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Josiah Johnso Johnson
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Construction Management

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Dissertation EPM930
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THE IMPORTANCE OF

SOFT SKILLS TO A

CONSTRUCTION

PROJECT’S SUCCESS

BY Josiah Johnson

CITY UNIVERSITY LONDON

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Contents

Abstract................................................................................................................................. 3

Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 5

Justification of the Research .............................................................................................. 5

Objectives of the research ................................................................................................. 5

Literature Review .................................................................................................................. 8

Methodology ....................................................................................................................... 12

Results ................................................................................................................................ 12

Analysis .............................................................................................................................. 12

Discussion .......................................................................................................................... 12

Conclusion .......................................................................................................................... 12

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Abstract

The construction industry is one the UK’s premier source of income as it contributes around
ninety billion pounds each year. It provides almost three million jobs in two hundred and
eighty thousand businesses. However, the industry has experienced several turbulent last
few years, having gone in out of recessions. The future appears to be just as difficult due to
the industry being tasked with dealing with the uncertainty of Brexit. Naturally, this creates a
climate where construction managers are under increased pressure to deliver successful
projects. This relies not only on the knowledge of the managers but just as importantly their
skillset. At the moment, there is very little information available on the key soft skills in the
UK construction industry, particularly in terms of its impact on the success of a construction
project. The questions this dissertation aims to answer are “what are these key skills that
enable a construction manager to achieve successful outcomes?” and “how can these be
attained in the workplace?” The research conducted in this dissertation was through a
survey asking representations of UK construction organisations which skills they believed
contributed to project success and the reasons for their choice. The results were then
evaluated and discussed.

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Key Definitions

Project: A specific task or a group of tasks undertaken within certain timeframe and cost to

produce a unique service, product, or result.

Project management: the processes of executing and applying methods skills, knowledge,
and experience to achieve the project objectives.

Project manager: The person responsibility for the successful initiation, planning, execution
monitoring, and controlling the successful conclusion of a project.

Project team: The people, including those from the functional departments,

subcontractors, and vendors, who make up the set of skills and services required

to complete a project.

Project success: To achieve all project objectives effectively and efficiently

in scope, within budget and on time

Skills: The personal attributes that enable someone to interact effectively and harmoniously
with other people.

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Introduction

Justification of the Research

The construction industry is a project-oriented industry comprising of activities which

can range from simple to extremely complex. For example, typical construction jobs
could range from building a basic garden fence to designing and constructing the
Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building. As projects increase in complexity the
execution process of producing a final project requires more than just a technical
knowledge of the subject. As civilisation progresses, develops and evolves so does
the need for increasingly more complex, unique and complicated projects like that of
the Burj Khalifa. This places a burden on engineers, architects, project managers
and key leaders tasked with the responsibility of completing the project successfully.
Therefore, the success of the project relies squarely on the performance of the
leaders of the project especially the project manager. The construction project
manager’s main responsibilities include ensuring a construction project is delivered
as required on time, on budget and safely. This relies on his or her understanding of
the overview of the project as well as the ability to monitor, control, and plan the
project. Although these are skills identified on several master’s management
courses, there is insufficient information on the concept of the role coordinating the
project. More specifically in an industry that involves interacting between multiple
players ranging from contractors, sub-contractors, clients and consultants across
several sectors such as civil, mechanical, electrical, plant and machinery, there
appears to be insufficient information on the role soft skill contributes to achieving a
successful project within the construction industry. Hence more work is required on
the skills required to achieve successful project outcomes. This project aims to
provide fresh insight into creating more well-rounded project managers who are
more aware of ways to bridge the skill gap caused by lack of attention in master’s
programs. Hence it provides an insight into become more effective project
managers.

Objectives of the research

The main aim of this dissertation is to identify the key soft skills required for success
in the construction industry, as well as the role each skill plays in achieving success.
Some of the questions this report aims to answer include what the current practices

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in the industry for individuals are to develop the various soft skills necessary and
how can these practices can be improved.

The main objectives for this paper are to:

- To provide a review on the current practices for leading and

managing projects along with the existing theories on effective project
management
- Identify the key soft skills required in the construction industry
- Investigate key concepts such as soft and hard skill
- Investigate the links between such skills and project productivity in the
different stages of a typical construction project.
- Explore the training and development practices used in the UK and provide
suggestions for improvements
- Provide suggestions for individual professional soft skill development

Scope of research
Although aspects of this research may be relevant to project managers within other
industries the primary focus of the research is for budding and new construction
project managers such as graduates and managers with a few years’ experience.
The research contained in this paper can be divided into a literature review and a
research survey. The first part is literature review highlighting all the key soft skill
necessary within the construction industry today. This review consists of an
evaluation of established practices in the sector found in a range sources from
textbooks on the subject matter as well as data from the institute of engineers
covering the subject. The primary focus is not only to identify the most important skill
but also the investigate the link between the skills and effectiveness. The
information identified in the literature review will then be compared with the findings
of the second part of the research.

Limitations

Limitation are essentially any factors which may affect the research process
particularly in terms of data collection. (Creswell, 2005) the use of a survey for
research purposes presents a number of challenges particularly in terms of the
quality and quantity of the responses. The limitations expected of this project are

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stated as follows:
1. Time Limitation: The time dedicated to completing the research is approximately
three months. As the source of the research is a survey this may be an insufficient
amount of time to receive responses from all potential interviewees. As a result, this
could have a major impact of the reliability of the data since the sample size is
reduced
2. Receiving Responses: The targets for the research are professionals within the
industry. For several reasons perhaps due to busy schedules, privacy concerns or
lack of interest it is highly likely some of the survey may be declined.
3. Quality of Responses: It is unlikely all respondents will provide responses to the
best of their ability. Meaning it is expected for some responses to be rushed and
others partially completed.

The Structure of the Dissertation

This dissertation is divided into five main chapters.

Chapter 1: This chapter give the background, motivation and scope of research of

the dissertation

Chapter 2: The aim of the Literature review is to provide a critical overview of

the theoretical background of soft skills. This chapter includes a discussion of the

current practice in relation to project management studies both within the within the

construction context and outside the construction context. It also highlights gaps and

area for improvement within the construction industry.

Chapter 3: The purpose of the research methodology is to discuss the research

approach and more specifically the research design and philosophy chosen for this

study. The research In addition it contains the process for evaluating the qualitative

study also discussed in this chapter.

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Chapter 4: Findings and Data analysis details the outcome of the results by

explaining research findings as well providing a comparison between the results in

the investigations and a comparison with finding of the literature review.

Chapter 5: The conclusion will provide a review of the research project as well as

recommendations for future investigations.

Literature Review

The issue for project management is that as projects continue to increase in

complexity. The demand required to achieve the mentioned parameters of success
also continues to increase. In order for managers to become capable of achieving
the success within the construction industry it is vital they are equipped with the right
knowledge of the skills required of them. As a result, more information is required on
the effectiveness of project managers. (Barmayehvar, 2013)

The aim of this chapter is to review current practice in the concept of project
management as well as the key role of soft skills within the subject area. The topics
addressed include the role of a project management, the concept of effective and
successful project management and the concept of Soft Skills vs Hard Skills.

Definition of Project Management

Project management is defined in Project Management Institute (2008) as “the
application of knowledge, skills, tools, and technique to project activities to meet
project requirements” and characterises “high quality projects as those that deliver
the required product, service, or result, within scope, on time, and within budget”.
Several definitions of concept of project management exist. The main idea behind
managing a project is to ensure it is completed successfully. The process to
managing a project however may be viewed as a series of activities according to
Lock (2004) who stated, role of project management comprises of the following
steps, to plan, organize and control a project. This is in line with Sears et al (2008)
who defined the role as a person who organizes, plans, schedules, and controls the
field work and is responsible for getting the project completed within the time and
cost limitations. As observed from the definitions stated above the objectives of each
project centres on three main terms budget, schedules and scope. Within the

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construction context Lock (2004) categorised the three main objectives of a project
as follows.

- Delivering a project on or before the date agreed with the client

- Completing the project within the allocated budget
- In construction management, producing a building that meets the required
standards of quality.

Concepts of success and effectiveness

There terms success and effectiveness are sometimes used interchangeably in to
express meeting be completion requirements. The distinction between the two terms
was made by Behnod Barmayehvar (Barmayehvar, 2013) who identified that
successful project managers are those who are able to receive rapid promotion, deal
with different types of activities but may not have the ability to extract the best of their
workers. On other hand effective project managers have the ability to “communicate
with project stakeholders, manage conflict, and train,
develop, and motivate team members” and are productive, committed and have high
performing and satisfied team members. These two terms are not necessarily
mutually exclusive for example successful project management does not rely solely
on effective project management and vice versa. Being effective also does not mean
becoming successful projects. The goal for a manager ultimately is to be both
effective and success.

Traits required for Success and Effectiveness of projects

Project Management may be described as an amalgam of a diverse range of skills.
As a result, a range of different approaches have been used to identify and
categorise the key skills of managing a construction project. For example, the key
skills required for effective project manager as highlighted by Barmayehvar (2013)
range from administrative skill, leadership ability, managing change, technical
knowledge, social skill, decision-making, handling problems to recognising
opportunities. Udo, N. & Koppensteiner, S. (2004) on the other hand, categorised skills into
three main areas which are knowledge, personality and performance. Performance
essentially refers to having a proven track record. Each of the three skill categories may be
broken down further. For instance, knowledge has three categories. General management

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skills such as leadership, negotiation, communication, team building and other human
resource management skills that are necessary in any management position, project
management skills such as project scope management, project time management, and
project cost management and industry specific management knowledge, such as lifecycle
management and product development methodologies. Personality is regarded as the most
vital skill component it comprises of “personality characteristics such as can-do attitude,
confidence, enthusiasm, open mindedness, adaptability, and personal integrity” as well as
people management skills including the “ability to communicate, ability of motivation, ability
to influence and political sensitivity.” According to Jha K.N. (2005) the role of the project
manager is to be redefined due to its complexity and renamed the project coordinator. Jha
K.N. identified twenty-four attributes required for a successful coordination of a project. The
table is shown below.

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11
Methodology

The research in contained in this report is an empirical study of the importance of

soft skills in the industry. The investigation with comprise of a set of questions sent to
established project managers within the industry. The interviewees will be asked a
set of question aiming for them to provide their opinions on the key soft skills
necessary to succeed within the industry. The results will then be collated and then
compared with result identified in the literature review.

Results

Analysis

Discussion

Conclusion

References

List of the References to be used

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1. Affare M.A.W. (2012) An assessment of project communication management on

construction projects in Ghana

2. Awan, M.H, Ahmed, K (2015) Impact of project manager’s soft leadership skills on

project success

3. Barmayehvar, 2013 Being an Effective Project Manager: An Exploration Within

Project-oriented Organisations. Author, Behnod Barmayehvar. Publisher, University

of Manchester,

ttps://www.research.manchester.ac.uk/portal/files/54540206/FULL_TEXT.PDF

4. Bmg research (2012) factors in project success

5. Creswell, J. W. (2005). Educational Research: Planning,. Conducting, and Evaluating

Quantitative and Qualitative. Research. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Merrill

Prentice Hall

6. Carstens, A. (2005) cultivating the soft skills of future constructon managers through

restorying constructon workers’ career narratves

7. Gómez-Ferrer, A. P. (2017) communication problems between actors in construction

projects

8. Gunhan. S., Senol G, Dogan, S.Z. (2012) Non-verbal cues: improving communication

in construction projects

9. Jha, K.N (2005) Attributes of a project coordinator

10. Jha, K.N. (2004) Factors for the success of a construction project: an empirical study,

Unpublished PhD Thesis, Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of

Technology, Delhi, India.

11. Lock, D. (2004) Project Management in construction

12. Mahasneh, J. and Thabet, W. (2015) rethinking construction curriculum: a descriptive

cause analysis for soft skills gap among construction graduates

13. Marando, A. (2012) balancing project management hard skills and soft skills

14. Naoum S. and Fong, D. (2004) Critical success factors of project management

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 15. Project Management Institute (2008) A guide to the project management body of

knowledge (PMBOK® Guide), Pennsylvania

16.

17. Sears, K, Sears G. (2008) Construction Project Management

18. Spitz, C. J. (1982) The project leader: a study of task requirements, management

skills

and personal style. Doctoral Dissertation Case Western Reserve University,

USA

19. Suzanne j. Wilkinson, Scofield, R.L. (2001) a skills profile for a successful project

facilitator

20. Udo, N. & Koppensteiner, S. (2004). What are the core competencies of a successful

project manager? Paper presented at PMI® Global Congress 2004—EMEA, Prague,

Czech Republic. Newtown Square, PA: Project Management Institute.

21. Zakari, Emes, M., Smith A. critical success factors for the construction industry

22. Zulu S. (2007) impact of project management on project performance: a structural

equation, modelling approach

Timeline Completion Date

RMA 1st May 18

Completion of Literature Review 5th June 18

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Slides for presentation 7th June 18

Completion and submission of survey 15th June 18

Questions

Completion of draft 1st August 18

Completion of final report 1st September 18

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