Led by Jason Liem, whose background is from the cognitive sciences, the program focus is to teach participants how the mind influences behavior. With this understanding, they can learn to deal better with stress, focus on the problem at hand, and reach better, timely decisions. They learn how to give and receive feedback, coach, communicate, and manage expectations.

Since the program was first piloted in 2011, over 150 department Chiefs, Party Chiefs and Captains have completed the process that is divided into three major steps.

The first step is a workshop that combines brainbased skills, psychology and communication. Role-play, based on experience from the offshore environment is used to review the application of the principles.

The second step happens offshore. Managers get support in understanding how they are perceived as a leader and coach by their crew. This encourages managers to set up one-onone meetings with their crew every trip. These individual meetings are designed to create a personal bond with each and every crewmember.

The third and final step is a half-day meeting with peers and Jason Liem to determine what each participant has learned and how to continue building their relationships with their co-workers.

The program has been very successful both as measured by the high marks and comments from the participants for each full and half-day session as well as through our company wide Global People Survey.

In the most recent Global People Survey, PGS compared the rating of managers who completed the MSMO program with others who have not. Managers who completed the course consistently scored at least 10% higher on questions like “In my department we all pull in the same direction in order to achieve our department’s goals”, and over 20% higher on “In my department we openly discuss our mistakes in order to learn from them”. PGS will continue to invest in this program.