Facilities teams can spend their entire day putting out fires, but without the right systems in place, that cycle never ends.
In this episode of Facility Rockstars, host Jay Culbert sits down with Dean Vieira, Facilities Maintenance Manager at CA Design, to talk about his transition from technician to facilities leader and what he has learned about building more proactive, reliable maintenance operations. Dean shares how one team went from roughly 80% reactive maintenance to 80% proactive and preventive maintenance, why tracking the work was a critical first step, and how consistency helped make the change stick.
Dean also explains why technical expertise alone isn't enough when you move into leadership. He discusses learning to view problems through a business lens, earning management's trust by delivering on promises, getting teams to embrace new systems, and protecting yourself from burnout in a career that rarely fits neatly into traditional working hours.
Takeaways:
- Stop accepting firefighting as the norm. Without systems and processes in place, reactive maintenance will continue consuming the team's time.
- Track before you try to improve. Dean's team used maintenance software to understand what they were actually doing and identify recurring failures that could become preventive tasks.
- Facilities leaders have to think beyond the repair. Moving from technician to manager required Dean to consider production value, priorities, downtime, and the overall needs of the business.
- You don't need to use every feature of your CMMS. Dean's team eventually identified the functions that mattered most and focused on consistently using those instead of trying to do everything.
- Consistency creates lasting change. Dean describes persistence, rather than demanding immediate compliance, as one of his most effective approaches to changing behavior.
- Trust gives your ideas more runway. When leadership knows you deliver on what you promise, they're more likely to listen when you bring them difficult news or ask for additional resources.
- Protect yourself from burnout. Facilities work often means weekends, off-hours calls, and interrupted vacations, making the ability to switch off especially important.
Quote of the Show
- “If you don't put systems in place, you will never stop firefighting.”
Links
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dean-vieira-cfm-60891abb/
- Website: https://c-a-design.com/
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