In his article, "Saving The Titanic," maritime historian Joseph Greely outlines a compelling solution for survival: "The Titanic could have been saved and 1,500 lives spared." He notes many other ships in history have sustained damage equal to or greater than what the Titanic sustained, yet remained afloat. The overwhelming difference between the Titanic and the other ships was not design or construction quality but the other crews' methodical response in controlling damage. If the crew of the "unsinkable ship" would have implemented a standard damage control methodology, it is a safe bet things would have turned out very differently.
A major factor in whether turnarounds sink or survive is tied directly to whether the site has high-quality written methodologies. Though turnaround methodology manuals have grown in popularity, there is still a plethora of sites that either do not have them or have manuals out of date or poorly written. Performing a turnaround or a project without detailed methodology manuals is nothing short of malpractice. It is the equivalent of taking a journey without a map, playing a game without a playbook or waging war without a plan. There are not many red flags that are larger than not having written methodology manuals for a turnaround; it would indicate a lack of prudence at best and a lack of know-how at worst.
A good recipe for misalignment, confusion and inefficiency is to assign key turnaround roles to individuals and assume they will automatically know precisely what to do and exactly how it is to be done. A good methodology manual provides many important benefits that cannot be obtained through any other means:
- It provides important standards with which the team must comply. Standards must be clearly communicated upfront, enforced uniformly across the team and preserved for future events. These standards are tied to best practices that ensure a favorable outcome.
- It defines the objectives the team is accountable for delivering. Objectives define success; they are elements around which a team forms its key performance indicators.
- It provides the road map, the logical sequence that must unfold to ensure success. It provides a rudimentary "how-to" for the user and can assist with training future team members. Employees understand the permissions and constraints of their roles without defaulting to a risky "trial and error" method since the key points are clear in well-written policies and procedures.
- It identifies the interactions and handoffs between the various team members and stakeholders to ensure they take place as efficiently as possible. In the absence of written methodologies, turnaround teams have only two bleak choices: either reinvent the wheel for each turnaround or take a precarious "shoot from the hip" approach.
- It provides consistency in an industry so replete with transition. Every turnaround has new faces coming in and old faces who have left. One major reason the Titanic would have benefitted so much from following a written damage control methodology is because "the Titanic was a new ship with a new crew who were not used to working together."
- It guards against overconfidence. Teams who are successful may take success for granted and relax their cadence or take detrimental shortcuts. One reason the Titanic's captain and crew were unprepared is because the Titanic had a reputation as "unsinkable." Overconfidence led to carelessness, then failure, shock and unmethodical remediation.
- It allows managers to exercise control by exception rather than having to "micro-manage" their staff. Employees can police themselves by understanding and applying written guidelines, creating a more efficient, high-expectation work environment.
Methodology manuals allow managers more time to focus on important things like vision, strategy, new innovations and team culture. They allow teams to work with confident precision, ensuring turnaround teams are afforded the best chance for consistently successful turnarounds.
For more information, contact Onpoint at (281) 461-9340, email sales@onpoint-us.com or visit www.onpoint-us.com.