Overview
Managing facilities across a busy church campus requires more than good intentions and experienced staff. Without clear systems, even capable teams can become reactive, overloaded, and disconnected from one another.
When Shawn Seeley joined Hillside Fellowship as Facilities and IT Team Lead, he quickly saw that the facilities team was working hard—but without a shared source of truth. Work lived in people’s heads, on paper, or in informal conversations. As a result, important tasks were missed, preventive maintenance was inconsistent, and leadership had no reliable visibility into what work was actually happening.
Hillside Fellowship turned to eSPACE to replace institutional knowledge with documented, trackable processes—and to bring clarity to facility maintenance and event coordination.
The Challenge: Siloed Knowledge and Constant Reactivity
Before eSPACE, everyone on the facilities team generally knew their responsibilities. The problem was that no one knew what anyone else was doing.
There was no centralized system to track completed work, outstanding tasks, or upcoming maintenance. When staff members were sick, on vacation, or transitioned out of the organization, critical knowledge disappeared with them. Tasks that depended on memory or routine often fell through the cracks.
Preventive maintenance “may or may not happen,” as Shawn described it. Without documentation, scheduling, or accountability, the team was forced into a reactive posture—responding to issues after something broke rather than preventing problems in advance.
This uncertainty created stress for leadership and inefficiency for the team. There was no easy way to answer basic operational questions: what needed to be done, when it needed to be done, and whether it had actually been completed.
The Solution: Centralized Work Orders and Shared Visibility
Hillside Fellowship began with eSPACE’s Work Order Management system, gradually rolling it out to the facilities team.
While adoption took time, the impact became clear once the system was fully implemented. Shawn was able to build reports that showed work order assignments by staff member, giving him visibility into workload distribution and capacity. This made it easier to ensure no one was overloaded with an unrealistic amount of work.
The work order status and flagging system added another layer of clarity. Shawn could see whether a task was in progress, on hold due to waiting on parts, or past due. Instead of guessing, he could follow up with staff, offer support, reassign work, or decide when it made sense to contract tasks out.
The team also expanded into eSPACE’s Event Scheduler, which addressed long-standing space conflicts. Previously, ministries would assume rooms were available, only to find another group already setting up—or teardown tasks left undone because no work order had been created. With scheduling and setup tracked in one system, those headaches largely disappeared.
The Results: Data-Driven Decisions and Measurable Savings
With eSPACE in place, Hillside Fellowship gained more than organization—they gained proof.
Using real work order data, Shawn was able to demonstrate to the Executive Pastor that the facilities team was understaffed. The number of work orders and the type of work being completed made the case clearly. As a result, the church hired a Facilities and Events Coordinator.
That role now manages event setup and teardown and owns the eSPACE Event Scheduler. This shift freed the maintenance technician to focus on preventive maintenance and critical reactive work instead of constantly being pulled into event logistics.
The custodial team also benefited. With clearer documentation and workflows, they could identify which tasks were reasonable to handle internally and which should be outsourced—improving efficiency across the board.
In addition, Hillside Fellowship integrated eSPACE’s Event Scheduler with Pelican Wireless HVAC controls. By aligning heating and cooling with actual room usage, the church reduced unnecessary energy consumption and saved approximately $2,000 per month on electricity—allowing eSPACE to pay for itself.
Why Shawn Recommends eSPACE
Shawn’s advice to teams considering eSPACE is direct:
- If you’re relying on:
- Paper
- Excel
- Memory …you will miss things.
- Missed maintenance leads to higher costs, stress, and inefficiency.
- eSPACE replaces assumptions with data and visibility.
He also noted plans to expand usage into additional facility tools like InfoSpace and digital signage, reinforcing that eSPACE became foundational—not just a one-off tool.
About eSPACE
eSPACE is the leading facility management software for churches, schools, and faith-based organizations. From work orders and asset tracking to event scheduling and preventive maintenance, eSPACE helps teams steward their spaces with excellence.
