Facilities Management Middle East
The right way to mobilise
MOHAMAD ABOU LABAN, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, DEYAAR FACILITIES MANAGEMENT, REVEALS THE DOS AND DON’TS OF FM MOBILISATION
At the Facilities Management Middle East Conference 2021 held on 29 September in Dubai, Mohamad Abou Laban, chief executive officer at Deyaar Facilities Management, spoke about the importance of getting the FM mobilisation right.
Through his presentation titled ‘Effective FM Mobilisation – The Difference between Success & Failure’, Abou Laban communicated the need to get FM mobilisation right, which is basically the first stage of a project. “If you fail [at mobilisation], you immediately lose that rapport and trust with the customer.”
He defined mobilisation as: “The action of organising and encouraging a group of people to take collective action in pursuit of a particular objective. Mobilisation brings the contract to life.”
Abou Laban added the need to mobilise people on time, having the right equipment, and implementing the right processes on site. Also, there should be adequate communication with the customer, among other things.
“There should be good culture and collaboration between us and the client. During mobilisation, we look at consultation with the client and the incumbent contractor if there was an existing service provider. We should look at choosing a transition team.
“We need to look at performance management and how to report to that to the client. Risk mitigation is also very important. What risks we would see in a contract, and how can we mitigate them. All this ensures we have a good contract at the start.”
He added: “The client has goals, and we need to align our FM strategy to his goals, so that he can reach his goals faster.”
Abou Laban said that it is important to engage as early as soon as possible with the customer so as to understand the client’s needs and manage expectations because sometimes the expectations are very high. He added: “I always say under promise and over deliver for the customer, and he will be extremely happy.”
The other issue Abou Laban pointed out is the lack of communication. He said: “Often times there is misinformation or lack of communication. We need to develop a communication strategy and keep all the interested parties informed on the transition activities [during mobilisation], depending on the size of the contract.”
He then went on to reveal the five M’s of mobilisation:
The first being manpower. You need to have the right staff and the right managers. Also, the right combination of old and new team members.
The second is having the right material on site during mobilisation,
The third is machines. The right equipment is essential. “You need to have the tools and the equipment ready for mobilisation at any times.”
The fourth is the method. “You need to have specific worksheets for a certain size [of contract]”.
The last thing is money. “You need to ensure that you’re paying people on time. You need to be sure that you hire the people on the right scale, and you need to be sure to pay the service provider and the suppliers on time.”
Abou Laban concluded: “These five M’s, if you get them right, you are going to have a successful mobilisation.”
THE CLIENT HAS GOALS, AND WE NEED TO ALIGN OUR FM STRATEGY TO HIS GOALS, SO THAT HE CAN REACH HIS GOALS FASTER.