N832 Managing Multidisciplinary Subsurface Teams
N832 Managing Multidisciplinary Subsurface Teams
This course will enable current and emerging subsurface managers and team leaders to deliver business performance and add value through effective management of multidisciplinary subsurface teams. Participants will understand the key management requirements for developing organisational capability and delivering excellence through subsurface teams within E&P. It will also help develop an understanding and appreciation of maintaining an appropriate balance between immediate, near-term and long-term business delivery. Participants will learn to apply best practice tools and processes as project managers to get the most out of multidisciplinary subsurface teams.
A three-day classroom based course. The class uses a combination of presentations, group work, exercises, case studies and role plays to ensure that participants learn and develop the confidence to use the various principles and techniques presented in the course. The programme will have a highly interactive master- class style. The content and reflections are provided by oil and gas professionals with a wealth of senior and subsurface leadership experience and expertise.
Participants will learn to:
The course will examine and discuss the challenges and tensions faced by subsurface managers – how to create focused teams that deliver high business performance through quality and timely products under the umbrella of risk and uncertainty.
It will examine how to understand the business environment, corporate business drivers and priorities together with making decisions about the trade-offs inevitably required between costs, pace and value.
This will all be framed in creating an environment of safe and responsible operations and work practices.
Effective subsurface management varies not only with the person or group that is being influenced, but it also depends on the task, job or function that needs to be accomplished.
The course will examine the key subsurface activities, their focus and how they change across the E&P value chain from access and exploration through to development and production. It applies best practices within the specific context of the subsurface domain and will help participants grow their skills and competency in subsurface management across the value chain.
The course will:
The course is designed for current and emerging subsurface managers/team leaders and others with subsurface management responsibility in their roles.
There are no prerequisite courses. At the outset of the course each participant will be asked to list their key needs from the course and their views on core subsurface management skills, both in the subsurface domain. They will also be asked to share (confidentially) their key concerns and needs regarding subsurface management. These will be used to help shape the subsequent discussions to focus on the key and recurring topics of most relevance to the participants.
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Background
Steve Thompson joined the petroleum industry in 1980 as a wireline engineer with Schlumberger; he retired from BP in 2012 and has since been advising and consulting in areas of staff development and training with independents and oil majors. At his retirement he was BP’s senior technical manager in the Middle East, based in Abu Dhabi with particular focus on the imminent renewal of the ADCO and ADMA operated interests. Through this he gained close understanding of the contrasting strengths, styles and strategies of the co-venturers globally: Exxon, Shell and Total.
In BP Steve held technical leadership roles across the fi eld lifecycle (access, exploration, appraisal, development and production) in the North Sea, onshore UK, South America, Gulf of Mexico and the Middle East. He had graduated with a Masters degree in Physics from Oxford University and followed this up 10 years later with an MBA from Warwick Business School. This facilitated his move into a gap in BP’s organization and he began working closely with HR in several roles to move people management in a more strategic direction. This culminated in his senior role from 2003 to 2008 as Director of Subsurface Staff , responsible for the recruitment, development and deployment of BP’s 2500 Subsurface staff globally (geoscientists, petrophysicists, petroleum and reservoir engineers).
In addition to his continuing association with the Oil and Gas industry, Steve pursues one of his other passions for sailing, by running structured team building opportunities, based in Dorset where he lives and operates a number of vessels for this purpose.
Courses Taught
N832: Managing Multidisciplinary Subsurface Teams
R001: Oil and Gas Essentials
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