A recap of the Global FM Summit; scaling up and moving forward.

The first Global FM Summit saw 60 facility managers from across the industry gather at a special event to discuss how their roles are evolving and how companies can reorganise their departments on a global level as they expand into different markets. Organised by Hospitality Group, CBRE and Sodexo, the event took place on 21 May at the new eco-chic QO hotel in the Amstelkwartier area of Amsterdam, which carries sustainability at the heart of its operation.

Global landscape is changing

Among the attendees were facility managers and real estate leaders from Microsoft, Uber and more, while Spaces co-founder Martijn Roordink led the keynote speeches. The event addressed how the global landscape is changing for facility managers and corporate real estate managers now that multinational companies are increasingly deciding to organise these departments at a global or regional level. The upshot of these changes means that the need for a company’s facility management departments to be able communicate with each other in different countries is more important than ever. And, as global contracts become more popular, the necessity of a global facility management department becomes increasingly clear.

Let’s recap

Spaces’ Roordink kicked off the talks by explaining that, while the company launched in the same week that the financial crash happened, today there are Spaces co-working offices in more than 200 countries, with 160 locations opening this year. As someone who has managed rapid change in challenging economic environments, Roordink said Spaces believes in operational excellence and highlighted the importance of having a company’s inventory management up to date, as it allows change to happen quickly while the company is able to remain flexible. A number of key figures in multinational companies shared their insights throughout the day. Fridoline van Binsbergen and Maurice Verwer discussed how they have organised facility managers and real estate managers within Shell and PwC, while Xavier Perrin from Microsoft highlighted the importance of using data to enact change within his department. For Jesper Svensson at Tetra Pak, and Roel Stroeken and Guido Meijer at Philips, making conscious choices about sourcing was the most important factor in their global departments. The summit emphasised the importance of facility managers and real estate managers in adding value to an organisation, and how their unique skills and abilities can make a company distinctive and attractive to clients. But organising facility management and real estate management departments globally can make sense internally, too, as it can improve the employee experience.

Ambitions and values

For any company looking to reorganise these departments to have a global remit or focus, the most important thing to remember is to keep the business’ ambitions and values at the core of any changes, using clear frameworks and guidelines. With that as an internal guide, companies can bring in local knowledge to inform different offices as they make changes and to help managers to keep learning throughout the process. Encouraging collaboration and the use of data to inform choices throughout times of change will create positive outcomes for all involved.

Going global the smart way

Want to expand your companies to different countries but don’t want to settle down just yet? You can also try our memberships and have global access to all Spaces around the world without having your own office.