions for the
Jamie Gutkin
end user, employees and work- ing team and to ensure that a great achievement is made. The expectation for this great achievement could be a final new design for a facility. How-
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