Navigating the Challenge of Doing More (or the Same) with Less

We are back with the sixth post in our series sharing key ideas and issues I heard during the conferences I attended between September and November 2025. Today we’re going to talk about a new slant on the old trope “Doing More with Less.”

For decades, resources have been squeezed out of facilities organizations, both in terms of funding and staff. Portfolios have grown significantly, but staffing levels are smaller now than they were a decade or more ago. Maintenance budgets have been redlined at almost all institutions, even as significant new construction continues to add square footage to be maintained.

To make matters even more complicated, newer buildings tend to be more complex from a technology perspective, meaning they require increased maintenance and more specialized skills.

We all know the challenges related to underfunding Deferred Capital Renewal and Maintenance, so I won’t go into that again here.

All of this helps explain why the phrase “Do More with Less” has become commonplace across facilities organizations. But this year, in a few instances, I heard a new take on the old theme — “Do Less with Less.” This was the first time I had heard facilities professionals openly acknowledging that there simply isn’t any more blood to squeeze from the stone.

While some organizations may have been quietly doing this for years, this was the first time I heard it framed as a conscious strategy: working with senior executives and finance leaders to identify what levels of service would be reduced based on the resources available.

In a lot of ways, it is amazing that it has taken this long for us to reach this point. It’s a testament to the ability of facilities teams to maximize the value of the limited resources they have been given. At the same time, it was sad to hear, even if it was a long time coming.

This idea — first heard during a panel and then validated through several other conversations — really stuck with me. But as I reflected on it more, I realized there may be a light at the end of the tunnel.

First, as executives are forced to ask what services should be cut, this may create new incentive to secure additional funding — whether for staffing or for capital renewal and maintenance. It’s one thing for leaders to say, “We understand you can’t do more.” It’s another to say, “No — stop doing something your stakeholders probably expect.”

Second, I do have hope that through automation (see Post #2 in this series) and the eventual impact of Large Language Models and Agentic AI, we may find ways to get back to at least “Doing the Same with Less.” And in a perfect world, if we can secure more resources, perhaps even “Doing More with Less” again — in a realistic, sustainable way.

Next up, we’re going to look at how presentations at conferences on FCAs have officially “Jumped the Shark.”