What is the daily routine of a facility maintenance manager?

A day-in-the-life of a facilities maintenance manager will vary from job to job as well as from one day to the next. For many who have chosen this career path, that variety keeps things interesting and challenging.

That said, I do think there are some commonalities in the daily routine of a typical facility maintenance manager. However, the particular order and priority of the following items may be quite fluid, even from hour to hour.

Meetings

Whenever you find yourself with “manager” in your title, you can expect that meetings will be a regular part of your life. Whether you’re touching base with upper management, your maintenance supervisors or technicians, or outside suppliers or contractors, you’ll need to communicate and meet with them for planning and problem-solving purposes.

Meetings may be short and regular like touching base with your shift supervisor each morning, or they can be several days long and infrequent such as an annual planning meeting. Facility maintenance managers may also be called into emergency meetings when equipment fails or a crisis strikes.

Planning

Since facility maintenance managers are typically responsible for overseeing an entire plant, apartment complex, or government building, they need to spend some time planning. This may include making financial projections, scheduling preventive maintenance tasks, and organizing training and professional development opportunities for technicians.

If managers are responsible for stocking supplies and managing external contractors, they need to plan contracts, negotiate deals, and manage those deliveries of items and services.

Problem Solving

If a problem arises during the day, you can be assured that someone will suggest asking the facility manager. The number and type of problems can be quite surprising. You can expect the run-of-the-mill problems such as equipment failures, unusual and complex repairs, and shortages of supplies.

However, as a facility maintenance manager, you may be called in to settle employee disputes, contractor or supplier problems, dishonest conduct, and other issues as well.

Although each day of a facilities maintenance manager may have some loose structure, you can be certain no two days will be exactly alike. Most days will include planning and problem-solving as well as meeting with a wide variety of colleagues.