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Jeff O’Neil doesn’t just understand the gap between planning, design, construction, and operations, he’s lived on both sides of it. Jeff, Vice President, Plant Operations at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, RWJBarnabas Health, began his career in the PDC world, driving projects forward, managing timelines, and making the kinds of decisions that get buildings open.
But when he transitioned into facilities management in 2013, Jeff’s perspective shifted. Now he was living on the other side of the spectrum. The same buildings he once delivered became systems he had to operate, maintain, and live with. That crossover gave him something most leaders don’t develop: a dual lens on both execution and consequence.
It’s that experience, seeing how decisions made in design and construction operationalize themselves when a building opens, that gives Jeff a unique voice on one of healthcare’s most persistent challenges: organizational silos.
For leaders trying to connect teams across PDC and FM, Jeff offers a blueprint grounded in experience, where breaking down silos is a necessity for building facilities that perform.
1. Invite Facilities in the Room Early (Not at the End)
Most silos are created at the very beginning of a project. When planning and design teams operate in isolation, they optimize for delivery, schedule and budget, but no one is accountable for what happens after. Bringing facilities and engineering leaders in early changes the dynamics and helps to prevent long-term operational debt.
2. Design with the End User in Mind (The Technician)
Buildings aren’t just handed off, they’re lived in. That means thinking beyond the architect and engineer to the MEP professional maintaining the systems. If the person maintaining the building wasn’t considered early in the design phase, the silo built in; the Construction Document phase is too late to eliminate the sils.
3. Create Shared Accountability Across Phases
Silos thrive when responsibility is segmented. Instead of clean handoffs, there needs to be shared ownership across planning, construction, and facilities. The goal is continuity, not handoffs.
4. Close the Feedback Loop
After go-live, valuable lessons are often lost. Capturing what worked and what didn’t, during and after the project, bringing that insight forward, is critical. Without a feedback loop, every project starts from zero lessons learned.
5. Think Beyond Opening Day
The building’s 0pening day is not the finish line, it’s the starting point of a building’s life. Decisions should be made with a long-term lens, considering how the building will perform over time and under survey conditions.
6. Bridge the Language Gap Between Teams
Planning, construction, and facilities speak different languages. Breaking silos requires intentional translation across teams to align priorities and eliminate assumptions.
7. Learn to Live in Both Worlds
The people who break silos best understand both sides, project delivery and operations. Even without crossing roles, leaders should actively seek exposure to both perspectives.
8. Make Transition to Operations a Formal Process
Transition should not be rushed or informal. Equipment data, PM programs, and staff readiness must be in place before go-live to avoid long-term issues. The transition to operations begins early in the design process, not at building hand-off.
9. Standardize Where It Matters
Variation creates complexity, and complexity creates silos. Standardization in systems and processes creates consistency and reduces operational friction. If facilities does not arrive to the design table early on, opportunities to standardize can be lost.
10. Shift the Culture to Shared Ownership
Projects aren’t successfully completed when a certificate of occupancy is attained and construction is complete. No, projects are successful when facilities can sustain the building operationally. This mindset shift is what ultimately breaks down the silo.
The full conversation with Jeff can be seen here