Operator topologies are ways of organizing people and machines in order to complete jobs. It's sort of like a map of how everything needs to be set up to do the job. For example, one topology could be that machines are set up in a circle around one person and then they all work together to complete a task. Another topology could be that machines are set up in a line, with each machine doing a different task. To decide which topology to use, you need to think about what task needs to be done and how the people and machines can best work together to do it.