10

PROJECT COMMUNICATIONS MANAGEMENT

The PMBOK® Guide states that Project Communications Management ensures timely and appropriate generation, collection, distribution, storage retrieval, and ultimate disposition of project information. This Knowledge Area is very important in the design and construction of a project because of the number and diversity of key players and the need to communicate information in a timely and accurate way. Consequently, considerable thought and planning is required to provide a system that meets these two criteria.

10.1Project Communications Management in Construction

The construction industry is critically dependent upon efficient communications among stakeholders, stakeholder groups, organizations, and often the society at large. Communication within construction environments presents special challenges due to the high number of people coming together for short periods of time and the interdisciplinary nature of project teams.

From a communications perspective, the project team in the construction industry has unique complex characteristics such as:

• The project team is working on site, usually in an unfamiliar environment; this is an added difficulty for communications.
• The project team is formed by diverse individuals and organizations from a wide range of occupational backgrounds, needs, and cultures that form a temporary relationship with other unfamiliar individuals and organizations that sometimes have competitive needs and objectives.
• Contractors tend to rely on casual labor and subcontractors with shared project objectives, but individual interests and goals.
• Various formal and informal technical language and jargon are used within the fragmented structure of the project team.

The project team and project manager are the focal point of project communications. They transcend project and organizational boundaries, not just for distributing project-generated information, but also for gathering, analyzing, and responding to stakeholder-initiated information (feedback) to overcome contractual, social, and cultural barriers.

Project documentation is a major consideration for construction projects given the significant volume of design documents and the extensive design of construction contract requirements for managing the contemporaneous documentation produced during the course of a project. The dynamic nature of constructions projects, the distance between the organization's central office and project site, the technical language, organizational and cultural background, and many other factors may distort transmitted information.

One of the most common forms of communication in construction projects occurs between individuals using face-to-face interpersonal communication (e.g., meetings) or through other media such as email, text, instant and voice messaging, and multimedia communications over the internet.

Construction projects develop strong informal networks of communication channels where designers, engineers, managers, and the workforce belong to different organizations that have their own formal and informal communication procedures. Communication channels are dependent upon the contractual arrangement and procurement routes adopted for the project that define the relationship between parties; however, they rarely govern the communications procedures and may even constrain the natural development of relationships.

A typical basic type of network used to represent the formal communication flow in traditional construction projects is shown in Figure 10-1. In this network, the project manager is the center of formal project communications exchange.

The basic network represented in Figure 10-1 is repeated for the various project teams and stakeholders. The output of this is a major network diagram where each team has secondary networks that interact with one another and with the owner's network, which increases the total potential communication channels as shown in Figure 10-2. The complex, multiorganizational, multisector, diverse, competing-interest-driven communication network created between stakeholders in construction projects is a major challenge to meet the project needs.

Processes and techniques for project communications management in construction projects are the same as those described in the PMBOK® Guide. Some significant considerations for Project Communications Management on construction projects are described in this section. PMI's Pulse of the Profession® In-Depth Report: The High Cost of Low Performance: The Essential Role of Communications [4] suggests that organizations that want to improve their communications and become high performers should consider tailoring communications to different stakeholder groups.

10.2Project Communications Management Planning

Along all the phases of the project life cycle, important information is generated, collected, and distributed between the project team members and other stakeholders. Communications methods and protocols should be planned as part of effective project management practice. The various construction organizations involved as part of the supply chain should accept and agree on planned communication protocols for the project.

10.2.1Communications Management Plan

When planning a construction project's communications, important consideration should be given to the contract documents. These include the contract, the general and special conditions, and the design documents and any referenced documents that indicate specific records and/or contemporaneous documentation and reporting requirements. These items should be generated and managed for the duration of the project.

The construction industry has many unique requirements involving labor, jurisdictional reporting, certified payrolls, and other regulations that are designed to protect the workers, the environment, and enterprise environmental factors. A checklist for these documentation requirements—the project documentation requirements checklist—serves as a supplement to the communications management plan.

10.2.2Project Documentation Assessment

The requirements outlined in the contract documents determine what should be documented in order to fulfill contractual obligations. However, the extensiveness and level of detail, along with stakeholders’ internal documentation requirements, should be assessed at the start of the project. Stakeholders assume that everything will proceed smoothly on the project, until something goes wrong. It is important to have supporting documentation illustrating the situation at hand, for example, daily field reports (see Section 10.2.5), inspection reports, submittal approvals, job site visitor's log, telephone conversation records, or a well-described request for information (RFI) (see Section 10.2.5) with project delays noted. These types of documents and the level of detail are extremely important in the case of a dispute.

Well-established construction stakeholders frequently have job site and project communication procedures in place. These should be evaluated in relation to the project's size and complexity, and should not preclude any of the required basic documentation. A sample set of project documents that support the stakeholders and project requirements can set the precedent for adequate and thorough documentation.

10.2.3Communications Skills

The PMBOK® Guide describes common communications skills for general management and project management. Other important management skills may be mentioned related to construction projects’ communication, such as:

• Effective communication, in a comprehensive way within different levels and tailored to the intercultural and diverse project team member audience;
• Effective management of project meetings and arranging and chairing meetings to ensure productive communication; and
• Encouragement of intergroup communication.

In construction-related projects, it is possible that some skills do not exist within the project team. It may be necessary to obtain specific professional services, such as a public relations consultant.

10.2.4Corporate Communication and Social Responsibility

Organizations are vulnerable and are exposed to the critical opinion of media and pressure groups. Corporate social responsibility (CSR) has become a main concern for companies. Customers require proper corporate social responsibility for products that are available on the market. The construction industry is also immersed in this trend, especially when operating sensitive public projects with major environmental exposure.

Social responsibility means developing social, ethical, and environmental responsible business policies through project activities. Communications about projects with external stakeholders should demonstrate a responsible commitment toward the environment, the community, and employees. Community involvement may become a key factor to achieve project objectives.

Project managers should have a basic understanding of mass communication when dealing with external communications and social responsibility. Effective communication with external project stakeholders early and often is a key factor to develop successful community involvement with the project.

The project communications plan should be developed following the high-level corporate and social responsibility strategy and the corporate communications plan.

10.2.5Communication Flow for Construction Change Orders, Requests for Information (RFIs), Instructions, and Variation Requests

One of the major considerations in planning a communications system for construction projects is to determine how construction communication workflows (from requests for information [RFIs] to change orders) are to be handled. Communications between the designer, contractor, subcontractors, suppliers, vendors, and the owner (or the owner's representative—the construction project manager) can have a serious effect on the cost and schedule of a project and lead to claims. It is important to establish and provide an efficient, quick way of managing claims and recording the results. These guidelines may be established in the project contract, including the allotted time for answering them.

10.2.6Daily Report

Daily reports, daily field reports, or daily construction reports are daily records of factual information regarding the worksite conditions and events, including among others:

• Weather and site conditions;
• Workmen, contractor, and subcontractor personnel employed;
• Equipment arrival, departure, and downtime;
• Project activity;
• Progress of work;
• Resources used to complete activities;
• Significant communications, orders, directives, and documents;
• Safety and environmental accidents, breakdowns, injuries, delays, damages, and other unusual events;
• Significant visitors;
• Tests and inspections;
• Traffic control; and
• Safety.

Daily reports are essential documents in construction projects and can be extremely important for dispute resolution; proper guidelines for daily reporting may be established in planning.

10.2.7Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and Project Management Information System (PMIS)

Information and communication technology (ICT) in the construction industry extends from the design and production functions up to the operation of built assets and facilities. As a powerful tool it facilitates and enables communication and information distribution within construction projects.

When project team organizations are geographically separated, the use of information and communication technology (ICT) can provide effective communication. The benefits of adopting modern ICT include richer information to aid decision making, construction project information obtained more quickly, closer relationships, improved information exchange, greater management control, enabling geographically dispersed groups to work together, etc.

ICT includes computer-assisted management and communication technologies. Some ICT applications currently used in the construction industry are:

• Computer-aided design (CAD) applications;
• Virtual reality applications;
• Project planning and control software;
• Risk management software;
• Building information modeling (BIM); and
• Project management information system (PMIS).

In the construction industry, the project management information system (PMIS) provides access to other tools, such as document management systems, configuration management systems, computer-aided design (CAD), and information collection and distribution systems. It is desirable that all of these applications are compatible and interconnected so that information can flow from one to another.

The project management information system is a key supporting set of tools for a construction project's communications management. Contemporaneous and historic documentation should be maintained throughout the life of the project as a critical tool used for dispute resolution. Document evolution history, traces of revisions, and uploading and downloading records should be available for future reference, thereby providing a better understanding of the documentation's evolution history.

On large multidisciplinary, multiparty construction projects, the project management configuration system should be adopted by the lead organization to centralize document storage, control, and distribution and to establish proper access and authorization rules.

The use of building information modeling (BIM) as a single repository of complete project data from conceptual design to operation and maintenance—and containing data generated and coordinated concurrently by all the parties involved in the various project phases—may provide a better understanding of the construction project and facilitate effective communication, coordination, and collaboration by avoiding errors and omissions and providing a means for early conflict detection.

10.3Project Communications Management Executing

The highly complex environment within which a construction project operates makes the development of a project communication strategy a high priority for construction organizations. In order to enable efficient and effective communication flow between stakeholders, project communications should be managed proactively to ensure the information being communicated is appropriately generated, received, and understood.

The Project Communications Management Executing process can be managed under the guidelines described in the PMBOK® Guide with consideration given to the inherent particularities of construction projects.

10.3.1Managing Conflict

Different organizations coexist under the temporary construction project environment. Each of these organizations seeks its own goals (sometimes under competing interests) when addressing collective project objectives. This potential adversarial relationship between project organizations may lead to conflict.

Conflict management, from a communications perspective, develops techniques for dealing with sources of conflict and conflict resolution. Managing conflict within construction projects should be undertaken within a collaborative environment, where strict contract agreements are the predominant factor. Project managers play an important role in creating an open communication culture throughout the project.

10.3.2Managing Meetings

Meetings are fundamental to construction and should be held regularly and managed professionally with written agendas and action plans, and attended by all appropriate project team member organizations. Meetings should be efficiently planned. For example, the cost of resources attending a problem-solving meeting may be higher than the cost of the problem. On the other hand, successful meetings may motivate members, resulting in a more effective use of resources.

10.3.3Project Documentation and Information Distribution

Project documentation on a construction project is vast and extensive. Effective administration of the documentation is critical and should be managed effectively from the onset and integrated throughout the life of the project. Consequently, the project communications management plan and the staff charged with administering it may require the additional capability, systems, and processes to integrate and manage the volume of individual documents and the information flow.

Major complex projects may need to develop an agreed centralized management of project communications between main project stakeholders to ensure effective and efficient access to and distribution of project information.

Construction documentation may include contracts, pay estimates, design clarifications, change orders, performance reporting, owner/maintenance manuals, accident/incident reports, invoice logs, submittal logs, correspondence logs, inspection reports, testing and acceptance documents, punch lists, and warranties.

Much of the documentation generated by a construction project is time-sensitive and approval-based, such as shop drawings, changes, and design clarification requests. Project logs facilitate the continual exchange of information and track turnaround times and approvals, and assign a document number corresponding to document type. These logs become an essential part of the project records and a source for recording dates and instructions for documentation.

Because of the potential for misinterpretation and contractual disputes on construction projects, documentation remains a priority throughout the life of the project. This type of documentation is fundamental to resolving disputes and adequately describing circumstances.

10.4Project Communications Management Monitoring and Control

Controlling the impact and repercussions of project communications ensures that the right message is delivered to the right audience at the right time throughout the entire project life cycle, and the information needs of the project stakeholders are met.

Construction project communications come from multiple sources and may vary significantly in their format, level of detail, degree of formality, and confidentiality.

10.4.1Performance and Progress Reports

Performance reports include periodic (often monthly) project status reports. These include status updates for design, procurement, expediting, risk evaluation, and quality activities of the project as well as a forecast of future activity of cost and earned value. Performance reporting should also include the RFI response record.

Examples of common formats for performance reports include bar charts (also called Gantt charts), S-curves, histograms, and tables. (See Section 6 on Project Schedule Management for various types of schedules and methods for monitoring and reporting project status and progress.) In addition, progress reports for construction projects commonly require the inclusion of information relating to performance and cost measurement analyses to determine the magnitude of variances that can, and often do, occur on construction projects.

Performance measurement analyses include earned value techniques (EVT) and forecasting. In particular, this includes cost performance index (CPI) and schedule performance index (SPI), which are presented in tabular and graphical form to identify trends in progress (or lack thereof). Such presentations are often considered a vital element of any construction progress report. Tables 10-1 and 10-2 provide examples of summaries of CPI and SPI information for a 12-month project, with the information presented in graphical form in Figure 10-3 (by Radial Method) and Figure 10-4 (by Linear Method). Forecasting will include the estimate to complete (ETC) and estimate at completion (EAC), both for individual disciplines of work and for the total project.

CPI is a performance measure that is dependent on actual costs. Contractors working for owners may not share actual costs. In-house forces employed by the owner may have access to actual costs; however, they should be aligned with the data, dates, schedules, EVM, and reporting cycles.

CPI may be most useful to contractors in managing the performance of their payroll employees who are directly paid for construction activities. The benefits are that the contractor can monitor projections for achieving or eroding the profit estimated within the contract bid amount.

10.4.2Other Reporting Systems

Among the safety, environmental, financial, and extensive quality control requirements that exist in the construction industry, many have specialized functions and contain specific reporting systems based on the information and documentation to be gathered and recorded. It is important to note that the tools and techniques required for these specialized areas may vary, but they are an essential component of performance reporting.

10.4.3Contractor Performance Evaluation (CPE)

Contractor performance evaluations provide a record of a contractor's performance along the construction project life cycle. These performance assessments reflect the contractor's work performance in different categories, such as health, safety, and environmental management; quality management; schedule management; contract administration; and disputes. These evaluations provide records of performance that will contribute to future contractor procurement selection and tender assessment processes.