Deacon (1997: 3) suggests that competencies are a product of knowledge and experience.
A good leader leads by example and by providing a role model for team members to follow. A good leader is someone people will follow willingly because the team perceives that the leader will provide them the means to achieve their own individual desires, needs and expectations as well as the project‟s objectives (Burke & Barron, 2007: 277).
A project manager cannot function or execute a project without people, thus a project manager has to manage the team, stakeholders, finance and the schedule. To manage a team the construction project manager should have good people management skills (Turk, 2007: 23). “Good communications skill is a critical competency for good people management” (Turk, 2007: 24).
Turk (2007: 24-25) further suggests that project managers need the following competencies: patience, wisdom, humour, flexibility, creativity and expertise. Optimism, initiative, achievement, adaptability, transparency and emotional self-
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control are competencies that a project leader needs to set an example for the project team (Barrett, 2006a: 179).
Forida (2007: 30-38) identifies the creative class to be able to lead people in occupations requiring social skills and emotional intelligence, and the ability to create new ideas, technologies, models and values.
Verster and Zulch (2010: CD) suggest that education, training and research are strong determinants for developing creativity within the construction industry. Creativity is an attribute that will enhance the effectiveness of management.
The competencies that develop a project manager into a project leader are the management style, long term goals, expanding the knowledge base, encouraging interactive communication, action orientation and openness, mentorship, adaptation to change, an eye for opportunity, a positive attitude and the ability to measure performances (Sommer, 2010: online).
Project leaders may stimulate cross-communication by asking relevant questions, encouraging participation, summoning conversation, relieving tension, and by promoting progress of the flow of communication (Makay & Fetzer, 1984: 150-155).
Toor and Ofori (2008: 621) state that it is important to create a positive culture to develop future leaders with positive values and high levels of moral and ethical behaviour. Research done by Development Dimensions International (DDI) on Leadership Forecast indicates that from 1999 to 2003 the four most important leadership competencies remained the same. They are adaptability, building a successful team, decision making and communication (Bernthal & Wellins, 2005|2006: 8).
As leader of the project team, the construction project manager must have good leadership qualities, in other words should be assertive, persuasive and have the ability to motivate team members. The project manager should be a skilled negotiator to ensure that the best resources are assigned to the project. A project
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manager must possess the necessary common sense needed to anticipate and manage risks in a prudent fashion. All the above equip the project manager to become a consistently good decision maker (Deacon, 1997: 3).
5.6 Conclusion
The successful execution of a construction project depends heavily on the construction project manager‟s abilities as communicator to lead the team and manage a construction project successfully.
During the execution of a project, the construction project manager applies some powers. Depending on the situation, different combinations of positional and personal powers may influence the effectiveness of a construction project manager. The effectiveness of the construction project manager‟s communication also depends on a combination of powers linked to the choice of leadership style.
The role of leadership in construction project management is to maintain and promote the project vision, reinforce positive relationships, build an environment that supports effective teamwork, raise morale, and empower and inspire the individual as reviewed.
If project leaders are unsuccessful in leading the team to complete the project successfully, there should be reasons or issues that caused leaders to fail. These reasons might probably be ineffective communication between members of the team and/or the construction project manager‟s incompetence to communicate effectively.
The construction project manager, who has developed into a project leader by developing competencies, will communicate more effectively and lead the team to completing projects successfully.
The skills that the construction project manager needs in order to communicate effectively are reviewed next.
77 Chapter 6: Construction project management communication skills
6.1 Introduction
The survival of any organised human activity depends largely on man‟s ability to communicate with others. Indeed, it is impossible to conceive of an organisation in which individuals operate in isolation without the benefit of communication (Feldberg, in Talukhaba et al., 2011: 129). It is important to determine the skills needed to communicate effectively for the benefit of the project.
Skills may be defined as the ability to translate knowledge into an action that results in the desired performance (Burke & Barron, 2007: 25). PMBOK (in Burke & Barron, 2007: 346) defines communication skills as “ensuring the right person gets the right information at the right time”. Skills may be referred to as an ability to translate knowledge into action (Odusami, 2002: 61).
Skills may be divided into three sets, namely cognitive; technical and communication skills. Cognitive skills relate to the knowledge base of the profession. Technical skills are the specialised practical and manipulative techniques essential to the profession (Hargie, 2007: 2) and especially in the planning and implementation stages of a project (Odusami, 2002: 62). Communication or social skills entail individuals having the ability to interact effectively with clients and other professionals (Hargie, 2007: 2). The project manager needs to establish cooperative relationships with the project team members, ensure a good climate for communication, identify participants for the project to ensure commitment and adopt an appropriate leadership style (Goodwin, in Odusami, 2002: 62). Dick (1997: online) adds two additional skills, namely interpersonal skills and emotional skills. Emotional skills are the ability to make the right decisions under difficult circumstances, to take responsibility and to have courage. Interpersonal skills are having the self-confidence to communicate. Without emotional skills, the interpersonal skills may not be used effectively, and without the interpersonal skills, the technical skills may be wasted. Katz (in Odusami, 2002: 61) suggests that all project managers require the same competence in each skill. Covey (2008: online) describes communication as an
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important skill in life and Heldman (2011: 33) states that, “the most important skills a project manager possesses are communication skills”. These statements confirm that communication skills are important.
Communication skills are important for the construction project manager to communicate effectively and are reviewed next.