Shutdowns exist to take risk out of the business. Yet the way we prepare, plan and execute them can put new risk straight back in. Every shutdown carries known and unknown risks. The job is to find and manage them, deliver the work safely and on budget, and hand back a stable platform for operations.

Too often, a finished schedule is mistaken for a shutdown that is ready to execute. Planning is essential, but it is not preparation. When preparation is incomplete, workflows are inefficient, teams are misaligned or reporting fails to show what matters, the result is mediocrity disguised as progress.

In this 90-minute interactive masterclass, drawing on practical shutdown experience, John will explore:

• Preparation vs planning: why a schedule alone doesn’t make a shutdown ready

• The risk paradox: how shutdowns can introduce the very risks they are meant to remove

• The warning signs: incomplete preparation, inefficient workflows, misaligned teams and reporting that hides the truth

• Bringing it together: how people, processes, tools and analysis combine to improve readiness and remove uncertainty

• Live audience insight: the room’s own shutdown practices, polled and analysed in real time to reveal common issues

• What good looks like: practical ideas to strengthen readiness and execution

Participants won’t just hear about shutdown readiness. They will see the room’s answers analysed live, compare views with peers, and leave with practical ideas to challenge conventional thinking and deliver shutdowns that remove risk rather than create it.

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