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Have you made your resolutions for 2012?  It’s a tradition many people celebrate around each new year, although it’s less of a tradition to hear of people who’ve actually succeeded with their resolutions. Admittedly, I haven’t polled anyone to get an idea of why so many new year resolutions often fail, but I suspect it has something to do with the strategies – or lack thereof – employed in bringing resolutions to fruition.  Whether it’s an individual or a Corporate Real Estate · Workplace Management organization, failing to plan is planning to fail.  It is with this in mind that I offer some resolutions that Corporate Real Estate · Workplace Management (CRE·WM) organizations might consider.

USA.gov lists a few popular resolutions, which I have adapted here for use within the CRE·WM environment:

• Drink Less Alcohol.  It’s prudent to refrain from alcohol consumption “on the job”, at least until it's time to celebrate as a team after accomplishing your collective goals and succeeding with your CRE·WM intiatives.
• Eat Healthy Food.  A well-balanced diet is critical for a healthy lifestyle and optimal productivity.  Ensure your employees have healthy food options when working with your food services vendors, treating your employees at restaurants/catered meals, or coordinating “bagged lunch” breaks together.  Encourage each other.  Make it fun.
• Get a Better Education.  Take advantage of opportunities to learn how your peers have improved their CRE·WM organizations.  Participate in meetings, conferences, seminars, and webinars with an industry association and/or best practice consulting organization.  Read about lessons learned and best practices in industry publications and blogs.
• Get a Better Job.  If you’re feeling uninspired in your current CRE·WM role, maybe it’s time to look elsewhere.  Use LinkedIn as a way to market yourself and search for opportunities.  If you’re interested in leveraging your CRE·WM expertise in a consulting role, check us out.
• Get Fit.  Exercise breeds fitness, but what breeds exercise?  Mobility.  Introduce or improve mobility in your CRE·WM organization to increase its productivity fitness. Align the use and deployment of your facilities to support the way work is done today, which is leaner, faster, and more distributed.
• Lose Weight.  Reduce the size of your CRE portfolio as needed.  If times are tough and layoffs are being considered, lay off buildings instead of people. Most office buildings are only 50% utilized. Mobility can help reduce the size of your "fat" portfolio by making better use of what you have.
• Manage Debt.  As the saying goes, you can’t manage what you don’t measure.  Your organization already tracks its debts, or obligations, internally and externally.  Project budgets, leases, space allocations/chargebacks, service level agreements… the list goes on.  But how well does it measure those tracked items against their targets?  Perhaps it’s time to start or improve your methods of measurement so you can manage your obligations better.
• Manage Stress.  Work with HR to offer a stress management program for your employees.  A healthy, stress-free workplace benefits them and the bottom line.  Also, cumbersome, complex systems lead to frustration and stress.  Do something about that.  And employees who spend 2 hours a day commuting are stressed.  Mobility helps that.
• Quit Smoking.  Look at ways to lower your carbon footprint.  Environmental sustainability initiatives aren’t just good for the planet; they’re good for business.  Mobility helps too.  Measure and report how Mobility is helping your company reduce greenhouse gases, save water, and delay new construction.
• Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle.  Consider how facility condition assessments might play a role in your weight loss resolution above.  Use your existing facilities more effectively with Mobility.
• Save Money.  When a CRE·WM organization allows multiple processes and tools to be used in accomplishing the same goal, it costs more money than using one tool to enable a single, standardized process.  Save money for your organization by standardizing its processes and tools.  Also, consider reducing your portfolio size with Mobility.
• Take a Trip.  Virtually, that is.  If the same result can be reached with a virtual, online meeting as with an in-person meeting, why spend the money and extra time needed to take the physical trip?  Not to undermine the importance of human connection and personal relationships, as there certainly are times when the in-person meeting cannot be sacrificed.  However, there are many times when the virtual, online meeting makes much more sense.
• Volunteer to Help Others.  Evaluate your organization’s community involvement and participate where possible and logical.  Regardless of where you fall (or not) in the Fortune 1000, there’s always some way to participate that is in line with your ability to do so.

After you’ve made your 2012 resolution(s), envision the future and define your strategy for success… but don’t stop there!  Make sure to enable your strategy by having your CRE·WM organization's processes and tools in place – and in that order.  Finally, evolve your CRE·WM organization to its future state by communicating and embracing the desired changes.

Want help?  Ask Ebiz.