The life of a school operator or administrator involves countless decisions. Many of these decisions directly affect the quality of education. Now imagine that you also have to deal with different administrative and maintenance issues popping up all the time. It certainly doesn’t make the job any easier.
Many people forget that the physical space of a school is not limited to classrooms. There are cafeterias, laboratories, gyms, libraries, offices, and all these areas require maintenance. People also forget that a school administrator doesn’t deal only with issues directly related to teaching: he will be the first person sought by staff members when some equipment breaks and some space is experiencing structural problems.
This diversity of issues and decisions can place an unnecessary burden on your shoulders. The most practical solution is to invest in facilities management software for schools, which can help you deal with the most severe problems and maintain daily operations.
1. Manage Your Janitors and Maintenance Staff
Visualize the scene: a teacher needs to use a classroom that lacks the physical resources (number of desks, computers) to meet their needs. Or there’s a water leak right in the middle of the room. Recent research indicates that inappropriate physical resources can compromise the learning process.
Therefore, janitors and maintenance staff are essential actors in keeping your school clean and safe for students. These professionals partake in many preventative maintenance tasks, but when there is a lot of demand, failures can occur – such as leaving a job unfinished. Your facilities management software will help you determine and set recurring tasks necessary for your school’s upkeep and maintenance, allowing you to deal more efficiently with things like spills, leaks, and broken chairs and desks.
2. Handle IT Tickets
A ticketing system is a tool that helps manage services: the system creates a “ticket” that documents service requests and makes it easier to track and solve issues. As schools rely more and more on technology these days, ticketing can help you keep track of what still needs to be completed. Facilities management software makes the process a lot easier. You can separate non-tech-related requests from those about IT issues, managing and keeping track of requests regarding computers, tablets, and other devices.
3. Schedule Your Staff to Avoid Conflicts
Regardless of the size of your school, you may have already been forced to deal with conflicts involving different teachers wanting to use the same space (the computer lab, for example) at the same time.
There’s nothing more frustrating than double-booking rooms and classes. As a school has many rooms and departments to manage, facilities management software can alleviate these issues by helping you sort people right the first time, scheduling the staff to the suitable rooms at the right time and keeping track of all room requests.
4. Rent Out Your Facility
A school is a valuable space to keep unused. On the weekends, different organizations might want to use one of your rooms to promote community events: girl scouts or local churches can use the gym for different events, community groups can use the rooms for meetings and gatherings, etc.
As interesting as this sounds, it also adds another layer of responsibility to your daily routine, but a facility management platform will streamline the process. You can use facilities management software to rent out your space to interested parties without scheduling conflicts, keeping all the staff updated on room usage and free dates. The software even comes with the ability to ensure proper monetary collection.
5. Schedule Transportation
A great example of schools using facilities management software to organize their processes is scheduling school transport. Field trips are an essential part of the schooling experience, but they can also be complicated to plan and execute alone. Facilities management software allows you to schedule and reserve drivers and vehicles for each trip, avoiding unpleasant surprises or confusion with dates.
A Lesson in Saving Time and Money
Facilities management software is an essential tool for managing the school’s spaces and services while handling multiple requests. It allows for proper management and avoids a series of problems that can impact the experience of teachers and students, such as different classes trying to use the same room at the same time, maintenance services scheduled but never completed, etc.
More than ever, school administrators are being asked to ensure the best performance from teachers and students. Facilities management software can help you keep everything organized and safe, saving time and money and leaving you with a lot of time to focus on what matters: educating.