Conference Sessions

High-performance buildings have been transforming the FM profession: the bricks-and-mortar is now the least of it. Our assets – and our work - are increasingly inseparable from technology, sustainability, change management, and user experience. This session demonstrates that asset performance is just as inseparable from applied science – and helps FMs to manage liability and optimize asset performance. 

Whatever your immediate reaction to the word ‘science’, you will see how applied science perfectly mimics an FM’s thinking: it is objective, pragmatic, actionable, and accountable.

Join us to learn what is behind “IAQ”, “IEQ”, “occupant satisfaction”, “productivity” and other jargon increasingly expected from your performance, and learn how applied science can help you understand your facilities, act as a truly informed client where it comes to addressing both reactive and proactive risk, and help your organizations squeeze every ounce of occupant and marketing benefit from the upgrades you recommend.

With the ever-changing climate of todays’ working environment, more and more people are switching to working from home or working remotely. Unfortunately, not many people know the ins and outs, or best practices of having a remote or mobile video conferencing setup, and have a less than good quality experience during their communications with their clients and coworkers.

In this session, we will discuss some of the best practices of an Audiovisual setup for individual video conferencing and some of the simple things we can do, to insure we have a good quality and consistent experience, every time we communicate to other remote partners.

Let the robot take the elevator, so you don't have to

Hospitals, hotels, and other commercial businesses are starting to use Service Robots to offer safer solutions, boost productivity and enhance their customer experiences. Autonomous mobility is one of the latest opportunities to help properties differentiate themselves by adapting to the changing needs and priorities of the people that live, work, and stay in them. 

In this session, we explore some of the sociotechnical forces behind the increasing demand for Service Robots within the built environment, present an overview of Otis’s new product – Otis Integrated Dispatch™ – and talk about of the progress we’ve made working with various robotics companies to improve and optimize how robots integrate with elevator systems. This presentation be will be followed by a Q&A session with the product team.

We hope that attendees participating in this session will walk away armed with an understanding of some of the latest solutions available to help buildings in their never-ending quest to enhance their tenant experience.

How does an FM keep occupants safe without infringing on their right to privacy? It’s a balancing act for the best of us. Bring your experiences and share what worked and what didn’t.

You have to know when to hold ’em and know when to fold ’em. Every FM knows that the secret to surviving is knowing when a risk is worthwhile…and when it will end in disaster. Share in stories from the FM trenches to learn about wild successes you can recreate and types of epic failures to avoid.

As a professional discipline, the facility management function has been marginalized, while the potential impact and value proposition that a strategic FM approach can contribute to an organization’s productivity and wellbeing continues to be overlooked. It is not helped by the fact that FM does not mean the same thing globally, nationally or even within different organizations.

The ISO Facility Management Technical Committee, ISO/TC 267, is working diligently to promote a professional approach to determining and delivering added value to organizations via facility management.

The development of standards specific to FM creates a common language and understanding that transcends borders. They have also provided a framework for facility managers to support the strategic objectives of their demand organization and to meet everyday challenges in a systematic and structured manner.

After attending this session, you will be able to:

1. Understand how consensus-based standards advance the profession globally.
2. Articulate the benefits of the ISO 41000 series.
3. Evaluate how FM standards can support your organization and add value.
4. Identify practical applications of the ISO 41000 FM Standards.

Covid-19 marks the end of an era for old ways of working, how we use office buildings and how the workforce is treated. Covid-19 has changed the ballgame and the stadium. Prior to the pandemic, operating facilities and creating workplace experiences was all about driving efficiency with very less thought to effectiveness. Now, leaders are thinking very differently about the purpose of the office, and they are realizing they have choices beyond this building or that one. Many other workplace permutations are available, and that has enormous implications for how we operate facilities and support the business.

With CEO’s of major companies now actively reflecting on how much work can get done without offices, the virus has forced them to ask fundamental questions about how we work, what is the purpose of the office, why do we need to go to the office? This may be an opportunity for the people who really understand how to unleash people power and drive business success to demonstrate their strategic value!

Covid is impacting the way we think and live Real Estate and the Workplace. How we come out of this crisis will have particularities depending on the Businesses and/or Industries and the Countries and/or Regions. Join us in a conversation with the Heads of the biggest Real Estate Service Providers in LatAm to discuss about the Future of Corporate Real Estate and the Workplace, if and how Technology will be utilized, Financial impacts, trends we must pay attention to, and much more.

The uncomfortable truth is that no matter how hard we try we cannot be all things to all people. Designing a successful workplace experience requires problem-solving beyond the scope of a single-discipline approach. The solution? Interdisciplinary partnership. Together, Fox Architects and Steele Strategies explore the business imperative for developing diverse and inclusive interdisciplinary teams to solve the most complex workplace challenges of our time. There is power in numbers and by bringing together the disciplines of HR, OD, IT, FM, and Design as equal partners in the shifting paradigm of workplace strategy, each can be greater then the sum of their parts. Drawing on a panel of experts in their respective fields, we will explore the challenges that are created in a single discipline approach to workplace experience and uncover the power of interdisciplinary partnerships to produce quality sustainable workplace outcomes.

• Review the findings from IFMA’s The Experts’ Assessment: The Workplace Post-COVID-19 Study to understand the factors that are transforming workplace experience and why they are important.
• Identify the requirements for crafting a comprehensive workplace strategy for today’s workplace and how it can enhance the experience.
• Discover the power of interdisciplinary partnerships in workplace strategy – the necessity, attributes, and benefits
• Learn practical tips for establishing a diverse and inclusive interdisciplinary team in your organization.

Join us as we share recent Gensler’s global workplace research findings and how they relate to the need to redefine the who, when, and why the physical work environment still matters. We will explore the implications of new planning approaches to best support an emerging hybrid workforce and the role of the physical office in a post-pandemic world.