Simplified Outage Planning

At first blush, the notion of outage planning seems counterintuitive.  This is because unplanned outages get all the press.  Case in point – most of what I write about involves unplanned outage scenarios, such as those that are caused by terrorism, system hacking, or severe weather like 2017’s Hurricane Irma and Hurricane Harvey.  But some outages are planned, because power plants sometimes need to be shutdown or taken offline for maintenance activities.  And the best way to ensure a smooth planned outage event is to give it a big fat KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid).

How to Simplify Outage Planning

There are many software tools and planning models in the market to help facilitate outage planning, but these tend to be so complex that workers shy away from using them to their fullest extent, if at all.  This is why some level of simplification is necessary.  According to this article by Power Mag, there are several ways to help simplify the outage planning process:

• Share the planning workload by involving all internal stakeholders in the process from the get-go.  This will help improve everyone’s collective understanding of the plan and the process, which in theory should improve communication and ensure everyone is moving in the same direction as a cohesive team.
• Utilize simpler, more familiar tools like Excel for planning tasks.  By using a tool that everyone knows, there is no learning curve and fewer Mickey Mouse errors.
• Use visual aids, but do not go crazy on distracting animation and other visual enhancements.  Use visual aids to boil down progress-tracking on the key steps to a simple yes (green) or no (red) type of chart.
• Break processes down into digestible tasks / steps.  This not only helps to simplify the overall process, but it provides a clear expectation of what each person needs to do.

All very good suggestions.  By following the four steps outlined above, you can ensure that your company’s outage planning process will be as efficient and painless as possible.