Services

Seven service lines.

Each is a focused engagement type. Most client work draws on two or three at once.

01

Operational Efficiency

Where is service cost out of line with output, where are practices slipping below standard, and where is the operating model carrying more friction than it needs.

Diagnostic and improvement work across the operations of an existing portfolio. Often the answer requires both a clear-eyed assessment and the willingness to retire a few assumptions that everyone has been carrying for too long.

What we’re seeing now Hybrid-work occupancy patterns have reset the baseline assumptions about how much space is being used and how often. Most portfolios assessed today reveal at least one service line still sized for 2019 demand.
Representative work
  • Multi-site operations assessment
  • Service-level review and right-sizing
  • Staffing model evaluation and organizational design
  • Vendor performance audit against contracted SLAs
  • Process improvement against industry benchmarks (IFMA, BOMA)
What clients call us for “We’ve grown to 30 sites in five years through acquisition. Each site runs its own playbook. Where do we standardize, and where does local optimization actually outperform a corporate standard?”
The result A defensible view of how the portfolio is performing and where the next year of improvement work should land.

Strategic Sourcing Support

Strategic sourcing is the lever most often pulled and most often pulled badly. We focus on getting the structure right.

Full support for outsourcing decisions in FM, real estate services, and adjacent administrative functions. RFP design through transition oversight.

What we’re seeing now Service-provider consolidation has narrowed the field of credible bidders for large national contracts. Labor-cost increases have shifted service-level economics. Pricing models that worked in 2018 are under pressure today and the structure that worked under one labor regime may not survive the next.
Representative work
  • Make-vs-buy analysis with current labor and service-cost baselines
  • RFP and RFQ design
  • Bidder shortlist evaluation and reference checking
  • Pricing-model design (cost-plus, GMP, performance-based)
  • Transition oversight and contract activation
What clients call us for “Renew the incumbent for another three years after a difficult relationship, take the contract to market, or bring more of the work back in-house? Each path has consequences we’d rather think through than discover.”
The result A sourcing decision the organization can defend, with a contract that matches the operating model and a transition plan that protects continuity.
02
The facility function is rarely the question that brought leadership into the room. It is frequently the question that decides whether the room runs.
03

Performance Measurement

A facility organization that cannot describe its own performance in numbers will be measured in stories. Pick the numbers.

KPI frameworks, benchmarking programs, and reporting systems that make facility performance legible to senior leadership.

What we’re seeing now ESG and sustainability reporting now require performance data most FM organizations were not historically asked for. Boards are asking facility leaders for trended performance reporting at the same caliber they get from finance and operations.
Representative work
  • KPI design and selection
  • Benchmarking against industry peers (IFMA, BOMA, APPA where appropriate)
  • Dashboard and reporting development
  • Service-level structures for outsourced operations
  • Governance cadence and review-meeting design
What clients call us for “Our board wants quarterly facility reporting that holds up next to operations and finance reports. What gets reported, how often, against what benchmarks, and who owns producing it?”
The result Performance is no longer a quarterly surprise. The numbers are visible, defensible, and trended; the governance cadence makes them useful.

Admin Services Optimization

Administrative services tend to drift. Periodic optimization keeps them aligned with what the organization actually needs today.

Mail, reprographics, records, document control, hospitality, audio-visual — the cluster of administrative services that often lives in the FM org chart and quietly drives cost and frustration.

What we’re seeing now Document volume and mail volume continue to decline post-digitization, but service organizations have rarely been re-sized to match. Hospitality and event services, in contrast, have re-grown post-pandemic with new patterns (in-office days, hoteling, hybrid meeting demands).
Representative work
  • Administrative services assessment across multiple lines
  • Insourcing / outsourcing analysis
  • SLA and pricing-model redesign
  • Integration with adjacent FM and IT functions
  • Right-sizing for current demand patterns
What clients call us for “Our copy-print contract was signed when we had four times the volume. Our hospitality demand has doubled. The same vendor manages both. How do we reset?”
The result Administrative services aligned to actual demand, with contract structure and SLAs that reflect how the work is done now.
04
05

FM Technology Optimization

Most facility organizations are running technology that could do more. The constraint is rarely the software.

CAFM, IWMS, CMMS, work-order platforms — selection, implementation oversight, and value extraction from systems already in place.

What we’re seeing now IWMS and CAFM convergence has narrowed the platform field. AI-assisted maintenance and predictive analytics are entering production use at scale. Occupancy analytics from sensor networks and badge data have moved from pilot to standard. ESG-reporting requirements are driving new data demands from the same systems.
Representative work
  • Technology needs assessment
  • Platform selection (CAFM, IWMS, CMMS, work-order, sensor / IoT layers)
  • Implementation oversight
  • Data quality and integration review
  • User adoption strategy
What clients call us for “We bought an IWMS three years ago. The work-order module is used. Nothing else is. Do we re-implement, replace, or simplify scope?”
The result A technology platform delivering against the use cases that actually matter, with the data quality and user adoption to support real decisions.

Business Continuity Planning

A continuity plan that doesn’t survive contact with the actual buildings, equipment, and people isn’t a plan.

Continuity planning, emergency preparedness, and recovery planning grounded in the facility realities of each site rather than handed down from a template.

What we’re seeing now Climate-related disruption (heat events, severe weather, wildfire smoke) has become a more frequent continuity trigger. Hybrid work has changed which sites are essential during a disruption. Cyber incidents that disable building systems now sit alongside traditional facility threats.
Representative work
  • Business impact analysis
  • Facility-specific risk assessment
  • Continuity and recovery plan development
  • Emergency response protocols
  • Tabletop exercises and plan validation
What clients call us for “We have plans for headquarters. Our 12 regional sites have inherited templates. When we tested last year, half of them failed. Where do we focus the work?”
The result Plans that have been tested against the actual site realities, owned by the people who would execute them, and refreshed on a cadence that keeps them current.
06
07

Training & Education

The discipline only stays strong if practitioners keep getting better. We help organizations and programs make that happen.

Practitioner training and curriculum design for facility management organizations and academic programs. Curriculum work has supported university programs and professional certification pathways.

What we’re seeing now Generational turnover in senior FM ranks is accelerating. Certification volume has grown but mid-career practitioner training has fallen behind. Academic FM programs are expanding into adjacent disciplines (sustainability, workplace strategy, real estate analytics).
Representative work
  • FM practitioner training programs
  • Certification preparation (CFM, FMP, SFP)
  • Academic curriculum development
  • Instructor support and faculty training
  • Assessment design
What clients call us for “Half our facility managers will retire in the next five years. Our internal training never accounted for that pipeline. Where do we start?”
The result A training pathway that develops practitioners deliberately rather than by accident, with the materials and instructor support to sustain it.
Get in touch

Talk with us about a specific engagement.

An initial call is 30 to 45 minutes. There is no sales script.

Contact MacKnight Associates