Ensuring Work Management Effectiveness through Operational Discipline

Oil and gas companies are constantly looking for ways to improve the efficiency of their assets and operations to reduce costs and remain competitive. Routine maintenance is an important aspect because it helps improve efficiency by preventing equipment failure, improving operational efficiency and ensuring safety. 

Common routine maintenance tasks include daily and weekly inspections for leaks, vibration and unusual noises, as well as equipment maintenance such as regular oil changes and filter replacements, and instrument calibration according to manufacturer recommendations.

Understanding the work management cycle

The Work Management cycle is a high-level view of maintenance processes, including identification, planning, scheduling, resource allocation, and coordination of activities to ensure that work is completed on time and effectively.

The work management cycle begins with the identification of the tasks required. For example, during routine inspections, the team must identify key issues that require immediate attention. A comprehensive work plan is then developed. This plan outlines the required actions, establishes the execution procedures, and ensures the availability of all essential materials on site to complete the task.

Once the details are in place, the work must be scheduled into a timeline that minimises disruption to operations. When scheduling the work, daily and weekly schedules are established to guide the implementers and ensure that fixed deadlines are met. The objective of this scheduling process is to provide designated crews with a full day’s work to improve productivity and on time completion.

Once the schedule is ready, it is time to assign the task. It is critical that work assignment is based on matching and balancing activities by work type and trade with the right mix of skilled technicians. It is important to ensure that the size of the team on site is optimal, avoiding unnecessary overcrowding.

Those assigned must execute the task and report any gaps in the plans to ensure a better completion rate next time. Upon completion, record the spares and materials used for the job, and other relevant data such as weaknesses or gaps in the plan (e.g. too many people on site, different tools required on site), to enable the team to review and learn, ensuring continuous improvement for future jobs.

What you can do to improve work management processes

Well-developed and properly implemented work management processes ensure smooth operations, reducing the costs associated with equipment failure, process interruption and overtime.

Here’s how you can improve work management processes and ensure disciplined application:

1. Workflow Mapping and Review

Map all maintenance, safety and supply chain sub-processes from the identification of work needs to the execution and completion of work orders. Identify bottlenecks and weaknesses, as well as common non-compliance points. Determine if the non-conformances are due to a lack of knowledge. Provide training to fill these gaps to ensure strict compliance.

2. Initiative Definition

Categorise all improvement opportunities into the following aspects:

• Process – Analyse the work processes that need to be changed or improved, remove any redundancies in the processes and eliminate non-value-added activities.
• Management System – Develop job aids and guidelines for employees. When setting targets for tasks, it is important to outline clear performance metrics, as these could help in the review after the work order has been completed.
• People: Training, Capability, Behaviour – Well-designed work management processes cannot be successful without the commitment of people. Identify the aspects of the human element that need intervention. Is it their behaviour or skills? Provide targeted training to address the issue.

3. Implement Best Practices

• Work Management Process Discipline – Imagine a team of technicians performing routine equipment maintenance without adhering to the work management process. Safety may be at risk, delays in execution will occur and quality may suffer. Adherence to the process is essential to avoid rework and complete scheduled maintenance on time and within budget.
• Variance Management and Performance Review – Deviations from plan are inevitable, but it is important to understand why they occurred. Therefore, regular performance reviews that analyse variances are critical for continuous improvement. This allows strategy to be adjusted and processes to be refined to avoid similar problems in the future. Making course corrections along the way ensures that you get the job done on time.
• Active Supervisory Behaviour Model – Effective supervision requires ongoing guidance and support. The best practices outlined in the Active Supervisory Behaviour Model emphasise the importance of routine check-ins, clear communication and timely intervention. In addition, a short interval model to monitor progress at regular intervals can also identify and address problems early, preventing them from snowballing into larger issues.

Overlooked aspects of work management processes

Based on Renoir Consulting’s 30 years of experience, we have observed that two aspects are frequently overlooked when developing work management processes: the quality of operator defect identification and notification, and the use of frozen schedules.

During the first part of the work management process – identifying work requirements – the operator needs to have a good understanding of the processes and equipment to better identify problems or failures before they occur.

A poorly identified defect or problem will result in inaccurate work order information, leading to failure to identify technicians with the right skills, unavailability of the right tools and spares, and inaccurate work order planning and scheduling. Therefore, when developing work management processes, focus on improving the quality of defect identification and notification.

Another often overlooked aspect is the lack of a frozen schedule. Once the schedule is frozen, it should not be changed without approval and justification. Adherence to agreed rules regarding “break-in” work is critical. Additionally, when preparing the schedule, it is important to fully utilise the available manhours to ensure high levels of technician wrench-time.

Refining existing processes

While most organisations have established processes in place, their effectiveness diminishes over time. Optimising the work management cycle can lead to cost savings, reduction in maintenance backlogs and ultimately improved asset reliability.

However, implementing change can be challenging due to organisational inertia –interpersonal relationships, expectations, roles, career paths, and more. Therefore, redesigning these processes requires a delicate approach to managing resistance.

Change management is one of many important aspects of managing change, including employee resistance. Effective change management promotes not only process optimisation, but also employee buy-in, which contributes to a successful routine maintenance.

This is where Renoir Consulting comes in, bringing fresh perspectives and a thorough approach to help organisations realise the potential of process improvement to achieve a step-change in maintenance execution efficiency.