8 Things to Keep in Mind to Ensure Effective Communication on Your Next Construction Project

In my previous blog post I talked about the importance of effective communication on construction projects. For those of you who haven’t read the blog post here is a brief summary:

• There are close to $75 B at risk due to ineffective communication on construction projects in US every year.
• Several studies in the project management domain have identified poor and inadequate communication as the primary reason for project failures.
• Companies with highly effective communication practices are 1.7 times more likely to outperform their peers.

Understanding the importance of communication and a need for improvement is not that hard either. You kind of have a hunch of it and probably have experienced this first hand on your construction projects.

And of course you have experienced the improved communication first hand in your Personal Digital Life.

You post your family events on Facebook and invite people to join, have them confirm that they are coming, let everyone share old photos and contribute to the planning sometimes. The entire experience wouldn't be as easy to produce if there were no social networking platforms like Facebook.

Good thing is, there are several best practices and tools out there that can be employed to improve communication on your construction projects as well.

Here are the 8 things you should keep in mind to ensure effective communication on your next projects.

1. Employ a competent project management team

This argument seems obvious to the point of not being needed, but it’s actually a key to success that is often overlooked.

Consider some strategies on how to ensure you award the job to the right communicator, something like “if they have trouble articulating their point during the proposal stage, it should be a red flag. Don’t just assume that they do poorly in interviews because they are out of their element, and will do fine on the site.”

Project management team, that is comprised of project managers, project engineers and superintendents on most projects, spends up to 80% of it’s time communicating with others.

Hiring a competent project management team is very important for ensuring effective communication on your construction projects.

Effective project managers should be able to communicate at all levels, from the owners, to the end users to the foremen on the job site.

Communicating with different team members on the project requires a different set of communication skills.

It is very important for the project managers and superintendents to have good leadership skills as well.

They have to make sure that the project team is motivated and it is working towards a common goal.

Articulating the vision and project objectives clearly to everyone from the owner to the foremen is very important for effectively communicating on construction projects.

As project teams are becoming more and more diverse, especially on international mega projects, it is recommended to develop cross-cultural competencies among your project management teams.

2. Improve interpersonal communication among project team members

According to Kakabadase’s 1988 research, interpersonal communication between project team members involves- communicating facts, feelings, values and opinions.

For effective communication, it is very important that project teams develop good personal contacts and positive relationships.

If you are someone who is leading the project team, you should encourage face-to-face communication among team members so they can develop personal contacts and positive relationships. A great way to do this is to encourage social interactions among your team. Sharing a meal often does wonders.

Basic verbal and written communication skills in the official language of your project is also very important. Make sure to train people on basic communication and language skills.

3. Use basic communication etiquette

Don’t forget to follow the basic communication etiquette and rules in your communication with other team members.

You should also encourage others on the team to do the same. Core communication etiquette elements, related to project management include:

# Clarity

Using a clear language in both written and verbal communication is very important.

You may use different languages when talking to different people, but it is important that your language resonates with your audience.

For instance, to an architect, an air-conditioning system might mean any cooling system that keeps the temperature at a comfortable level for building occupants, but, to an engineer, it might mean a specific equipment that heats, cools and controls the humidity.

# Conciseness

Clear and concise messages are very well received and work very well in electronic communication. This practice saves everyone time and gets the job done.

For instance, when you write the next request for information (RFI) on your project, use a clear and concise language that the receiver can relate to easily and can respond in a timely manner.

# Timeliness

Construction is considered a highly risky business. Part of the reason for construction being risky is the unpredictability of events on the job sites, where chaos is the norm.

Uncertainty is the biggest enemy of productivity as well. Not having the right information at the right time will result in increased uncertainty and lost productivity.

Make sure that detailed construction drawings are delivered on time and any outstanding questions are answered in a timely fashion as well.

When shop drawings and product specifications are submitted for approval by specialty contractor, it is important to review them as soon as possible so the activities on the job sites are more predictable.

Similarly, managing the change process effectively is also important to avoid rework and deliver projects on time and under budget.

# Accuracy

No one is perfect. And there are bound to be some mistakes in the documentation that is passed along during the bidding process. However, quickly identifying the inaccuracies and communicating the accurate information quickly can handle a lot of problems ahead of time.

Adoption of building information modeling (BIM) has helped a lot in this area.

It is now possible to easily simulate the physical geometry in three dimensions and virtually resolve the conflicts ahead of time.

Quantity take-off (QTO) and estimation processes are also improving in accuracy and speed by employing building information modeling (BIM).

Estimators can now quickly take-off quantities and use cloud-based software to come up with a very accurate estimate in a fraction of the time.

# Completeness

One study found that project managers prefer using partial information delivered on time, rather than wait for the complete information behind schedule.

Partial information might get the work done in some instances but for the most part, it will increase the uncertainty on the job site and cause rework.

Technology has made it possible to get the information in real-time, take a proactive approach and make the tasks ready by gathering all the information ahead of time during the weekly planning meetings with your project team.

# Consistency

Setting up standard communication protocols and project wide libraries can help with consistency throughout the project documentation.

It also makes it easier to find information and avoid confusions when all team members are using a consistent language in all their communication.

Good planning before the project starts can help a lot in this area. Involve the people who have experience in the specific domains and establish the key project vocabulary and information categories ahead of time.

Some project information categories you should consider finalizing ahead of time include:

1. Cost codes
2. Work packages
3. Bid packages
4. CAD standards
5. BIM implementation plans
6. Lean implementation plans
7. Sustainable construction plans
8. Organization breakdown structures
9. Safety plans
10. Work breakdown structures
11. Resource management plans
12. Risk management plans

In short you should prepare a Project Execution Plan that spells out everything relevant to project execution before your team gets to the job site for laying the utilities and foundation.

# Responsiveness

Responding to people in time can help you in several ways.

First, people will like the fact that you responded on time and kept them up to date on the topic you are communicating about.

Second, responding to people in a timely fashion will get the job done on time and avoid unnecessary confusion.

4. Prepare a Project Communication Plan

A carefully crafted project communication plan can greatly help with improving communication on construction projects.

• Establish a communication system for the project.
• Include both formal and informal ways of communication in your plan.
• Establish clear protocols for sharing and using digital information.
• Standardize formal communication instruments and processes. According to a PMI report high-performing organizations are almost three times more likely than low-performing organizations to use standardized practices throughout the organization, and have better project outcomes as a result.
• Establish clear responsibilities for performing different tasks such as reviewing and approving Submittals, RFIs, Change Orders etc.
• Clearly define the document approval workflows.
• Specify response times (for example — RFI and Submittal response times).
• Collect, document and distribute project information in a timely manner.
• Accurate, timely, detailed, clear and complete information should be available to project participants anywhere, anytime.
• Provide sufficient clarity and detail in the written communication.
• Set up regular team meetings with clear agendas and with a provision to creating official minutes of the meeting that are later shared with all meeting participants. Make sure the action items are tracked and follow ups are done in the subsequent meetings.

5. Frequently communicate key project topics

It is important that you communicate the key project topics on a periodic basis.

It is important because different project participants use different language/jargon and they might have different expectations from the project.

Here are the key project topics that should be communicated frequently-

• Project objectives
• Budgets
• Schedules
• Scope
• Outcomes
• Project’s business benefits

6. Use mobile apps and cloud-based software

Mobile apps and cloud-based software can greatly help in improving the project communication.

• Make use of digital media — Photos, videos and audio. A picture is worth 1000 words.
• Use collaboration software such as Slack, Skype and Builderbox.io.
• Project management software can play a role of key enabler for effective communication.
• Setup Project Wikis.
• Make information available in real-time.
• Implement technologies that can help you filter signals from noise. Such as Builderbox Assistant.

7. Use advanced visualization tools (with BIM, VR, MR, AR)

Latest visualization technologies can easily facilitate the nonverbal communication among project teams and bring everyone on the same page.

Visualization of what will be built (the product) using 3D and 4D BIM models, on computer screens or by using a virtual reality (VR) headset or by using augmented reality (AR) or mixed reality (MR), are game changers.

What will be built? and how it will be built? does not need to stay in the heads of architects, engineers, project managers, and superintendents. The entire project team can visualize it and get a feel for it ahead of time.

The results of this shared understanding are unprecedented. It is easier than ever to interpret the documents and perform sophisticated project management tasks by even the least experienced project engineers or interns.

Make use of these technologies and make BIM an integral part of all your business processes.

Having a better visualization of ongoing production can also help the project teams communicate effectively. Use large displays on job sites to show the progress of ongoing work in the real-time and encourage everyone to participate in a feedback process to make improvements.

8. Use Collaborative Contractual Relationships

This is one of the most powerful communication tools. Open door policies for resolving problems has proven very effective on construction projects of different shapes and sizes.

Collaboration is key to effective communication. If suitable contractual relationships are not established and people live by the philosophy of “information is power, and I will keep it to myself”, they might not end up sharing the information with others when it’s needed.

The best thing the owner can do to improve communication on a project, is to employ a contracting method that encourages and rewards communication.

Owners should opt for some sort of collaborative contractual relationship or partnership such as integrated project delivery (IPD), Design-Build, Construction Management at Risk etc.

Integrating the design and construction processes with the entire supply chains can greatly help project teams in overcoming the problems of poor communication.

Develop effective communication channels so project teams can overcome the traditional functional boundaries and communicate effectively.

I work at Builderbox.io — A cloud based construction project management software. It was built from the ground up by keeping collaborative teams in mind. And, it is designed for construction project teams to Communicate Effectively.