What makes a good maintenance manager

While each person"s definition of a "good" maintenance or facility manager may differ, there are some standard practices that, when employed, will make a manager more effective.

Key among those and perhaps one of the most important is the ability to communicate effectively. This "tool" is essential for anyone in a leadership role. After all, if you cannot explain your ideas and thoughts in a clear manner, how can you expect your staff to follow through with your plan? Further, how can you expect the powers-that-be also known as "the boss" to understand how your department is essential, and saving them money? Another ability that, in my view, a great maintenance manager must possess is a forward-thinking mentality.

This includes a willingness to think outside of the box and not confine oneself to old methodologies. For instance, right now there is a big push towards "proactive maintenance" - a practice that combines traditional preventative maintenance alongside predictive technologies to stop problems with equipment before they even arrive.

Early adopters of this maintenance "style" tend to have more of an upfront cost, but reap the rewards of better uptime and uptick in revenue than their less forward-thinking maintenance managers. The best reliability managers know that, when it comes to maintenance, you never stop learning. Keeping on top of current and future trends, and ensuring that you and your staff are always up-to-date in your training, should be a goal of every maintenance head.

With the rapid changes in maintenance technology and innovations, it can be far too easy to fall behind. Treat your brain and knowledge like you would your equipment: schedule routine braintenance! One tool that can help a maintenance manager achieve the above goals and a plethora of others is a computerized maintenance manager system CMMS. A sure-fire way to spot a maintenance manager who is "in the know" is to take a look at their maintenance system.

If they are not employing some form of maintenance software, you can bet they do not fit our three traits listed above. So if you are looking to become a better leader in the reliability industry, or if you are looking to hire a solid facility or maintenance manager, remember to strive for these four characteristics:.

Lisa Richards is an experienced professional in the field of industrial management and is an avid blogger about maintenance management systems and productivity innovation. Richards' undergraduate degree in Industrial Engineering opened the door for her initial career path with a Midwest-based agricultural implement manufacturer with global market reach. Over a span of 10 years, Lisa worked her way through various staff leadership positions in the manufacturing process until reaching the operations manager level at a construction and forestry equipment facility.

Lisa excelled at increasing productivity while maintaining or lowering operating budgets for her plant sites. An Illinois native, Lisa recently returned to her suburban Chicago North Shore hometown to raise her family. Lisa has chosen to be active in her community and schools while her two young girls begin their own journey through life.

Richards has now joined the MAPCON team as an educational outreach writer in support of their efforts to inform maintenance management specialists about the advantages in marrying advanced maintenance software with cutting-edge facility and industrial management strategies. Filed under: braintenance, maintenance manager — Lisa Richards on October 02, Sounds like a great learning opportunity for them doesn't it?

Why is this going to make your people more motivated? Seems like you are giving them more work to do doesn't it? There are a few psychological dynamics going on here, all of which need to be considered. Finding, developing, and deploying talent, as the workers assistant, is a continuous process. Just as your bosses role is to develop the talent that you have and need.

The final thing that you need to be aware of as you go down this path is that good people move on. There will always be work for the best people. And your role is to find and develop them, and then let them follow their career path. Frustrating, annoying, rewarding and immensely satisfying. This is what I believe is at the core of the role of the modern maintenance manager in the 21st century. Defining the functions The maintenance manager needs to set policy, facilitate the determination of targets and goals, and to help them get on with it!

Your number one question needs to change from "how are we going? Setting a goal! When you then assign the task go through the following steps: Who is best placed to carry out this task? Tell them what you want, quantifiably! Follow the following sequence: Define the task , its importance, and why they have been selected. Be specific, be detailed, and be confident about their capability to carry it out. Define the level of quality that you expect from the finished task.

Think about this in terms of the technical integrity, the results you expect, the fact that this is to be a permanent solution etc. Define the resources that the person will have available to them. How are they expected to get this carried out?

Can they use others within the team, within the company, what about information sources, what about vendor involvement? A whole range of issues that need to be covered here.

If you have been able to organize for them to undergo training then let them know. Define the timeframe that you need this to be done in. Be specific, detail the consequences to the company of not getting this done, and make sure that there is a firm commitment to doing this. If these skills are not developed today, remember that you can always perfect yourself.

In the book Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, American author Carol Dweck presents the work of years of research on how our beliefs about our abilities influence how we learn and the choices we make. Her research proves that basically a person can learn what they set out to learn. It is an invitation for anyone to always learn and perfect themselves. Interpersonal skills translate into the ability to relate well to others and generate positive results through them.

An essential condition for this is the ability to communicate clearly and objectively with both internal and external customers. Maintenance managers need to negotiate daily with subordinates, their managers and directors, with suppliers, third parties, and machine operators. In addition to the ability to communicate clearly and objectivity, it is extremely important to listen to what others have to say.

Example: the team that monitors the machine condition is one and the team that executes the intervention is another. If the communication is bad or there is no confidence in the work of the first, preventive intervention will be done, even if unnecessary. Leading by example is the best way to demonstrate this ability. Managers must be self-motivated, organized, trustworthy, empathetic and optimistic.

They need to have a clear vision of where they want to go, what goals they want to achieve with their team and inspire others to follow their example. A capable leader develops the people around them. Each individual has natural abilities and aspirations about their development. Therefore, it is up to the leader to get to know the members of their team and what moves them.

Also, to gain knowledge of their skills and needs for improving or developing new skills, motivations and, subsequently, to extract the best of them. Limble can connect with wireless sensors for Condition Based Maintenance. We are in Thailand, and Limble also supports the Thai language. They reply within 10 minutes anytime. I am sure that Limble will really help your operations. Perfect for my business. We can store all of our assets and equipment and access it easily with a comprehensive list of all the work done on the equipment.

Limble CMMS is a great product and is very intuitive. Mobile App for in the field use. Great Dashboard. Great Support. Cloud Based. Great Product, Even better support! The ability to see automatically generated and customized reports meant that I could choose whether I wanted to see things at a micro level or a macro one, or both of them together.

I spent a long time evaluating systems I'm so glad I chose Limble. For technicians receiving work orders, it requires almost no training. The app makes it quick and easy to create work orders with pictures from your phone.

PM's are also very easy to set up. Limble is also the least expensive. Table of Contents The value of good maintenance management Maintenance manager job description what does a maintenance manager do What are the responsibilities of a maintenance manager? Insights from maintenance managers themselves Wrapping it up.

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