Would Gareth Southgate make a good Facilities Manager?

It may not be coming home, but English football has certainly received quite a boost following the more than respectable performance of the England team (we’ll forget about the second half against Croatia). A lot of England’s success can be attributed to the management skills of a certain Mr Southgate. This got the team at Maxwell Stephens thinking, would Gareth Southgate make a good Facilities Manager? The short answer is yes, but here’s why…

Team Management

It is safe to say that Gareth would not be very good at his job if he couldn’t manage people. Individual strengths and weaknesses, who works well together, motivation and work ethic, personality clashes – there is significantly more to team management than just putting people in the right places. This is something that a Facilities Manager knows all too well. A Facilities team needs to run like a well-oiled machine, and if the members of the team are not managed effectively this machine can come to a grinding halt.

Composure

Penalty shootout? 93^rd minute equalizer? The possibility of getting into a world cup final for the first time in over 50 years? These scenarios turned the majority of us fans into nervous wrecks (or caused every conversation to end with the words “it’s coming home”), but one Mr G Southgate remained as cool as a cucumber throughout it all. Every Facilities Manager out there knows how important it is to be able to deal with high pressure situations in a calm and controlled manner. It is often the job of the Facilities Manager to handle a variety of emergencies: security threats, system failures, health and safety issues – these are just a few of the potential situations a FM will have to take care of on a daily basis. Keeping a cool head in these situations is a fundamental requirement of any Facilities Manager.

Communication

Being able to communicate with a range of different people in a clear and concise manner is vital for big Gaz and Facilities Managers alike. Both could be involved in explaining complicated strategic plans to team members, presenting to key stakeholders, motivating staff, managing public and media relations, and resolving internal disputes. Any one of these scenarios would mean talking to a different audience and for a different purpose. A good Facilities/England Manager should be able to tailor their communication style and approach to any situation, whether that’s presenting KPI performance information to board members, or scolding a particularly lazy midfielder.

Passion

This one is true of pretty much any successful professional out there. It goes without saying that to be successful you need to be passionate about what you’re doing. If you’re unhappy, unmotivated and just downright bored, this will be clear to everyone and it will spread like wild fire. Gareth showed us with his feverish celebrations that he believes in his team, he is passionate and determined to succeed, and most importantly he is happy in his role. It is not hard to see why this is important for anyone, not just England and Facilities Managers.

Our considerable experience in the Facilities Management Recruitment sector means that the team at Maxwell Stephens have developed a sixth sense for recognising individuals who make the best Facilities Managers. If you would like to discuss your recruitment needs please get in touch on 0207 118 4848 or drop us an email via info@maxwellstephens.com.