BACKGROUND
During lunch, there were three FLS having a rare chance of sitting together for a conversation.
The production supervisor made a comment between bites of his sandwich, “It has been a long
time since we have had smooth production without a shut down. I am so relieved.” The
maintenance FLS said, “Quiet, don’t jinx it! I too have had a week or two without any
problems. It really has given me some breathing room.”
The third FLS quickly swallowed a spoonful of soup and said, “You guys are lucky. I have 2
more days before our commitment to start up Train A. We are running behind and my team is
working 4 hours OT daily to catch up! I don’t know how you both manage expectations from
everyone. As a FLS, we are often forced to deal with multiple, shifting priorities from the top,
with just limited time and resources. At the same time, I have to deal with all the conflicting
activities from you two, and I have to deal with the performance issues of some of my team
members.”
“I know my boss is going to ask me to work on an OPEX summary report and send it to him by
the end of the day, and I think he is going to ask me to work on another pet project of his. I
know Jim, the senior engineer, is going to be asking me for the latest well test information so
he can update management. And, on top of all that, one of my guys is asking for help with
starting the Vapor Recovery Compressor.”
INSTRUCTIONS
Determine how you will present your case to your manager to help with managing
expectations. Use the space below for notes:
• Probe for detail on the manager’s request: