As the presenter, you must have a Plan B when senior management or the board does not understand.
What happens when you present to senior management or the board of directors and they don’t get it? If you are a seasoned professional and pretty good at communicating with senior management, the potential confusion is probably not that you have the facts wrong. It's probably you, and you must own it!
Senior management and boards of directors don’t need all the technical details. What they do need is to understand the outcomes. Even the best technical professionals can get wrapped in how things work. Senior management and boards are most concerned about outcomes related to aspects such as financial impact, customer service, community benefits, and regulatory risk.
The key to re-focusing on the fly is doing so in a non-threatening way. Leadership doesn't need for you to tell them political realities like, "if you don't rewire the electrical panel, we can have a fire and people may die." They simply need a good understanding of the chances of having a fire (a safety issue). They can connect the political dots of resulting injury and death.
As always, follow up after the meeting. A short one-on-one with the board chair or general manager can go a long way. Ask, “Was that level of detail helpful? Would a summary or chart be more useful next time?”
As a technical professional, it’s tough to adjust spontaneously to confused looks from senior leaders. After all, you are experienced, and your presentation has been well developed. It’s your responsibility to have a Plan B. Make sure to explain the outcomes if you get those awkward, blank looks.
Communicating with FINESSE is the not-for-profit community of technical professionals dedicated to being highly effective communicators and facilitators. Learn more about our publications, webinars, and workshops.
The Top 10 questions to determine if you are a meddling board member.
Board members don't usually have ill intent when they engage with their organization's staff. However, well-meaning involvement can drift into meddling. These are ten questions board members should ask themselves to determine whether they’re appropriately carrying out their oversight role or unintentionally stepping into staff territory.
The Top 10 Questions to Ask Yourself
10: Am I crossing into operational matters rather than staying focused on governance and policy?
9: Is my communication helping or hindering the chain of command?
8: Could my interaction be perceived as micromanagement?
7: Am I unintentionally influencing staff decisions outside of board directives?
6: Have I checked with the board chair or executive leadership before engaging with staff?
5: Would I be comfortable if my interaction were made public or shared with the full board?
4: Am I setting a precedent that could lead to other board members doing the same, creating confusion for staff?
3: Have I considered the effect of my interaction on staff morale and decision-making?
2: Am I acting on behalf of the full board or just expressing my own views?
1: Do I trust the executive leadership to manage staff, or am I stepping in due to my own discomfort or impatience?
Are You a Meddling Board Member?
For my money, the top question is whether you trust executive leadership. Your meddling in staff affairs shows that you do not. And if staff pulls you in too much, it signals they do not trust their executive leadership either.
Ethics are the way we make decisions. Why meddling in staff affairs is not necessarily right or wrong, meddling does indicate how (and why) we make certain decisions.
Communicating with FINESSE is a not-for-profit community of technical professionals dedicated to being highly effective communicators and facilitators. Learn more about our publications, webinars, and workshops.
JD Solomon Inc. specializes in strategic asset and work management support—bringing clarity to what you own, its condition, and its value.
Garbage in, garbage out. One of the biggest challenges organizations faces is maintaining accurate asset data and up-to-date drawings. These two foundational elements—what we own and how it’s documented—are important to the success of any asset management system. More importantly, they can easily be addressed as part of work management.
It’s Obvious Why It Matters
Smarter Planning and Better Decisions
Knowing what assets you have and their condition makes it easier to plan budgets, schedule maintenance, and respond to emergencies.
Accurate asset data provides valuable insights into useful life, obsolescence, maintenance strategies, and the time required for ordering critical spare parts.
Accurate drawings also help field staff understand layouts, components, and interconnections, reducing guesswork.
Improved Safety and Efficiency
Up-to-date working drawings and safety instructions help field crews work more efficiently and safely. For example, having electrical one-line diagrams readily available minimizes downtime and risk.
Compliance and Accountability
Regulatory agencies often require documented proof of system layouts and emergency provisions. A well-managed inventory and set of drawings ensure your organization stays in compliance and defends operations when needed.
Three Common Challenges
I have worked with hundreds of facilities and infrastructure organizations over the past 30 years. When I reflect on the most recent five or six organizations, the fundamental challenges for maintaining asset data and drawings remain the same.
Disconnected Systems
Many organizations store asset data and drawings in separate computer systems (databases). While we see fewer legacy spreadsheets these days and more centralized databases, the problem persists that maintaining links and data across platforms remains a significant challenge.
Unclear Ownership and Roles
Who decides what's considered a part versus an asset? Who updates the drawings after small system changes? These questions often go unanswered, resulting in stale data and outdated documents.
Everyone shouldn't hesitate when you ask the simple question, "Who owns the data?"
Resource Constraints
As more capital work is conducted through operations and maintenance (O&M), the people on the ground often lack the time and support to update drawings or maintain detailed asset inventory lists. These long-term issues get pushed to the back burner. From an information systems perspective, we’re much better at installing new systems than maintaining existing ones.
Three Practical Fixes
The fixes are not sexy when it comes to maintaining asset data and drawings. To use a football analogy, its blocking and tackling. To borrow a quote from a song by David Byrnes and the Talking Heads, "Same as it ever was."
A. Embed in Daily Workflows
Don't treat asset data and drawings as a separate task. Instead, make them part of routine inspections and PMs. Include checklists that confirm the presence of critical spares, safety instructions, and current drawings.
B. Clarify Roles and Policies
Establish who owns the responsibility for maintaining different types of data—tools, parts, assets, and drawings. Define what gets updated, when, and by whom. This clarity reduces confusion and helps spread the workload effectively.
C. Phase in with the CMMS Strategy
Maintaining asset data and drawings is a heavy lift, so don't try to do it all at once. Start small—maybe with one system or one facility—and phase it in. Add links to drawings and parts lists in your CMMS during later implementation stages, when your team is ready to do so.
Effectively Maintaining Asset Data and Drawings
Maintaining asset data and drawings may not seem urgent until something breaks or an inspector arrives. However, waiting until there's a crisis means missing opportunities, incurring increased costs, and taking on unnecessary risks. Treating inventory and drawing management as a key part of work management, and you’ll lay the groundwork for a safer, more efficient, and future-ready operation.
Need help getting started? JD Solomon Inc. specializes in strategic asset and work management support—bringing clarity to what you own, its condition, and its value.
JD Solomon Inc. provides practical solutions for program development, asset management, and facilitation at the nexus of facilities, infrastructure, and the environment. Visit our Asset Management page for more information related reliability, risk management, resilience, and other asset management services.
