The principles of Plan, Brief, Execute and Debrief (PBED) are now firmly entrenched in how we conduct our business and we all agree that it is paramount to achieving a predictable outcome. Perfect execution of each of these phases remains our duty to ourselves, our teams and our company values. We want to believe that we are vigorous in task planning, briefing and debriefing. It is continually encouraged, with sufficient time and resources allocated for its facilitation.
Sadly, we still have yet to overcome the hurdle during the 'Execution' phase when 'getting the job done' at the expense of ‘following the procedure’ becomes the priority. It’s during this phase that we (both supervisors and crews) are not recognising the unplanned deviations or changes and using our Stop Work Authority (SWA). Then re-assess and re-plan what is in front of us. It’s as if our 'priorities' change during the task execution phase and the agreed task plan becomes on 'optional' guide to comply. Continually following that path leads to the alignment of the failed barriers (Swiss cheese) and ultimately resulting in incidents either minor or serious which nearly always involves team members.
This raises the question, are our agreed task plans mandatory or discretional during the execution phase? Are our task priorities and values inter-changeable? What are we communicating to our crews? Is there always a supervisor visible at pre-job meeting, giving input and verifying our crews and partners fully understand the task during execution and practical involvement with the crews for coaching and alignment with safety expectations?
The answer to the question is that task plans are mandatory and SWA intervention for any deviations from the plan, or concern, or if any individual who does not understand the task, it is a requirement and praised with positive feedback. Executing a Task, the Right Way, and Every Time is Our Priority. There is Always Time to do it Right, and this is where the choice becomes ours, the Hard Right over the Easy Wrong! When in doubt, we need to think change!
On a daily basis, our supervisor’s need to provide coaching to our crews, regarding the concept of what an abnormality or deviation is and encourage the simple act of taking a moment to engage their mind and address that abnormality in a controlled manner as required.
Perfect execution remains a challenge not only for SKD and our crews but the industry in general. There is no magic wand that can be waved for operational excellence and perfect execution. Developing, then executing against the agreed plan is challenging even after open discussions with our teams.
Having worked in this industry for close to 50 years and having seen many programs/initiatives come and go, it is my opinion that the ability to perfectly execute a task against an agreed plan requires understanding and encouraging a few known facts: