I’m going to take some time this week to talk about engineers in real estate. A topic near and dear to my heart. My focus is going to be around how we can improve and do better. Because let’s be honest, engineers can have a bit of an ego that needs to be worked around at time. So on to Part 1:
Engineers in real estate are great tools. They allow us those in the business to figure out the who, what, when, where and why around client needs. Who should move. What kind of space is really needed. What is the business case for the solution. When are the paybacks and critical decision points. Where to move. And most importantly, Why is this decision in the best interest of the client. Our job is to push back on the client and broker to make sure that the solution is right. We apply our tools and experience to get to the best case scenario.
Most of the times it’s great to have a technical focus and make data driven decisions. Tools like six sigma, theory of constraints, analytical hierarchy process and queuing are great but don’t solve our clients’ problems on their own. A lot of times we can get caught up in the details – focus on the problem in front of us and ignore everything else until that one is fixed. The tools aren’t the answer and sometimes the problem doesn’t need a math based solution at all.
Engineers, my challenge to you today is to look for the deeper problem in all instances. Start with the belief that what you see isn’t the real problem. Start with drilling up as well as drilling down. But most of all – continue to push back and strive for the right solution in all cases to make a client’s operation better aligned with their real estate.