Asset Management – An Anatomy

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Urgent and short-term matters can distract us from important activities that can deliver more value, especially long term. Organisations are no different; made worse by the necessary division of responsibilities, which can easily create ‘silos’ and loss of alignment. Yet we know that strategic success comes from everyone working towards the right goals: ‘together as one!’.

Stakeholder needs are sometimes seen differently by various departments. Short-term financial constraints can cause waste. There are also diverse perspectives of people and business units separated by georgraphy, markets or professions. These can cause friction because their decisions and actions do not appear sensible to others. In this fragmented environment, priorities and performance metrics can conflict, causing the opporsite of effective teamwork!

In real life, despite good procedures: finance or commercial colleagues talk a different ‘language’ to operations, maintenance and engineering; hard data can be difficult to obtain (or confusing); there are too many surprises or incidents requiring ‘fire-fighting’; risk management is inconsistent; investment is needed but there is no consensus about what is most valuable; in fact, there is no single, accurate source of ‘the truth’ anyway. Whether private or public sector, this can lead to reputational damage and inefficiencies, waste and lost opportunities.

If any of this sounds familiar, then reading the Anatomy is a worthwhile use of your time…

“Asset Management – An Anatomy” is brought to you by the Institute of Asset Management (UK).