Meeting room and facility management software is a growing industry. McKinsey & Company predicts that the global market for in-house and outsourced facility management will reach $1.9 trillion by 2024.
Specific aspects of the facility management industry saw considerable growth in recent years: meeting room scheduling coupled with facility management software. Below we will discuss a few key trends that are shaping the facility management industry with emphasis on meeting room management. Two main factors are driving this growth: technological advancement as well as increased expectations and flexibility requirements from the tenants.
- Outsourced facility management
As in the example from McKinsey above, the availability of big data and predictive analytics results in the option to make tailored offers and predict peak demand times for catering requirements. This is not only a huge opportunity for additional sales, it also improves planning, and helps venues to buy their supplies accordingly with minimal waste.
- Tenant experience
Secondary benefits for employees often include on-premise yoga classes, a meditation or prayer space, the ability to have a nap, recreation areas and day-care. All these activities need to be scheduled for in meeting rooms and other spaces in the building. Proper planning, maintenance and scheduling are key to optimise room occupancy and efficiency. - Data-driven decision making
With large historical datasets on occupancy and attendance, facility managers can leverage this data to optimise the use of meetings in terms of equipment and configuration. Meeting room scheduling software can help in utilising the available space and configuration options to hold the maximum number of events at high-quality standards and include services like catering and audio-visual requirements too.
- Sustainability
Meeting room maintenance and durability is a high priority, both from a sustainability and a cost perspective. Tenants also expect facilities to meet eco-friendly standards and may choose facilities that focus on efficient heating, durable materials in the meeting rooms, and offer re-useable crockery instead of disposable cups. - Flexible contracts
In the past, meeting rooms and facility management contracts were a long-term engagement with recurrence or a minimum number of bookings a year. Modern-day tenants more often want and have the option to choose from various spaces and commitment levels, which results in the need for facility managers to offer multiple tiers of commitment, from pay-as-you-go options to yearly commitments at a discount, and from flexible spaces to set rooms for recurring meetings.
At Priava we recognise that the demand for meeting room planning and facility management have become increasingly complex due to:
- increased expectations from tenants,
- the need to offer flexible contracts and thus more movements in the meeting room schedule
- the expectation for additional options such as catering, ticketing, audio-visual requirements and sales & marketing tools.
We therefore offer purpose-build facility management software to help meeting room planners serve their clients better and optimise their workflow and profitability. Interested in learning more about our software? Book your demo today or speak with one of our representatives.
References:
– McKinsey & Company: Six Emerging Trends in Facilities Management Sourcing. By Sourav Das Adhikari, Steve Hoffman, and Britta Lietke. Downloadable here:
https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/operations/our-insights/six-emerging-trends-in-facilities-management-sourcing#
– Space IQ: Top Five Facility Management Trends of 2020. By Shahar Alster.
https://spaceiq.com/blog/facility-management-trends/
– Facility Management Magazine: Five facility management trends set to define 2020. https://www.fmmedia.com.au/sectors/five-facility-management-trends-set-to-define-2020/
– InfraSpeak: Facility Management in 2020: Trends and Challenges.
https://blog.infraspeak.com/facility-management-challenges-2020/
