A Facilities improvement team is working to ease work for managers, as described at the #LightenTheLoad website. The team focuses on a variety of manager burdens related to making sure staff have the right places to do their work.

And Andy Hammer is using humor and creativity to play a role in one of those efforts.

He stars in new, short videos that aim to help the managers and the rest of the workforce better understand how to engage with their Facilities team. The videos also emphasize the building manager’s integral role.

The “Ask Andy” videos inform the workforce about Facilities services by providing answers to common questions about the Facilities operation. The videos also can be used to stimulate in-person discussions, such as department meetings and tier boards, or function as stand-alone resources.

The videos also will be part of the ongoing email campaign for new employees that Human Resources uses for orientation during their first year.

“Ask Andy is a great way of using humor to address our customers’ commonly asked questions,” said Robert Thoesen, lead for Work Coordination and Control operations. “I see this as a benefit in that it is somewhat offbeat and unlike the more traditional Labswide communications. There are many difficult conversations and customer service opportunities that Andy may be able to address in a fun and entertaining way.”

Looking to find out who your building manager is? Andy has answers. Do you need to know what a FAM (Facilities Area Manager) is? Or are you having trouble finding the service tracker? Andy can help.

“Because my team is large with more than 300 people and dozens of separate locations, the Ask Andy videos communicate much of what ES&H coordinators get asked,” said Anita Archibeque, an ES&H coordinator. “For me, this helps to reduce the number of emails, instant messages and phone calls I receive on the subject.”

Three episodes of Ask Andy are available now at the Facilities website, with more to come.