I have been told on many occasions that, "an experienced project team is what will make a project successful" Is this comment correct? What constitutes a successful project?
Does a successful project mean that the rig/asset will be fully functional and operational as designed, or Does it mean that the project is delivered on time, or Does it mean both the above or something else? Well, it depends on what you mean by a successful project and the object of the company concerned.
I have been involved in many projects and come across various objectives that a company wants, i.e. a project not to be finished before a certain date, a project that is fully operational but not necessary on time, and of course the most common a full

• Engineering
• Procurement
• Planning
• Construction
• Equipment Installation
• Mechanical / Electrical Completion Commissioning

Detailed Inspections

• As can be seen from the list, a fair amount of consideration is required.
  To date, I have been involved in well over 100 projects from this being the from the Operator acceptance/project team (Shell, BP, Chevron, etc.), or the drilling contractor (Transocean, Seadrill, Ensco, etc.) and at all different stages, from Front End Engineer Design (FEED) to taking the asset into initial operations. The starting stage will generally depend on item 8, in the previous list. It is not possible to go through all the scenarios listed as this would be an extensive manual, however, we can generally view some of the items that will greatly enhance a project’s success, and list some mistakes I have seen repeatedly.
• Project Team Selection It’s fair to say that every company/party, will look at obtaining the best project team to suit their purpose.
  The project team members may join the project at various stages but normally at the time of construction, and some later during construction, if a new design, No.1 may be earlier during aspects of engineering. Project Teams are pretty much made up of standardized positions, i.e., project manager, commissioning manager, commissioning engineers, technicians, scheduler/planner, and admin.
• The project team in all positions is usually busy just looking after their own scope of work, i.e., the PM is dealing with project contractual issues, budget, meetings, etc. The leads are busy approving/writing procedures, planning for the project, for the next commissioning system, inspecting, commissioning, and having meetings, The actual QA team is usually out in the field most of the day witnessing the inspections with little time to plan.
  The project activities are normally managed and scheduled by the yard, except if the owner is managing OFE (owner furnished Equipment). So, everyone is busy doing their job. The commissioning Manager is planning all the commissioning activities, meeting with various parties, planning the commissioning schedules, and maybe also involved