C H U R C H F A C I L I T Y M A N A G E M E N T

S O F T W A R E

What It Is and

How It Can Help

Church Facility Management Software: What it is and

How it Can Help

Let’s set the scene.

You are entrusted to manage and steward an entire facility. The lights, heating and air,

maintenance, technology, planning, real estate, repairs, and many other things all fall

on you. On a Friday, you are working on fixing the leaky roof, ensuring all the bathroom

lights are working correctly, and finding someone to service your HVAC system before

the weekend hits. Feeling overwhelmed and anxious reading this? We understand.

That is a lot to handle, along with everything else you are carrying.

What if there was a simple solution to help you stay on top of everything? Well, if you

haven’t guessed by now, there is. Church facility management software is designed to

streamline processes and push toward efficient, well-oiled operations. In the following

sections, we will break down what church facility management software is, why it is

essential, and how it can help you cut back on inefficiencies.

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What is Church Facility Management Software?

First, let’s talk about what church facility management software is. Church facility

management software is a tool meant to increase the efficiency and effectiveness

of your team. Also referred to as CMMS (Computerized Maintenance Management

System), church facility management software maintains a computer database of

information about an organization's maintenance operations.

Work order management software is a component within the CMMS category.

Specifically, work order management software helps manage assets and enables

practitioners to create and manage service requests and work orders. People often

believe the myth that an event scheduler can do everything a facility management

software can, which is not the case. In the following section, we will review the

key difference between the two.

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Church Event Management vs.

Church Facility Management

Often, when people refer to facility management software, they talk a lot about

scheduling and not maintenance. However, managing the use of your facility is

just a portion of what facility management requires.

Instead, facility management should encompass the daily maintenance, preventive

maintenance, asset management, life cycle planning, and other aspects related to

the management of the space, not just how it is used.

So, what exactly are the differences between church event management software

and church facility management software? In short, one only manages the use while

the other manages the physical components of the facility as well as the use. Let’s

break it down a bit further to help you understand the key differences:

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In summary, managing the events that take place in your facility is important.

However, proper facility management requires further stewardship and takes event

management a step further.

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C H U R C H FA C I L I T Y M A N A G E M E N T :

• Addressing corrective maintenance issues

• Work order management

• Planning for and implementing preventive maintenance measures

• Vendor management

• Asset and equipment management

• Life cycle planning for capital renewals

• Inventory management (consumable and repair)

C H U R C H E V E N T M A N A G E M E N T :

• Systematic planning for the use and utilization of the spaces within the facility

• Scheduling to avoid conflicts properly

• Planning the use of needed resources for events such as tables, chairs, etc.

• Addressing the setup and potential cleaning associated with said events

• Potential utilization by outside groups

Why Your Church’s Event Scheduler Should Integrate

with Your Work Order Management Tool

We have outlined the differences and similarities between event management software

and facility management software in the previous section. Now, let’s talk about why they

should coexist under the same roof.

When planning events, your facility team will most likely need to set up and teardown

various resources such as tables, chairs, projectors, coffee pots, etc. To work around

their maintenance and custodial schedules, your facility team should know what events

are taking place and when to start planning for them. One of the benefits of having

both systems integrated is creating a closure for a room based on the work being

performed. For example, in eSPACE Work Order Management, you can set closures for

different rooms or for resources that are off-limits for repairs, renovations, electrical work,

servicing, etc. I am sure you can see the benefits of limiting use and event reservations

when your facility team has critical work to be done in a space.

Another benefit of both systems integrated is creating a work order request directly for

an event. Setup and teardown teams can use this directly to assign what needs to

happen before and after an event. This feature can also be used for special requests

before and after various events, such as a deep cleaning following a high-traffic event.

Lastly, integration also allows your facility team to rent the equipment needed for

specific events and prepare for sets to be built or other physical space modifications

before events occur.

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What Churches Need to Look for in Facility

Management Software Along with system integration, there are several components to consider when vetting

facility management software. This section will review areas to consider during this

process to help narrow and clarify your search.

Ease of Use for Administrative Staff

Among your staff, multiple people will benefit from using this software. Your facility

manager or maintenance director will be utilizing it daily, but other team members

like your administrative team or someone working on production/IT can also use it.

For instance, let’s say an administrative staff member noticed a burnt-out lightbulb or

a leaky faucet. Instead of tracking down a facility manager by foot, they can input the

work order via text or email. That work order is then immediately uploaded to the facility

manager’s system to prioritize and assign as deemed appropriate. Attending to the

issue has now been streamlined, speeding up the time it will take to resolve. Plus, this

saves the administrative staff member along with the facility manager time and

headaches. Here are some images as to how easy the process should be:

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Ease of Use For Facility and Maintenance Managers

Facility management software shouldn’t be overly complicated to use. Let’s be honest.

Not everyone is tech-savvy. Therefore, your facility manager or anyone else who will

utilize the software daily should navigate the program easily.

A simple dashboard and simple user interface can go a long way when it comes

to usability. Additionally, accessing the program from several various devices will

make it much easier for anyone to use the software on an ongoing basis. Adopting

smartphones and tablets makes it almost necessary to provide a software solution

that can easily be navigated on these devices.

Ability to Track Assets and Equipment

When was the last time you serviced your HVAC unit? What was the result of your

previous roof inspection? Struggling to remember answers? Tracking your assets with

ease is another key component of facility management software. Yes, some of us are

excellent at remembering dates, numbers, and other important information. However,

human error is still bound to occur because we are, in fact, human.

Additionally, having one person accountable for all assets is a dangerous game.

What happens if that person retires and there is no record regarding your assets and

equipment? Keeping all of this information in a cloud-based software can be accessed

by anybody at any time, which will keep everyone in the loop. This is what we refer to as

the “hit by a truck” avoidance. We realize that sounds dramatic, but the reality is that

people retire, take different jobs, and the like. Having a system that has the data safely

and securely stored is prudent as you ensure the next generation of facility stewards the

resources and knowledge to be effective in their role.

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Ability to Track Inventory

Having a centralized tool to track your current inventory is a necessity for most churches.

However, an excel sheet or handwritten log might not be your best solution. Let’s say you

just changed out all filters for your HVAC units. You used 11 different filters across your

campus to do so. Now, rather than remembering to make a change to your inventory

excel sheet, facility management software can automatically deduct it from what is

currently on hand, decreasing the possibility of human error.

Effective facility management software can even take this a step further by setting

reordering thresholds. For instance, if an item falls below a certain point, you can

program your software to email you a reminder to order more. That way, you are always

on top of orders and never run out of supplies.

Associating Costs and Invoices Within Work Orders

Not only should a good facility management software help with managing external

vendors, but it should also help track costs associated with work orders. This could in-

clude external vendor costs, labor, or material, as well as the cost of your internal team.

From an administrative perspective, this is a game-changer. Rather than going through

old invoices trying to figure out payment backgrounds, everything can be tracked and

handled in one system. You can even process reports to see how much was spent on

specific items or with certain vendors in a specified time.

Keep Conversations Within the Work Order

Let’s say someone on your staff submits a work order for a burnt-out lightbulb. The

technician reviews the work order and realizes the person who submitted the work

order never specified which lightbulb was defective and where it is located.

Rather than having to track down the person who submitted the work order, your

facility management software should allow for real-time communication within

each work order.

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For instance, eSPACE offers a helpful feature called “Conversations.” This is similar to

a communication platform, like Slack, but it is within each work order. You can quickly

begin a private or public conversation with anyone on your team, including the person

who created the initial work order request. This keeps all the data and communication

in one place to make it easier to complete the work order and any future reference.

Excellent Analytics

How many days on average does it take to complete a work order? Which technician

is getting the most done? Which day of the week is typically the busiest?

All of these questions you should be able to find out with ease backed by cold, hard

data. Below are some examples of our favorite analytics in eSPACE:

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Created Work Orders

14 Work Orders

Priority

Completed Work Orders

13 Work Orders

Priority

Average Age of Completed Work Orders

3 days 13 hrs.

Based on 24 hr days

Average Time to Completed a Work Order

3 days 6 hrs.

Based on 24 hr days

Service Categories

General Maintenance & Repair (5)

Housekeeping / Janitorial (4)

HVAC, Refrigeration, Controls, etc.(1)

Appliances - Kitchen & Laundry (1)

Life Safety Issue - Fire & Safety (1)

Building Resources & Management (1)

Communications / Advertising (1)

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Excellent Analytics

Work Orders by Location

Work Orders by Technician or Vendor

Work Orders by Day of Week

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Burt V. Debbie Dustin B. Ed Fire Station, Gary G. John Kathy O. Lori Lorrie Lorrie’s Luke Not a real Thom Chandler Barton 204 (V) Bubba Lochhead Eriksen Lighting (V) Littrell Vendor (V) Metz

Last Year

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

Last Year

Main Campus East Campus Orlando Rentals

Last Month

Life Cycle Projections Any effective facility management software will also include forecasting life cycle costs,

capital reserve needs, and future money needed to replace items as they reach the

end of life. This is critical for a couple of reasons:

1. Life cycle costs are inevitable. You will replace every stitch of carpet,

every HVAC unit, all your roofs, and the like. These are not “if” costs but

rather “when” and “how much” questions. Intentional and proactive facility

stewards are projecting these costs and planning for them today. Think

about your capital reserve life cycle account to be like your 401k or IRA;

you plan to have money available in the future, so you start saving today.

2. If you notice you have a piece of equipment with an odd number

of service calls, you can cross-reference your life cycle tool to see the

remaining useful life and make an informed decision. For example, if you

have an HVAC unit planned to be replaced in a year, but it has already

had five repairs in three months, it may be best to replace it now. You can

avoid ongoing maintenance calls and the inconvenience of downtime

if you replace it sooner rather than later, assuming you have been diligent

in your capital reserve funding.

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Conclusion Here’s the main point: the right facility management software could carve hours of

wasted time from your team’s workday. Not only that, but it can save money, increase

efficiency, and reduce headaches.

Effective facility management is all about stewarding what you have been entrusted

with. That means stewarding your physical facility, equipment, and assets, along with

everything that takes place within your space. Event management software can help

with the latter, but facility management software checks all the boxes.

eSPACE: Your One-Stop Shop for Facility Management

At Smart Church Solutions, we offer one easy solution: eSPACE. This is our web-based

software created to reduce the workload on your team so you can focus on your

mission. eSPACE helps you stay organized, plan with confidence, and remove stress

from your team. By honing in on event management and work order management,

eSPACE improves your building and team’s efficiency.

To learn more about eSPACE or to schedule a demo, head to Smart Church Solutions’

website or contact Lee Cool at Lee@SmartChurchSolutions.com.

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