Consultants as Connectors: Building Networks, Creating Knowledge:FMCC President’s message

Tuesday, June 9th, 2026

As consultants, we are often engaged to solve problems, facilitate change, or provide specialized expertise. Yet one of the most valuable contributions consultants make is often less visible.

We build networks.

Every engagement, conversation, conference, project, and partnership creates connections between people, ideas, and experiences that might otherwise remain isolated within a single organization. Over time, consultants become conduits through which knowledge travels across industries, sectors, and geographies.

In facilities management, this role is particularly important.

No single organization has all the answers. Every institution faces unique circumstances, but many of the underlying challenges are remarkably similar. Questions about workplace evolution, infrastructure stewardship, sustainability, technology, talent, service delivery, risk, and organizational effectiveness are being explored simultaneously by organizations worldwide.

Consultants are uniquely positioned to observe these patterns, identify emerging practices, and help organizations learn from one another. We are often among the first to see what is changing and among the few who have the opportunity to connect lessons learned in one setting to opportunities in another.

Equally important, innovation rarely emerges from a single individual or organization working alone. New knowledge is created through collaboration. It develops when diverse perspectives come together, when assumptions are challenged, and when professionals are willing to share experiences openly with one another.

This is one of the reasons the FM Consultants Council exists.

Our community brings together professionals with different backgrounds, specialties, and perspectives. Through conversations, partnerships, mentoring relationships, webinars, conferences, and collaborative initiatives, we collectively advance the profession.

The strongest consultants are not simply experts. They are learners, collaborators, and knowledge builders. They understand that their value lies not only in what they know, but also in their ability to connect people, ideas, and opportunities in ways that create lasting impact.

As we continue to grow the FMCC community, I encourage each of you to look for opportunities to strengthen your professional network, share your experiences, and collaborate with fellow members. Every connection has the potential to create new insight. Every conversation has the potential to spark innovation.

Together, we are helping shape the future of facilities management, not by working alone, but by learning and building knowledge together.

Thank you for your continued engagement and support of the FM Consultants Council.

Grant Sommerfeld, MBA, CMC, CFM, CEFP, FRICS
President
IFMA FM Consultants Council

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