Liverpool John Moores University

School of the Built Environment

PROJECT PERFORMANCE

BUEPGM040

Module Leader: DR FIONA BORTHWICK

By: ASHRAF BAHER

SOFT SKILLS AND CONSTRUCTION PROJECT

MANAGEMENT
 SOFT SKILLS AND CONSTRUCTION PROJECT MANAGEMENT

Abstract
The project management in construction industry research field steadily continues to expand, and it is
ever more clear that to be a successful project manager requires more the simply a set of technical skills.
A high degree of interpersonal or soft skills is vital. Research has highlighted the demand for a strong set
of soft skills in project teams over the management. A project manger‟s possession of soft skills is seen
to directly impact upon a project‟s outcome.
Keywords: construction industry, project management, soft skills.

Introduction
The construction industry is evolving at a greater pace than hitherto. The global recession, new
technology, client demands, besides other challenges related to the workforce, are among the factors
during change. Organizations with strict budget and minimal profit margins seek ways to achieve more
with less and to increase efficiency among their employees, technology and processes.
In order to face these challenges, individuals must be willing to adopt new modes of working, to acquire
new technological insight, and to improve their communication and negotiation. Construction project
management has its share of conflict. This is inescapable, as clients, design teams, general and sup-
contractors all have diverse targets, views and values (Kagerer 2010).
Construction project management involves „hard skills‟, such as risk management, estimation,
scheduling and planning. However it in not about these aspects alone, iI also includes „soft skills‟ such
as conflict resolution, facilitating and managing people (Sharma 2010).

Introduction to “Soft” Skills

Project management is concerned with achieving outcomes via the skills and effort of team members.
Accordingly, project manager needs to enjoy confidence of the people employed on a project. This
realized by soft skills usage .The project manager‟s interpersonal skills are invaluable (Egeland 2010).
Soft skills represent the personal attributes and interpersonal abilities that allow project managers to
achieve higher levels of motivation, conflict resolution. Here are some examples of soft skills necessary
for success (Edwards 2010):

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Personal attributes such as:

 Optimism / seeing a glass as half full instead of half empty in order to inspire others to achieve.
 Common Sense/ recognizing and implementing reasonable and practicable solutions.
 Responsibility/ being aware of when and how to apologies for errors.
 A Sense of Humor/ including an element of fun in the workplace whilst defusing tension and
softening the delver of bad news.
 Integrity - instilling trust in others to create and secure sound collaborative relationships.

Interpersonal abilities such as:

 Empathy/ the ability to understand the other person‟s positions in order to receive and arrive at
compromises.
 Leadership/ going beyond the managerial role to fulfill the organization‟s mission.
 Communication/ to identify what people are stating through verbal/nonverbal messages.
 Courtesy / demonstrating good manners and reinforcing them as policy, for the benefit of clients
and colleagues.
 Motivation / of self and others, to maximize this engender team spirit, allow creativity, trust and
respect others.

The Importance of Soft Skills

To meet daily challenges and successful project delivery, project managers need to assimilate skills set.
These skills can be divided into two categories-hard and soft.
Sampson (2007,p.41cited in Gillard 2009), agree that “The skills required for project management are
now often divided50/50 into traditional „hard‟ skills, such as risk management and scheduling, and
„soft‟, people oriented skills, such as interpersonal communication.”
Zielinski (2005,p.22) in (Gillard 2009), however, posits that “If you had asked project-management
gurus five years ago to name the most important competencies project managers should have, most
would have said technical skills. Today they'd be more inclined to place communications or negotiations
acumen at the top of their lists … There's no denying the importance of technical expertise to
successfully orchestrating a project. Managing an initiative's scope, cost, risk, resources and schedule
are all essential skills. Indeed, the quality of up-front planning--and a project leader's skill at replanning
as project conditions change--can determine a project's fate all on its own. But in rethinking skill
hierarchies, many companies have come to view these more as baseline competencies. Now they regard
soft skills … such as communication, negotiation, conflict management and persuasion, as higher-order
skills.”
And also see figure (1) A Formula Toward success (Jiang 2009).

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Figure (1)

Soft Skills Development

Some believes that soft skills can be learnt; whilst others hold that they are inherent and set for life. We
will look at the two viewpoints below (Edwards 2010).
Skeptics and critics argue that soft skills cannot be learnt in the traditional classroom environment and
that training has little impact upon a person‟s natural tendencies. They view soft skills as more complex.
While hard skills are technical skills that can largely be gained via a linear learning process. Soft skills
involve working alongside people, with situations accruing that cannot be taught.
As soft skills comprise an individual‟s personality and develop during youth, they cannot be greatly
altered later in life-even with deeper focus. Skeptics also comment on the transitory nature of such
training, believing that people will return to their former practices once they are in their workplace.
On the other hand, those who favour training say soft skills development is feasible for project managers
prepared to augment these skills to improve their performance and that of their teams. They recognize
that soft skills can be developed through practice and that the leaning of these is very much like learning
language.

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Soft skills are seen to develop via interactions and experiences. Training offers another opportunity to be
exposed to new situations.it also gives a safe environment where project manager can explore and
practice new ways of handling complex situations. This can be done through role-playing and
networking with experienced contemporaries. If not routinely reviewed and practiced, a soft skill can
become weak or entirely lost.

Benefiting from project management soft skills training

Training is crucial to professional development and has many long-term benefits. It provides project
managers with an ideal opportunity to fine-tune their soft skills within the workplace.
If project managers consider newly acquired soft skills as a new language in effect, and exchange ideas
with counterparts regularly, then the rewards will be great. A glass half-filled upon their desks, can serve
as a visual reminder, to keep new skills learned in training in constant focus (Edwards 2010).

Conclusion
The construction industry is undergoing many changes and is redefining itself. In part, change relies
upon workers to implement a range of soft skills and to strive to continuously update and improve their
knowledge within workplace.
Through the expansion of research into construction project management, recognition is being made that
a successful project manager can no longer rely solely on technical skills. Those are now viewed as a
minimum requirement for doing the job.
Best results are identified as coming from those with exemplary interpersonal or soft skills. Many
authors claim such skills can be learnt through instruction. In addition, research reveals that leading is
more favourable than managing project teams and that project manger‟s full use of soft skills has direct
impact on a project‟s outcome.

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References

Edwards, G. Oct 18, 2010,‟ Can Project Management Soft Skills Be Trained?‟, Michele McDonough,
viewed October 19, 2010, bright Hop.
< http://www.brighthub.com/office/project-management/articles/91531.aspx>
Egeland, B. October 15, 2010, „The Soft Skills of the Project Manager‟, Project Management Tips,
viewed October 20, 2010.
< http://pmtips.net/soft-skills-project-manager/>
Gillard, S. 2009, „Soft Skills and Technical Expertise of Effective Project Managers‟, University of
Southern Indiana, Evansville, IN, USA, Issues in Informing Science and Information Technology, Volume
6, 2009, P 725, viewed on October 19, 2010.
< http://iisit.org/Vol6/IISITv6p723-729Gillard599.pdf>
Jiang, C. May 2009, „Formula Toward Success‟, Schouten China, viewed October 19, 2010.
< http://www.schoutenchina.com/uploads/090506/1_181835_1.jpg>
Kagerer, P. June 1, 2010, „The Importance of Soft Skills in the Construction Industry‟, Texas
Construction, viewed October 20, 2010.
<http://texas.construction.com/opinions/Better_biz/2010/0601_SoftSkills.asp>
Sharma, R. Sep 16, 2010,‟ Project Management Soft Skills Development‟, Michele McDonough,
viewed October 19, 2010, bright Hop.
<http://www.brighthub.com/office/project-management/articles/51984.aspx>

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