Success in the construction industry requires successful performance at the individual project level. Project success is a challenge because most project teams, including owners, designers, constructors, subcontractors and vendors are assembled for only a single project. The project team, which likely has no prior working relationships, has only one shot to get it right.

Communications and Teamwork

Construction Industry Institute research indicates the strongest indicators of successful project results are effective communications, trust and teamwork and the shared goals/mutual interests of the project team.

Project planning is critical for communications and trust and can result in savings of up to 20%. A recent study performed for AIA indicates that over 75% of design claims stem from poor communications.

Project management can be divided into these primary components:

• Managing the technical work



• Managing the contract



• Managing client/team relationships

Managing the Technical Work

Most traditional construction industry project management training programs spend a majority of time and resources on managing the technical work, including task definition, schedules, budgeting, managing a team and productivity. While these technical skills are important, the ability to communicate these details effectively to other team members and achieve an efficient, high performance team is generally more important to a successful project result.

Managing the Contract

Managing the contract requires a working knowledge of contract particulars by the project team. Rote memorization of contract terms and terminology is not suggested, but an understanding of how contract clauses are interrelated, contractual danger spots or weaknesses and non-standard practices need to be communicated to the project team members. See our Contracts section for tips on managing and administering your contract.

Managing Relationships

Managing relationships requires that you understand the perspectives of other project participants. Effective management also requires that you ensure your perspective is communicated to project partners. Teaming and partnering sessions can be utilized on traditional projects to help parties communicate most effectively. Communications and behavioral sciences are lacking from most construction industry curricula and are vital for new construction techniques such as design/build, which requires rapid, accurate multi-party coordination of data.

Limitations of Technical Project Management Training

Technical project managers who have not received formal project management training will have less exposure to contract and client/team relationship management. Effective soft skills in communication and team-building require cultivation. In our experience, a majority of technical project managers lack specific training, do not have confidence in their skills, and frequently do not see the need to focus much of their time and resources on non-technical portions of the work.

As design/build methods are more widely used and new techniques continue to be developed, owners will increasingly seek partners capable of delivering the speed and reduced costs promised by these new techniques. Improved project management is essential in achieving these benefits.

Those who have not yet expanded the focus of project management beyond management of the technical work are already behind the curve. In the very near future, communication skills, teaming and partnering experience and other soft skills will increasingly be included in “responsive bidder” and “most qualified” selection criteria. Management must emphasize holistic project management skills and identify and reward those who learn and perform these skills in an effort to stay competitive. See our Workshops page for training in these new techniques