part 2
May 2003
Last month we discussed post-occupancy evaluations&emdash;what they are and why you should employ them as part of a space delivery project. This month we’ll talk about the best practices for employing POEs.
The three major approaches to evaluating specific projects are indicative, investigative, and diagnostic POEs. In addition to these project-specific approaches, a continuous POE can be performed on an ongoing basis.
Indicative POEs
An indicative POE is ideal for small projects. It is the easiest, least formal, and most cursory type of POE. It indicates the failures and successes of a facility’s performance, and can be executed in one to two days by an experienced facilities manager or evaluation team. Building plans and specifications are secured and analyzed, and a methodical walk through the building is made without testing or developing performance criteria. A standard building checklist containing major areas of evaluation can be used.
Investigative POEs
An investigative POE requires a research strategy and plan to identify the types and extent of data that will be collected; members of the survey team and their roles; the sampling cohort (the group or individuals to be surveyed); the survey method(s) to be used; and the method by which data will be analyzed.
An investigative POE is more appropriate for a mid-range project of perhaps 10,000 to 20,000 square feet, or a smaller but unusually complex project. The team might require about a week for on-site interviews, distribution of questionnaires, and follow-up calls. Beyond that, data collation and analysis usually entails the use of specially designed software such as a customizable database. The end result is often a written report and a meeting to review the POE results.
Diagnostic POEs
A diagnostic POE is the most comprehensive of the three methods and involves many research mechanisms. Questionnaires, surveys, observations, and physical measurements are employed. A diagnostic POE can take several months to one year to complete. The value of the intensive diagnostic research involved in a POE lies in the depth and quality of data obtained, as well as the strength and validity of conclusions and recommendations drawn from it. A diagnostic POE is appropriate for large-scale, costly, highly sensitive projects where close scrutiny can be expected, such as an entire new building.
The details of conducting indicative, investigative, and diagnostic POEs are compared in the illustration below.
Continuous POE
Full-scale, formal POEs are unusual because few organizations are willing to commit the necessary funding, time, and staff. Also, relatively few consulting professionals understand both the complexities of building structures and the business structure of the occupying organization well enough to grasp how well the two come together. Another obstacle is that churn and other small projects often happen so quickly that it is difficult to produce meaningful POE results in isolation from other projects.
An alternative to a project-specific POE is the continuous POE, in which results from each project are incorporated into a database that permits tracking results of many projects, preferably over time. This approach is possible because the facility manager is in a position to evaluate the performance of the facility over time. As the facility itself is managed and maintained, information can be collected in a database on a regular basis and analyzed periodically to track building performance.
Continuous POEs also enable the facility manager to leverage the results from indicative and investigative POEs because data can be tracked to identify trends over time.
Clearly there are many options for executing a post-occupancy evaluation. Next month’s discussion will cover how to collect data, and will include some sample surveys. We’ll also provide some follow-up strategies so that all your work implementing POEs won’t be for naught.
This installment of FM Check List is adapted from BOMI Institute’s www.bomi-edu.orgFacilities Planning and Project Management, a course in the Institute’s Facilities Management Administrator (FMA) designation program.