Commissioning Field Lessons - Integrated Team Excellence
Written and experienced by me, not an algorithm
The best commissioning teams I’ve worked in have been where all stakeholders are pulling together with clear shared goals in their sight. This integration can be between entities (client, contractor, vendors, construction etc) or even between internal teams (mechanical, instrumentation, electrical) but almost always leads to better execution.
Anyone with experience of working on complex EPC projects knows that feeling of different teams trying to get their bit of the work done but blocking out others in the process.
At best, this will lead to some minor inefficiencies but at its worst it can lead to major schedule push or even safety incidents.
When this done is well it can lead to some or all of the following;
✅ a wider, more diverse pool of ideas for solving problems: different perspectives can provide more robust solutions and reduce the risk of missing something
✅ a safe space for raising issues: individuals feel more comfortable raising issues, because there is higher trust the integrated team will pull together to find solutions
✅ synergies and efficiencies from working so closely together: sharing permits, planning scaffold install/removal, mobilising vendors, isolation/LOTO optimisation
✅ SIMOPs planning: when you’re all playing in the same sandpit it can get super inefficient, frustrating and potentially unsafe - an integrated team plans around each other without formal meetings or requiring a manager to decide priority
Some of my fondest memories of working on site are seeing groups of expert professionals, from different organisations and teams, passionately working together to get the job done right. Its excellence in execution but its rare, and its often due to a lack of specific strategy that encouraged this collaborative environment.
At RFC Consultants we can help projects develop commissioning strategies that promote collaboration of key stakeholders and create synergies that can lead to best in class performance.
