Olympus TLP Operations Team – Enabling a community of excellence

Abstract

How do you measure the success of a major deep water project? It is measured across the full range of its development phases—define, design, execute, and operate. Each of these phases requires effective integration of technical professionals ranging from geoscientists to surveillance engineers. Equally important is the integration of operations staff as early as the define phase. Building an operating organization which is effective in the early phases and grows to excel in the operate phase presents unique challenges. This paper focuses on building and enabling an operations organization during the execution and operation phases of the Mars B Development project. It will highlight a range of key enablers identified by the Olympus TLP operations team to create a community of excellence. These enablers ranged from organizational development to technology. Organizational development is standard practice required for the creation of a new organization. The team put special emphasis on defining the right culture needed to be top quartile. That culture centers on caring, accountability, efficiency, and sustainability. Success in this area requires identifying and practicing individual behaviors supportive of the culture, and developing leadership attributes which enable the culture to grow. Training and competency development are critical given the wide range of experience levels of the operating staff. The team identified unique competency requirements for the Olympus TLP which were beyond the core business unit requirements. Training was developed and delivered by senior operating personnel. Detailed computer-based training modules are used for more extensive training requirements, including the onboarding of new employees. An integrated operations center in New Orleans merges asset support and operations personnel in a space designed around common work processes in support of the Olympus TLP. These groups are connected collectively: the TLP, subject matter experts, vendors and external support centers through collaborative work environment technology ranging from high-end video conferencing to real-time data sharing. The hub of this center is a remote control room which is an extension of the central control room on the TLP.