Every project needs a starting position and has a predefined number of activities from initiation to closeout. KAREN SKILLINGS reports.
Published in Facility Management Magazine.
Before you start looking for properties, have you explored the three key aspects that will influence your property search? These are people, place, and technology.
It is important that consultation on specialist business functions and nonstandard requirements is captured at this point. Don’t try to integrate a specialist facility after a new lease gets signed; by far the best way forward is to negotiate the right building to incorporate it in the first place.
Don’t think this would never happen because it does – all the time. There have also been scenarios where landlords deem having certain facilities housed in their property less than
desirable or unacceptable after the lease is signed. Don’t leave anything to chance. Do a full User Requirements exercise and develop a brief before you go any further down this path.
If you need a nudge as to what themes you should be exploring with your business, consider any one of these:
So what is the next process, assuming you are confident that you understand the direction of your business? You need to start working with your property adviser. This person will apply a structured and strategic approach in the procurement of your corporate accommodation.
Some businesses may think they want to change, be more progressive and competitive, but they need to understand the pros and cons. Your property adviser can help manage these discussions about what you want, what you are looking for, the staff impacts and barriers and the productivity – again assuming you haven’t done this. If you have – great, it’s time to move on. If you haven’t, go back. You are not ready.
If you're considering this, perhaps you should wait until you see what’s involved. Finding the right property for your business is rarely a straightforward venture. Do you really want to run the gauntlet, giving prospective landlords the opportunity to offer less than optimal occupancy terms for the next 10 to 15 years? Probably not.
So what can your property adviser do for you once you have the strategy development in hand? At this point we’re looking at about 80 pivotal activities that you and your property team may or may not have the time, resourcing or capability to pull together. It’s time to look at the Property Acquisition Project Plan, a powerful process that forms the baseplate of experienced real
estate practitioners.
Insights from many of Australia’s leading real estate experts have helped me put this roadmap together, creating an in-depth analysis of the operational aspects of the procurement phase. Its great benefit is that it offers a holistic view to the decision-makers in your business. Here’s the process that your property adviser will manage for you through your next acquisition.
This can be broken down into five sections and the steps are identified for each. Please download the tables below to view the items in each section. Following the tables is a list of common feedback from clients regarding the role of the property adviser in each of the five sections.
What else could your property advisor be doing for you at this time?
What else could your property advisor be doing for you at this time?
What else could your property advisor be doing for you at this time?
What else could your property advisor be doing for you at this time?
What else could your property advisor be doing for you at this time?
There is much more to property procurement than you could ever imagine. Understanding the lease decision models, probity and governance, market search opportunities and pitfalls, design decision models, code compliance and dynamic project teams is just the start.
If you need more help and a clear direction for your accommodation project and you would like some unbiased contributions with best practices in mind, I invite you to download the complimentary Property Procurement Roadmap from my website and enjoy this resource centred on making the right accommodation decisions for the needs of your business.
"The Property Procurement Roadmap provides an excellent insight and starting point for commercial managers to view and hopefully avoid some of the traps"
Before the executive and property teams of any business start looking for suitable accommodation, they need to understand where they’ve come from, plus the strategic aspirations for their new workplace.
The latter could be shaped through consultation with the wider business in the Lease Strategy Phase that can occur 12 months before commencing your property search. Essentially, the Lease Strategy phase is where your leadership team may explore industry benchmarking and good workplace practices that will complement any new business model. The findings from this phase may result in a direction to proceed with a move, or perhaps even staying put.
Whatever the result, your executive and property teams will benefit from a clear direction and understanding of the complexities in procuring the right property.
