Master’s Programme in Industrial Management and Innovation

Masterprogram i industriell ledning och innovation

SAMINT-MILI 2046

Achieving project success through

leadership communication

A study on construction industry

Sumit Das, PMP®

Vijaya Mishra

Master’s Thesis 15 credits

June 2020

Abstract

Achieving project success through leadership

communication

Faculty of Science and Technology

Visiting address: Ångströmlaboratoriet Lägerhyddsvägen 1 House 4, Level 0 Postal address: Box 536 751 21 Uppsala Telephone: +46 (0)18 – 471 30 03 Telefax: +46 (0)18 – 471 30 00 Web page: http://www.teknik.uu.se/student-en/

Sumit Das and Vijaya Mishra

In the modern world, the significance of projects is continuously increasing

because of its ability to help organizations perform fast-paced changes, quick

innovation and generate long-term revenue. Our area of concern in this study

is the construction industry. A construction project performance banks on

different dimensions of project management. Leadership is one of the

essential factors in construction management and communication is a topic

frequently linked to it, but the linkage often is limited to a view of

communication to achieve a particular purpose. In a construction project,

communication has been forgotten as a leadership principle. The people

component of project management is where the main problem lies but has

not been suitably addressed by researchers, project management practitioners

and enthusiasts. The purpose of this research is to determine how leadership

as a form of communication ensures delivering a successful construction

project.

In this perspective, fourteen professionals from the construction industry

were interviewed via semi structured interviews to check specific

components of leadership communication and to validate the theoretical

framework. The data collected is analyzed thematically. Our findings reveal

that leadership communication has a considerable impact on the project

success. Leadership communication is anchored in the character of a project

manager and is instrumental in managing diverse workforce, crisis situations,

relation with stakeholders, company’s brand image and helps in integrating the

project. Thus, it ensures project success as well as delivering the

organizational strategic goals.

Our theoretical framework contributes to the communication foundation

model by Zulch, 2014b and leadership communication framework by J.

Barrett, 2006 by adding three management layers. This showcases important

dimensions for leadership communication theory. Hence, managers are

recommended to use our framework for delivering a successful project.

Subject reader: Simon Okwir Examiner: Sofia Waghrell SAMINT-MILI 2046 Printed by: Uppsala Universitet

Acknowledgements

This Master Thesis has been written in collaboration with Uppsala University. The research

work has been independently formulated by Sumit Das and Vijaya Mishra, with the help of

interviewees from various construction organizations.

Firstly, we would like to express our gratitude and appreciation to our subject reader,

Simon Okwir, lecturer at the department of Civil and Industrial Engineering, Industrial

Engineering and Management at Uppsala University. He guided us pedagogically throughout

the research process, listened to our ideas, gave us constructive feedback whenever

required, and provided us the opportunity to conduct an interesting research on leadership

communication. He also guided us in the process of framing and formulating the research

topic.

Secondly, we would like to thank Åse Linné, Associate Professor at the department of Civil

and Industrial Engineering, Industrial Engineering at Uppsala University for critically

reviewing our research work and providing valuable feedback for improvement.

Furthermore, we would like to thank Per Fors, Postdoctoral fellow at the department of

Civil and Industrial Engineering, Industrial Engineering at Uppsala University for his guidance

and feedback on leadership. We would also like to thank Uppsala University and all the

teachers from the department of Industrial Engineering and Management for sharing us

knowledge which will help us become leaders of tomorrow. Everything we learned during

the master program helped us in the formulation of this research paper today.

Sumit Das and Vijaya Mishra

Uppsala, 29th May 2020

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Contents

List of figures ............................................................................................................................. ii

List of tables ............................................................................................................................. iii

List of abbreviations ................................................................................................................. iv

1 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................. 1

1.1 Background ...................................................................................................................... 1

1.2 Value of project & project management .......................................................................... 2

1.3 Organizational structure ................................................................................................... 2

1.4 Construction project ......................................................................................................... 3

1.5 Communication in construction projects ......................................................................... 4

1.6 Linkage between leadership and communication ............................................................ 5

1.7 Purpose & research question ............................................................................................ 6

1.8 Delimitations .................................................................................................................... 7

2 LITERATURE REVIEW ....................................................................................................... 8

2.1 Leadership as a form of communication .......................................................................... 8

2.2 The construction project environment ........................................................................... 11

2.3 Leadership styles ............................................................................................................ 13

2.4 Communication Process................................................................................................. 15

2.5 Project communications management in construction .................................................. 17

2.5.1 Project communications management planning ..................................................... 19

2.5.2 Project communications management execution .................................................... 20

2.5.3 Project communications management monitoring & control ................................. 20

2.6 Theoretical framework ................................................................................................... 21

3 METHOD ............................................................................................................................. 24

3.1 Research design and setting ........................................................................................... 24

3.2 Data collection ............................................................................................................... 25

3.2.1 Critical discussion ................................................................................................... 26

3.3 Data analysis .................................................................................................................. 26

3.4 Research quality ............................................................................................................. 27

3.4.1 Reliability and replication ....................................................................................... 27

3.4.2 Validation of collected data .................................................................................... 27

3.4.3 Risk analysis and mitigation ................................................................................... 28

3.4.4 Ethical considerations ............................................................................................. 28

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4 EMPIRICAL FINDINGS & ANALYSIS ............................................................................ 29

4.1 Operating core ................................................................................................................ 29

4.1.1 Core leadership communication ............................................................................. 31

4.1.2 Project integration & effective communication characteristics .............................. 32

4.2 Mid-level managers ....................................................................................................... 33

4.2.1 Managerial leadership communication ................................................................... 39

4.2.2 Project integration & effective communication characteristics .............................. 40

4.3 Senior-level managers .................................................................................................... 41

4.3.1 Corporate leadership communication ..................................................................... 46

4.3.2 Project integration & effective communication characteristics .............................. 47

5 DISCUSSION ....................................................................................................................... 49

5.1 Leadership communication ............................................................................................ 49

5.2 Project integration & effective communication characteristics ..................................... 53

6 CONCLUSIONS................................................................................................................... 58

6.1 Theoretical contribution ................................................................................................. 58

6.2 Implications for practice ................................................................................................ 60

6.3 Future work & final remark ........................................................................................... 61

7 BIBLIOGRAPHY ................................................................................................................. 62

APPENDIX .............................................................................................................................. 66

Appendix I: Interview guide for operating core .................................................................. 66

Appendix II: Interview guide for mid-level managers ........................................................ 67

Appendix III: Interview guide for senior-level managers .................................................... 69

Appendix IV: Questionnaire findings for operating core .................................................... 71

Appendix V: Questionnaire findings for mid-level managers ............................................. 73

Appendix VI: Questionnaire findings for senior-level managers ........................................ 76

List of figures

Figure 1: Organizational project management ........................................................................... 2

Figure 2: Organizational structure in projects (Pmbok) ............................................................ 3

Figure 3: Project management hierarchy of skills (Hoard) ........................................................ 9

Figure 4: Leadership communication framework (Barrett) ..................................................... 10

Figure 5: Communication flow in a project ............................................................................. 15

Figure 6: Project phases ........................................................................................................... 18

Figure 7: Construction project communication network (Cons. Ext. Pmbok) ........................ 20

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Figure 8: Leadership communication framework used in this study ....................................... 22

Figure 9: Research procedure .................................................................................................. 24

Figure 10: Leadership communication & PM knowledge area model .................................... 60

List of tables

Table 1: Leadership theories .................................................................................................... 13

Table 2: Leadership style(Smit, Cronje & De) ........................................................................ 14

Table 3: Communication process............................................................................................. 15

Table 4: Types of communications in a project ....................................................................... 16

Table 5: Process groups vs knowledge area mapping ............................................................. 17

Table 6: Dimensions under test from the theoretical framework ............................................ 23

Table 7: Information about Interviews .................................................................................... 26

Table 8: Thematic analysis of data .......................................................................................... 27

Table 9: Risk mitigation strategy ............................................................................................. 28

Table 10: Details for operating core ........................................................................................ 29

Table 11: Communication codes for operating core ................................................................ 31

Table 12: Details for mid-level managers ................................................................................ 33

Table 13: Communication codes for mid managers ................................................................ 40

Table 14: Details for senior-level managers ............................................................................ 42

Table 15: Communication codes for senior managers ............................................................. 46

Table 16: Communication codes for operating core, mid and senior managers ...................... 49

Table 17: Knowledge area vs managerial level mapping ........................................................ 54

Table 18: Questionnaire result ................................................................................................. 55

Table 19: PM characteristics to successfully communicate .................................................... 57

Table 20: Communication importance & effectiveness – operating core ................................ 71

Table 21: Issue difficulty rating - operating core ..................................................................... 71

Table 22: Issue resolution rating - operating core ................................................................... 72

Table 23: Project integration rating - operating core ............................................................... 72

Table 24: Ineffective communication rating - operating core ................................................. 72

Table 25: PM characteristics rating - operating core ............................................................... 73

Table 26: Communication importance & effectiveness – mid-level ....................................... 73

Table 27: Issue difficulty rating - mid-level ............................................................................ 74

Table 28: Issue resolution rating - mid-level ........................................................................... 74

Table 29: Project integration rating - mid-level ....................................................................... 74

Table 30: Ineffective communication rating - mid-level ......................................................... 75

Table 31: PM characteristics rating - mid-level ....................................................................... 75

Table 32: Communication importance & effectiveness – senior-level .................................... 76

Table 33: Issue difficulty rating - senior-level ......................................................................... 76

Table 34: Issue resolution rating - senior-level........................................................................ 77

Table 35: Project integration rating - senior-level ................................................................... 77

Table 36: Ineffective communication rating - senior-level...................................................... 78

Table 37: PM characteristics rating - senior-level ................................................................... 78

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List of abbreviations

Abbreviation Explanation

BU Business unit

CPE Contractor performance evaluation

CEO Chief executive officer

COO Chief operating officer

CSI Customer satisfaction index

EEF Enterprise environmental factor

EI Emotional intelligence

EPC Engineering, procurement & construction

EVM Earned value management

HRM Human resource management

HoD Head of department

HSE Health, safety and environment

IFB Invitation for bid

IPD Integrated project delivery

KPI Key performance indicator

NOC No objection certificate

OPM Organizational project management

OPA Organizational process asset

PPI Project performance index

PPP Public-private-partnership

PM Project manager

PMBOK Project management body of knowledge

PMI Project management institute

PMO Project management office

PQI Project quality index

RFI Request for information

RFP Request for procurement

RFQ Request for quotation

ROW Right of way

PR Performance report

QA Quality assurance

QC Quality control

SME Subject matter expert

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1 INTRODUCTION

This chapter starts with a short introduction of what the project is, why the project is required and

why it’s management is valuable for the growth of a company. Further, it briefs about the

characteristics of a construction project and why there is need to access the leadership

communication skills of a construction project manager. In the end, this section states the purpose,

research question and delimitation. In the next chapter we will review the relevant literature which

deals in construction project management, communication management, leadership styles, and

leadership communication.

A project with a definite start and end is undertaken to create a unique product, service or

result. The project may result in its objectives being met or terminated when the objectives

can no longer be achieved. Project is a temporary organization and the outcome of it can be

tangible or intangible and can also make improvements in the existing product or service line

(Pmbok, 2017). In the modern world, the significance of projects is continuously increasing

because of its ability to help organizations perform fast-paced changes, quick innovation and

generate long-term revenue. Projects positively impact the economic collaboration in modern

society which is the main reason for its increasing importance (Jessen, 2010).

1.1 Background

A project has a strong focus on results and is part of a larger context of delivering the

business objectives. To deliver this a temporary organization is formed, where there are four

categories of roles known as governing, executing, organizing & managing and supporting

roles. The project owner from the governing role is in charge of the business impact goal and

project goal and he or she is the one who selects the PM. He or she is the chairperson of the

steering committee and can initiate, follow-up and terminate the project. The PM from the

organizing and managing role is tasked with the responsibility to organize, plan, delegate

responsibilities, solve problems, resolve conflicts, communicate and lead the project. The

project team performs the executing role and ensures that the delegated tasks are planned,

organized, performed and completed. The resource owners, communicators, quality & HSE

managers, reference groups are examples of project supporting roles. For the project to

succeed, it also needs support from the operations team. CEO, COO, CFO, corporate

management, suppliers, customers, users, SME’s, procurement specialists are not usually

roles in the project, but they come under the primary stakeholder category (Tonnquist, 2013).

The temporary organization is situated in two modes – “goal-seeking” and “goal-oriented.”

When projects have clearly defined scope as per the SMART (specific, measurable,

achievable, realistic, timed) criteria, they are known as goal oriented. Conventional project

models such as stage gate model, organization roles and governing documents apply to goal-

oriented projects. Whereas the goal-seeking projects do not fulfil the SMART criteria. They

are iterative in nature, have unknown scope & vision, have high levels of uncertainty

(Karrbom Gustavsson and Hallin, 2015). The larger context of delivering the business

objective requires a department unit within the organization for coordinating, governing &

supporting project operations and in centralizing & standardizing the project management of

projects known as project management office (Pmbok, 2017).

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1.2 Value of project & project management

Project management may seem easy and an unnecessary overhead but ensures that the project

goals align with strategic business objectives. Research has been showing the importance of

project management in delivering successful projects. Site managers have less impact on the

project cost and quality when compared to PM. The organizational project management

(OPM) in Figure 1 acts as a guide in providing organizational practices. It is very important

because it keeps the organization focused towards the strategic goals. The OPM provides a

strategic framework to guide the portfolio, program and project management so that they

deliver organizational strategy.

The portfolio selects and

prioritizes programs and projects

that will best achieve the

organizational strategic goals.

Program is a group of related

projects coordinated together to

add value and benefit to the

organization’s strategic goals.

Project management manages

specific scope which supports the

program or portfolio and

ultimately to the organization’s

strategic goals (Mulcahy, 2016).

Thus, the organizational project

management utilizes, project,

program and portfolio to enhance performance, results, sustainability and competitive

advantage. Although the projects or programs within a portfolio may not necessarily be

interdependent or directly related, they are linked to the organizational strategic plan. The

project management office (PMO) brings leadership and right direction to projects. It can be

of different forms such as supportive, controlling and directive (Pmbok, 2017). It ensures

balancing the competing project constraints which include but are not limited to scope,

quality, schedule, budget, resources and risk. Thus, to summarize without project

management projects can get delayed, overbudget, chaotic and result in failure to achieve the

organization’s strategic goals.

1.3 Organizational structure

It is an enterprise environmental factor (EEF) that affects the availability of resources and the

way how projects are conducted. It is outside the control of the project team. There are

various types of organizational structure – i) functional, ii) matrix, iii) projectized or iv)

composite (combination of i, ii & iii). Figure 2 below is self-explanatory how different

organizational structures influence the authority of the PM. The PM has the lowest authority

in functional and highest in the projectized. The matrix structure is a blend of functional and

projectized structure and can be classified as a weak, balanced and strong matrix. Weak

matrix resembles the characteristics of a functional organization and the PM role is more of

Figure 1: Organizational project management

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an expeditor or communicator. The coordinator is someone who has the power to make some

decisions and report to a higher-level manager. Whereas, a strong matrix is more similar to a

projectized organization and the PM has high authority and power. The balanced matrix does

not provide the full authority of

the project and budget to the PM.

The multi organizational, varying

interests, complex and diverse

communication network formed

in a construction project is the

primary source of challenge to

the project objectives (Pmbok,

2017). The project organizational

structure’s complexity also

imposes challenges for the

project decisions, communication

of project goals & tasks and the

way how a PM works with his

team.

1.4 Construction project

Construction project is a series of tasks performed to construct a structure or building. It may

also be referred to as a ‘project’ and comprises many small projects from different

disciplines. Most of the construction project’s lifecycle can be divided into – conception,

design, construction, commissioning and closure. In a construction project there is generally

no opportunity to build a prototype. It often requires integration of different disciplines from

structural, civil, electrical, mechanical, geotechnical etc. Construction projects are goal-

oriented with a clearly defined scope and mostly operate in a matrix environment. There may

be varied goals and solutions. The contract is a binding document or the bible which must be

followed throughout the project. There is a high penalty associated with the late completion

of a construction project.

Characterizing a construction project in a successful or failure is very difficult as there is no

standard methodology to measure it (McCoy, 1986). A construction project involves multiple

stakeholders from different disciplines. So the definition of success depends on their

perspective. Thus the definition of project success has been ambiguously defined. The

discernment related to achievement or failure of a project is also time dependent, e.g. project

may be considered as failure after closure because it did not meet the schedule objectives,

however the same project may be viewed as successful if it helped the organization develop

capability in a new area of business, e.g. a building construction company building enters

railway construction projects. However, the time, cost, quality, safety and customer

satisfaction are the most widely used success factor in a construction project (Jha, 2014).

Since projects are temporary in nature, the Pmbok measures the success of a construction

project in terms of constraints of scope, schedule, cost, quality & customer satisfaction. But

Figure 2: Organizational structure in projects (Pmbok)

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in a larger context a project’s ability to align with the organizational goals is also an

important indicator of a project’s success. When the business alignment of the project is

constant the success chance of a project increases because then it keeps itself aligned with the

organization’s strategic direction. If something changes in the business strategy, the projects

are supposed to change accordingly. The PM is responsible and accountable for setting up a

SMART boundary for the project and accomplishing the project within the approved

constraints (Pmbok, 2017). Thus, to deliver a successful project, the project team should:

• Select processes appropriately to deliver the project objectives

• A defined approach to meet requirements

• Establish and maintain appropriate communication, stakeholder engagement &

expectation

• Balance the competing constraints of scope, budget, schedule, quality, resources, risks and

all other knowledge areas (Pmbok, 2017)

The balance of competing constraints is achieved by project integration which makes it the

most important knowledge area. Project integration management involves resource

allocation, making trade-offs between various competing requirements, and managing

interdependencies between the project management knowledge areas. Lack of coordination

and motivation are the barriers to integration. The integration of processes and people within

a project is very important (Demirkesen & Ozorhon, 2017). The project integration

management covers the processes and activities to identify, define, combine, unify and

coordinate various project management processes within the various process groups and

knowledge areas. In the setting of a construction project, the integration includes merger,

combination, communication and take a consolidative step essential for the controlled project

execution by managing and meeting stakeholder expectations and requirements. Integration

management processes involve developing the project charter, project management plan,

directing and managing the project work, monitoring and controlling the project work,

performing integrated change control and project closure (Pmbok, 2017). Thus, it involves

integration of knowledge, process, staff, supply chain and changes to achieve the desired

project performance to ultimately deliver a successful project. Past literatures reveal that

there is a strong tie between project performance and integration. But there is a gap in the

literature and the impact of integration management requires special importance (Demirkesen

& Ozorhon, 2017).

1.5 Communication in construction projects

Communication is considered as the starting point of all activities in the construction project

management industry (Zulch, 2016). The word communication has originated from a Latin

word communicare which means “to make common”. While we communicate during projects

its purpose is to make a common understanding with the stakeholders. Project

communication involves various project information to be collected, created, shared and

monitored either internally or externally which facilitates addressing stakeholders needs and

communication, resolving issues and managing conflicts. It shall flow vertically up and down

in various organization levels and horizontally among the peers (Figure 5). If the

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communication works well in the projects, the stakeholders feel safe and greater the chances

for the project success (Tonnquist, 2013). Communication capability of a PM defines the

project success and even the best project plans would not work without effective

communication (Müller and Turner, 2010). In a study on project management Kotzé, Berry

and Verster proposed that communication is the function that not only integrates the scope,

schedule and cost to attain a quality product but also integrates the entire project together.

Thus, communication is described as one of the key success factors in a project (Slevin and

Pinto, 1986). Project integration cannot happen without the communication support and thus

is a cornerstone function (Zulch, 2014a) and therefore is an important factor to ensure project

success.

In a traditional project the majority of the team workers work at the same location. But as the

companies are moving towards globalization, team members are becoming more distributed

across country borders and operate in a dispersed virtual environment, e.g. Skanska.

Globalization is increasing more challenges for PMs as they need to balance different

interests, cultures and most communications happen over a distance. Global construction

projects required workforce collaboration from various time zones and languages which adds

complexity to the communication. At one hand revolution in communications has been one of

the key drivers of globalization and on the other hand it is creating challenges for the project

success (Ghemawat, 2017). Diverse teams have the potential to create numerous challenges

for organizing and managing the work. A strong informal communication network channel is

formed across designers, managers, procurement specialists, consultants, contractors and

subcontractors. An effective communication occurs when the sender understands the context,

audience, selects a right medium, and delivers a message in a manner which is received and

understood exactly as it is intended by the sender. In such cases there is no

miscommunication or misunderstandings (J. Barrett, 2006). If the PM is unable to

communicate effectively it will have serious impacts and the project may halt. Thus, to

deliver a successful project, communication is of prime importance. However, during the

project management, communication is often taken for granted (Samáková et al., 2017).

1.6 Linkage between leadership and communication

Leadership is the way in which PM’s conduct their job role to achieve the best performance

from the human resources they are managing (Walker, 2015). Communication which flows

from a leadership perspective can be called leadership communication. Leadership

communication initiated by a PM is anchored in his or her character and embedded in the

values and culture of an organization which can significantly affect the transformation of a

company in achieving the overall objective. It is relational as well as goal driven and not only

helps deliver projects within the given timelines, budget, scope but also has the ability to

handle diverse workforce and situations. In a construction project lifecycle, the PM manages

people who are part of the line management by guiding, directing, motivating and inspiring

them. The communication effectiveness of a manager is highly influenced by the leadership

style. Leaders enhance team performance through effective communication by enabling trust

and understanding among the team and advocating them to follow their leader. Trust towards

a leader also minimizes communication barriers. Leaders have the ability to guide the

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behaviour of their workforce by setting a vision and keeping them focused in achieving it (J.

Barrett, 2006). Thus, effective communication and reliable leadership can better manage

people, keep them engaged and increase the overall project performance.

A 360° leadership assessment in 335 construction companies by O Skipper and C. Bell in

2006 found that top performers had better communication & leadership behaviours. One

group consisted of top performers and another randomly selected but the groups selected had

no differences in terms of age, gender, formal education & project experience. Being able to

communicate effectively helps a manager promote a move to a leadership position. The

Pmbok guide to project management provides a framework for PM’s about how to organize

and manage resources within defined scope, time, quality and cost but the people component

of project management is where the main problem lies. To be able to communicate, make

sound decisions and get things done by people is the success mantra in business. Through

effective communications, managers amend their ability to better manage people (J. Barrett,

2006). So, I argue that effective communication can lead to better people management in

projects.

As per the article “A communication approach for senior-level managers” by Deborah J.

Barrett, “leadership communication is the controlled, purposeful transfer of meaning by

which leaders influence a single person, a group, an organization or a community. Leadership

communication uses the full range of communication skills and resources to overcome

interferences and to create and deliver messages that guide, direct, motivate or inspire others

to action.” The leadership communication ability is the foundation skill of the PM highly

determines the project success (Zulch, 2014b) but the construction industry is facing major

leadership challenges specially related to the workforce such as lack of quality resource,

ageing workforce, dealing with issues of communication, team-bonding, training. There are

several instances when a technical expert is being promoted to a PM position. Such PM’s fail

to meet the project objectives due to lack of managerial skills (Palm and Lindahl, 2015).

Thus, leadership is one of the essential factors in construction management and

communication is a topic frequently linked to it, but the linkage often is limited to a view of

communication as a means to achieve a particular purpose. Practically, this view of

communication does not capture the broad leadership practice. Several researches on

communication showcase underutilized lenses for looking into leadership dynamics (Ruben

and Gigliotti, 2016). In the context of construction projects, communication has been

forgotten as a leadership principle. Thus, accessing the leadership communication as a means

of project success is highly relevant.

1.7 Purpose & research question

Leadership and communication go hand-in-hand. In this study we aim to review the

leadership communication in the context of the construction industry and try to find out how

it contributes to deliver a successful construction project. We also aim to examine how

various leadership styles impact effective communication in construction. The results

obtained from our research will make contributions to the literature for project management

practitioners and researchers in the construction industry. Research on this subject can make a

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valuable contribution to enhance the performance of construction PM’s. Our research would

answer the questions mentioned below:

• How does leadership communication ensure a successful construction project?

• What characteristics of a PM will ascertain effective communication during the project

lifecycle of a construction project?

The previous sections inculcate that a construction project’s success is defined by its

schedule, cost & quality performance, integration, managers ability to manage people and

most importantly achieving the organizational strategic goals. In order to answer the first

research question, the empirical findings will be answering how leadership communication

helps in meeting these parameters. The communication effectiveness of a manager is highly

influenced by the leadership style. So, in the second research question our empirical findings

will answer the leadership characteristics that can eliminate miscommunications and

misunderstandings, minimize the communication barriers, generate trust, motivate, inspire

and direct the followers to achieve the project/organizational goals.

1.8 Delimitations

There are ten knowledge areas mapped across five process groups (initiation, planning,

execution, monitoring & control and closure) in the Pmbok. The knowledge areas are

integration, scope, schedule, cost, quality, resource, communication, risk, procurement and

stakeholder management. Additionally, project health, safety, security, environment (HSSE)

and financial management are unique to construction (Table 5). We will be discussing all

these knowledge areas throughout, but our focus would be to reveal how communication is a

cornerstone function to ensure project success. Secondly, it is limited to the construction

industry which operates in “goal-oriented” mode and in a matrix environment. Thirdly, as

there in no universal definition of a successful project in our study, we have considered a

successful project as the one which is delivered as per the desired scope, schedule, cost,

quality & customer satisfaction.

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2 LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter starts with describing leadership as a form of communication and its types followed by

the construction project environment. Previous secondary data available on the topic are discussed in

detail. The requirement and influence of leadership style in influencing the people behaviour,

managing them, maintaining effective communication and in making a project successful is reviewed.

Then communications management involved in the project lifecycle is described. Communication

models, channel, planning, execution, monitoring & control and barriers in the construction segment

are reviewed. This is followed by our theoretical framework and dimensions under test at the end. In

the next chapter we will describe methodology used for our research.

2.1 Leadership as a form of communication

Leadership is the behavioural style of a manager used to integrate organizational objectives

and personal interests to meet a goal. Whether a PM is appointed for a project or not, largely

depends on their leadership style (Kerzner, 2005). Leadership is important through all the

phases of the project life cycle. Arguably, the construction industry can be seen as having a

greater need for leadership because of its complexity, techno-commercial and other

specialized skills requirements and increasing realization on the people side of project

management. Managers have a high focus in accomplishing the tasks on time, within budget

and meeting scope whereas leaders are concerned on how to accomplish the task. Managers

focus on process whereas leaders focus on systems which can be translated to managers

having short-term views and leaders having a long-term view (Goetsch and Davis, 2003). It is

the people component of project management where the main problem lies because a PM has

to often manage people whom he or she is not a superior to. Leaders tend to solve the main

problem to deliver a successful project and thus having a sustainable approach in comparison

to managers. But the mainstream construction industry is more conventional in nature which

creates an urge for leaders in the modern construction industry to take initiatives in order to

make it more flexible and adaptive to change in the modern business environment (Toor and

Ofori, 2007).

According to Hoard, the project management skills maturity can be explained just as

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs in psychology. Maslow too placed physiological needs at the

base of the pyramid. Safety, love, esteem needs are next in the hierarchy and self-

actualization being at the top of the pyramid. He stated that the need of a particular level can

be fulfilled only if the need below it is satisfied, e.g. a person can address love needs if the

physiological and safety needs are satisfied. Similarly, Hoard’s PM maturity hierarchy of

skills is shown in Figure 3.

• The bottom level represents leadership which is considered to be the base upon which all

other skills are built.

• Once the leadership is addressed, the basic management skills can be addressed in the next

level. Team work, communication, motivation and negotiation are part of this level.

• Once the basic managerial need is satisfied the next level of project management skills can

be developed. These are the nine knowledge areas from the PMI stated in PMBOK.

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• Post forming a firm foundation on the above-mentioned skills in the pyramid, project

management maturity is achieved.

Article by Zulch (2014b)

stated that the Hoard PM

maturity model has been

criticized by many authors as

leadership cannot be the

starting point. A professional

must be a good manager

before becoming a great

leader. Also, the nine

knowledge areas are stacked

together which can be

misinterpreted having

hierarchical dependency. The

communication management

plan helps in keeping the

stakeholders engaged,

obtaining & confirming their

continued commitment towards the project. Managing stakeholder engagement towards the

project ensures that project goals are achieved through communication and negotiation. It

also helps anticipate the future problems that may be raised by stakeholders, assess the

project risk, mitigate them to keep stakeholders satisfied and ensure project success (Pmbok,

2017). Hence, we argue that the PM maturity model should have stakeholder management, as

satisfying them is one of the parameters of project success. While applying the model in the

context of construction projects, it must have Health, Safety, security & environment

Management (HSSE) and financial management when applied in the context of the

construction industry. Scope, schedule and cost are interrelated and changes in one also

affects the other. Quality is the product of interrelationship between these three.

Communication is a function which integrates all the knowledge areas together (Kotzé, Berry

and Verster, 2008) and hence it should be at the bottom as a foundation. Leadership must be

at the top position of the pyramid (Zulch, 2014b). Hence, there is a need for revision in the

PM maturity model.

J. Barrett explained leadership communication in the form of three rings (refer Figure 4). The

core, managerial and corporate. As a professional move up in his or her career, the

communication complexity goes up as well. The core communication ability is represented in

the centre of the ring. Strategy development, effective writing and speaking is the foundation

upon which core leadership communication depends. Strategy is the foundation on which

every effective communication depends. Leaders are required to successfully analyse a

situation and accordingly develop a communication strategy. They also need to write simple,

clear, concise and effective correspondence such as email, reports, proposal, documents etc.

and deliver oral presentations during meetings. These are the basic skills but as managers

Figure 3: Project management hierarchy of skills (Hoard)

10

move up the ladder in the organizational hierarchy, they need to widen their horizon to

managerial and corporate leadership communication as well. Widening the horizon depends

on how a professional masters the core communication. The managerial leadership

communication consists of emotional intelligence, cultural literacy, listening, coaching &

managing team to develop managerial skills. Understanding the audience, their motivations

and actions in all communication situations is essential for a leadership communication.

Financial incentive as a motivation can be good but true motivation comes from within and to

understand this manager will require spending time with their team(Tonnquist, 2013). This

would be possible with self-awareness and emotional intelligence (EI). People with high EI

enable them to know what they feel, meaning of their emotions and how these emotions can

impact others. The openness of the audience with respect to his or her manager attribute can

assist or resist the proposed thought. Thus, for managerial leadership communication, EI is as

important as the core skills in the innermost ring. An understanding of cross-cultural

differences and active listening is required to interact effectively. The managerial ring also

includes team management and leading teams which are also required capabilities for today’s

leader.

When a professional move into a high-

level leadership position, he or she

needs to master the skills in the outer

circle – employee relations, change

communication, media relations, crisis

communication and reputation

management. In the context of the PM

maturity model, we argue that core

communication must be at the bottom

of the model. As an individual moves

up in the hierarchy, he or she masters

managerial and corporate

communication. He or she becomes the

face of the organization’s voice for the

public. Thus, the leadership

communication framework again

reconfirms that communication has to

be at the base and leadership at the top

in the PM maturity model. To reach the corporate level, professionals must clear the initial

two layers of core and managerial (J. Barrett, 2006). The leadership communication

framework can be applied to various project roles – governing, organizing and managing,

executing and supporting. We argue that core communication is essential for all irrespective

of their project roles as it is the foundation. The importance of managerial communication

increases as communication complexity, team size and number of stakeholders increases and

is therefore applicable to all mid-management professionals such as PM’s, program managers

and team leaders. But the construction industry seems to ignore this and there are instances

when a technical expert is being promoted to a PM position. Such PM’s fail to meet the

Figure 4: Leadership communication framework

(Barrett)

11

project objectives due to lack of managerial skills (Palm and Lindahl, 2015). We also argue

that the corporate communication is most important for the governance role who are

generally senior level managers such as CEO, COO, HoD’s and project owner because they

are the project’s face to the public. Leadership communication is also dependent on the

ability of creating a positive image inside and outside the organization because if the

audience does not trust or believe the leader, it will have low persuasive force. Charisma also

describes the ability to persuade others. Creating a positive image and charisma depends on

the leadership style (J. Barrett, 2006).

The real management is people management, but PM’s tend to focus more on improving the

project delivery process. Improving the project delivery is good but the most valuable asset

for us is the people working the project (Pell, 1987). Relationships tend to exist between

project leadership with a high level of verbal communication. Communication is therefore a

strong force which ensures project success and the project leader needs to develop a

leadership style that nurtures effective and efficient communication with stakeholders.

Leadership can be depicted as a communication skill that functions to get tasks done by the

project workforce by managing them. It includes communicating, delegating and

coordinating the work through all levels. Leadership therefore is a communication skill

(Zulch, 2014a) and leadership communication is the controlled, purposeful transfer of

meaning used by leaders to influence an individual, organization or community. The purpose

of leadership communication is to deliver a message which can guide, direct, motivate and

inspire the team to act. It can be strategy development, effective writing, or speaking in a

highly complex matrix construction environment (J. Barrett, 2006). Since, leaders can

influence the behaviour of the workforce and can set a vision to keep them focused, we argue

that leadership as a form of communication can lead to better management of a diverse

workforce and therefore enhances the chance of project success.

2.2 The construction project environment

This section describes the environment in the project lifecycle to understand the strategy,

delivery methods and how they impact other aspects and stakeholders. The project

environment is very broad and includes the geography in which it is being executed. The type

of solution proposed may vary and can vary the type of stakeholders involved, e.g. consider a

road project which would connect two cities to alter the traffic flow. The surrounding areas in

this case may be positively or negatively impacted by the project and each solution can have

a completely different set of stakeholders involved. There could be a wide range of project

delivery methods such as – design-bid-build, design-build, engineering procurement

construction (EPC), self-performance, integrated project delivery (IPD), public-private-

partnership (PPP). These methods define whether the project execution to be contracted, sub-

contracted or completely done by a single entity. A common type of a construction project

could be the one that is performed outside the owner’s organization by a contractor

(Construction Ext. Pmbok, 2016).

Both owner and contractor organizations have PMO’s. The owner has a controlling or

directive PMO whereas the contractor generally may use multiple supportive PMO to

12

complement the organizational structure. The communication can be improved if the

contractor is able to match the owner’s project management execution and strategy. There are

certain factors which are outside the control of the PM known as enterprise environmental

factors. Economic, financial and site location factors come under this category. The

construction project cost is generally sum of the material cost and human resource cost but a

lot of factors such as government policies, inflation, changes in the foreign exchange rate

may have a huge impact on the project cost and can make it unstable. Construction projects

may require a huge amount of funding because they are large scale and long duration.

Financial institutions are also important stakeholders and they may act as project constraints.

If the project is being executed in a foreign currency, the associated exchange rate shall be

considered as a risk factor. The decision on selecting the site location may bring along issues

such as applicable laws, regulation, labour availability, brownfield / greenfield, site

accessibility etc. These can directly impact the project cost, e.g. contractors bidding for the

project investigate the weather pattern and include the cost in the bid (Construction Ext.

Pmbok, 2016).

A construction project has strong focus on results. Hence all construction projects are driven

by deadlines and gate models which provide predictability in a challenging working

environment (Maier and Branzei, 2014). It is extremely important to track, monitor and

communicate various information critical for achieving project deadlines. Communication

leads to cooperation, cooperation to coordination and coordination to project success (Badiru,

2012). Most of the construction projects operate in a matrix environment and due to

communication malfunction between the temporary and permanent organization the project

progress is affected, the project predictability is lost and thus gate models have become a

hypocrisy (Palm and Lindahl, 2015). There is an imbalance of power between the permanent

and temporary organization. Resources are suddenly removed by their line managers which

causes fragmentation, disruption and inefficiency in projects. The matrix organizational

structure adds complexity in the communication between the PM and line manager. Almost

one-third of the PM’s are overloaded and stressed due to this and it directly impacts the

project performance and success (Zika-Viktorsson, 2006). Project integration management is

the main role of a PM and lack of motivation and coordination among the employees are the

biggest barriers to it. Many PM in the beginning of their career do nothing to address

communication rather than issuing reports. Highly experienced and performance driven PM

go beyond just preparing communication plans and issuing reports. They engage with

stakeholders to know exactly what needs to be communicated to each other and often recheck

the project communications requirement at team meetings to limit the possibility of

communication problems (Mulcahy,2016).

The characteristics of construction projects impact the society and stakeholders. Good

relationship with stakeholders is vital for project success and communication plays an

important role in keeping stakeholders engaged and to get valuable feedback (Mulcahy,

2016). Project governance plays an important role in establishing an integrated view

considering the stakeholder relationship. The fast-changing construction industry is putting

high pressure on PM to perform better with fewer human resources. Almost one-third of the

13

PM’s are overloaded and stressed and this directly impacts the project performance and

success (Zika-Viktorsson, 2006). PM’s have less work life balance and often work for

uncompensated work hours without complaining (Legault and Chasserio, 2012). In this work

environment PM’s often lose focus in their work. Leadership plays an important role to shift

focus of project workers on key tasks to be accomplished by better people management (Toor

and Ofori, 2007).

2.3 Leadership styles

The leadership style influences the leadership communication effectiveness of a PM, so

understanding of the generally known leadership style is relevant. It influences the ability to

create a positive image and charisma. Though high importance has been placed in effective

leadership in research, the construction industry still faces major leadership challenges.

Generating conditions for the team to succeed is what a leader does but it becomes complex

because it is a dynamic behaviour which needs to be varied with different circumstances. A

PM also uses his or her character to communicate and lead a project. As per the leadership

Johari window, a leader needs to be self-aware regarding – what they know and do not know

about themselves, what others know and do not know about them. This will help leaders

know where he or she stands. Giving and receiving feedback can be difficult but can act as

an endorsement to provide support and encouragement or a correction through constructive

suggestions (Tonnquist, 2013). There have been several leadership theories which are broadly

classified as per Table 1 below.

Table 1: Leadership theories

Leadership theories Year Example

Great man theories 1800s “Who’s born to lead?”

Trait theories 1930s “What traits characterizes a good leader?”

Behaviour theories 1940s Task-oriented vs people oriented

Contingency theories 1960s Situational leadership

Transformational theories 1970s Inspirational and charismatic leadership

Post-heroic leadership Last 10-20 years Relational, collectivist, centred, participatory, responsibility, encouraging, innovation, seeking consensus, working for people growth, focusing on action and interaction and collaboration.

As presented in Table 1, the heroic leadership was unidirectional and a top-down influential

process which drew a clear line between the follower and leader. Whereas the post-heroic

leadership is agreed to be relational, collectivist and participatory in nature. It does not focus

on individual attributes and character. It is a result of interaction and relationship between

individuals (Sobral and Furtado, 2019). Based on the leadership theories, there are several

leadership styles. The famous article by Daniel Goleman known as Leadership that get results

describes six basic leadership styles – the coercive, authoritative, affiliative, democratic,

pacesetting and coaching style. Goleman said “Don’t take a one-size-fits-all approach to

leadership. Choose the style that maximizes your effectiveness in a given situation.”

Managers often fail to understand how the leadership style impacts the climate in an

organization which in turn affects the project performance. The way managers motivate,

14

make decisions, communicate, handle changes and crises can impact the climate. The greater

number of styles a leader masters better chances of improving the organizational climate and

business performance. New researches suggest that successful leaders apply a combination of

these styles in the right measure and at the right time. This is very difficult to put into action

but pays off in performance. Very few leaders have all the six styles, and even fewer know

when and how to apply them (Goleman, 2000). The most important leadership arising from

the heroic paradigm are – charismatic, transactional, transformational and visionary (Sobral

and Furtado, 2019). As per Smit, Cronje and De some of the mostly applied and well-known

leadership styles in business management are presented in Table 2:

Table 2: Leadership style(Smit, Cronje & De)

Contingency or situational style

This style is based on matching personal characteristics of a leader with a leadership style best suited to a situation.

Visionary style A visionary leader always focuses on the vision, listens to others, involves them and clearly communicates with them.

Path goal style This style provides necessary direction and support to the team to make sure that the team achieve organization goals.

Fiedler’s style This style correlates with the contingency style. It not only matches the leader’s personality and style but also changes the situation so that it becomes compatible with the style.

McGregor’s theory - x and y style

Theory X directs, and forces work to the tea because it believes that people try to avoid work and responsibility. Opposite to that theory Y assumes that people enjoy their work and take responsibility.

Lifecycle style It is a contingency style which believes in task maturity of employees such as accepting responsibility, working knowledge, experience. They aim to balance tasks and relationships.

Behavioural style This style differentiates between task oriented or people-oriented approach. It gives attention to relationships while discussing task issues to achieve a successful conclusion.

Actional centred style

In this style the leader focuses on task, team and individual i.e. achievement of objectives, group coherence and individual needs through communication.

It has been observed that PM’s who are more task oriented and low in people orientation

performed acceptably well. Some research shows that managers tend to use a supportive style

in the pre-study phase and a directive style as the construction progresses. Toor and Ofori

also mentioned in their article that study on PM’s of various geographical areas showcased

that, some of them considered relationship oriented to be more effective than task oriented,

some PM’s are relationship oriented and adopt a supportive style, male and female PM’s

were similar in transactional leadership but their transformational practices were significantly

different, PM’s at higher designations are stronger in pacesetting leadership (Toor and Ofori,

2007). In a survey study on a mega scale project, it was found that transformational leaders

were rated high compared to transactional leaders and the use of punishment was rated

lowest. Most of the identified leadership are self-centred, relationship-centred, change-

centred or task-centred. Mindfulness leadership can create situational awareness and generate

more effective ways to communicate and collaborate with others (Roussel, 2019).

Above research showcases that there can never be an agreement on what leadership style can

be best suited for a construction project environment because no leadership style can

15

maximize the best outcomes in all circumstances (Fiedler, 1967). Leadership can never be an

exact science, but neither can it be a complete mystery to those who practice it. As the

business environment is changing leaders must act the right style at the right time in the right

measure (Goleman, 2000). Every individual has a different set of values, background, culture

and experiences and therefore PMs need to have a unique and reliable leadership style that is

consistent with their personal appeal and motivations. Some researchers also consider

authentic leadership as a solution to the problem of leadership crisis in the modern business

world (Toor and Ofori, 2007). Most of the literatures on leadership do not talk about how a

PM can develop a particular leadership style, why he or she selects a style over another, why

some style can work effectively with a team while the same may fail with other team or

whether there is a set of characteristics which may result in best leadership.

2.4 Communication Process

Information is a one-way process whereas communication is a two-way process. The latter

happens when the sender and recipient exchange information. The communication must solve

a purpose and there is a sequence of steps in this process –

Table 3: Communication process

Encode Encoding is translation of thoughts or ideas into language.

Transit message Using a channel the information is sent. There may be several factors impacting the transition of message such as distance, technological error, no background information, cultural gap. These are known as noise.

Decode The recipient translates the message into a meaningful idea.

Acknowledge The recipient acknowledges the receipt, but this does not necessarily mean agreement.

Feedback The recipient after decoding and understanding the message encodes ideas into a language and transmits it to the original sender (Pmbok, 2017).

In a project, the communication is initiated by a stakeholder seeking information, asking a

query, giving an instruction, team activity or networking. The sender is the starting point of a

communication. Table 3 shows that a

message, thought, signal or idea may

involve transforming inner feelings,

thoughts by the sender during encoding.

The encoding activities could be speech,

non-verbal signs or even writing it down.

The sender after encoding should be

aware of the communication factors such

as nonverbal, para lingual, words and

select an appropriate method to deliver

the message. Decoding on the other hand

is active listening and reading to convert

the message into a meaningful pattern.

When applied to the context of

construction project management, the Figure 5: Communication flow in a project

16

competency of a PM in encoding and decoding plays an important role to deliver the project

outcomes. The feedback’s role is fundamental in successful communication. In absence or

delay of feedback, interventions by a PM is required. This may seem easy but considering a

project which is going to be executed for several years, with several stakeholders the number

of communication channels is very high, and it is complicated (Talukhaba A, Mutunga T,

Miruka, 2011). Figure 5 shows the communication flow in a construction project.

Communications shall happen internally and externally to the core project team, vertically

up-down to different levels of the organization and horizontally among the peers.

Communication always happens in a process and it is important to review the internal and

external communications. Table 4 depicts the types of communication in a company. The

company’s culture and organization process asset (OPA) drive formal communication. The

organizational structure can also have a significant impact on formal communication. As

most of the knowledge sharing happens via email, meeting and general conversations,

informal verbal as well as written is very important. Verbal communication has the most

influence on project leadership (Zulch, 2014a). Meetings have the potential to discuss the

differences and come up with the best plan. But the amount of effort and time invested in a

meeting is unknown, so it has to be planned efficiently (Gorse and Emmitt, 2009).

Table 4: Types of communications in a project

Communication Type Examples

Formal written Project charter, project management plan, Complex problems, contract

Formal verbal Presentations, speeches

Informal written Email, text message, handwritten notes

Informal verbal Meeting, conversations

Formal organization is the skeleton of the company, whereas informal communication is the

nervous system through which the process, thoughts and actions in a business unit (BU)

flows (Fischbach, Gloor, and Schoder, 2008). Non-verbal constitutes a major portion of

communication and can be described as body language. Pitch and tone of voice as well as

selection of words are also part of making a communication effective (Mulcahy, 2016). There

has been improved project performance in terms of budget, schedule and customer

satisfaction for PM’s who actively communicate with team members (Henderson,2004).

Even if a project is planned very well, communication may get hindered by barriers or noise.

A few technical barriers could be word interpretations, reality perceptions, attitude and

opinions. Other barriers are psychological distractions such as nervousness, stress, fatigue or

illness, emotional distractions such as extreme happiness or sadness. Some personal barriers

are not knowing the language, culture, social background, demographics or education.

Research shows that gender can also act as a communication barrier. Men tend to have a

different interpretation of emotional feelings and lack of trust with women (Hale, 1999).

Using idiomatic phrases such as what is your game plan? or what a bad idea? can also hinder

the natural flow of communication (Mulcahy, 2016). Age, personality, leadership style,

Physical appearance etc can impact the sender as well as the receiver and comes under

environmental barriers. All these barriers impact the delivery and receipt of information

17

(Gillard and Johansen, 2004). Emotional intelligence and positive ethos play an important

role to minimize the communication barrier (J. Barrett, 2006).

2.5 Project communications management in construction

The Pmbok guide demonstrates ten knowledge areas mapped across five process groups and

the construction extension mentions two additional knowledge areas specific to the

construction industry (Table 5).

Table 5: Process groups vs knowledge area mapping

Knowledge Areas

Process Group

Initiation Planning Execution Monitoring & control

Closure

Integration Management • • • • •

Scope Management • •

Schedule Management • •

Cost Management • •

Quality Management • • •

Human Resource management • • • •

Communication Management • • •

Risk Management • •

Procurement Management • • • •

Stakeholder Management • • • •

Health, Safety, security & environment Management

• • •

Financial Management • •

The project integration management is the main role of a PM where he puts all the bits and

pieces of a project together into a cohesive whole in order to meet the project objectives

faster, cheaper and with optimized resources. Scope, schedule and cost are the triple

constraints of a project. They are interrelated and changes in one also affects the other.

Quality is the product of interrelationship between these three. Human resource management

organizes, manages and leads the project team. It is the people component of project

management where the main problem lies. Hence human resource management becomes

even more important in a matrix environment because a PM has to often manage people

whom he or she is not a superior. Risk management helps the PM to deal with known

unknowns and unknown unknowns. Unknown unknowns can completely invalidate the

project or end up annihilating the management reserves completely. Procurement

management includes the processes necessary to purchase or acquire products, services

needed outside the project team. The success of the project is also highly dependent on how

satisfied the stakeholders are. They can negatively or positively impact the project outcomes.

A PM’s effort to clarify work scope, objectives and establish agreement between stakeholders

positively influences team member’s satisfaction. Health, safety and security management

includes the process to maintain the wellbeing, safety and security of office and site

employees, contractors, sub-contractors and all others working for the project on or off-site.

Financial management ensures that pay-out and receivables are coordinated in a fashion to

maintain the working capital. All these knowledge areas are required to be integrated.

18

Integration of the project is the main role of PM as it helps to avoid scope creep. Scope creep

is the uncontrolled expansion of a project or product scope without adjustments in the

schedule, cost and resources. A PM integrates the HR, risk, HSSE, procurement, stakeholder

and financial knowledge areas and then makes a trade-off between the project constraints to

avoid the scope creep (Pmbok, 2017). But project integration cannot happen without the

communication support and thus is a cornerstone function (Zulch, 2014a).

Müller and Turner stated that, in a complex construction environment, the mutual exchange

of information shall flow in a way that it succeeds in finding the right level and it is the

responsibility of a PM to ensure that all the stakeholders are on the same page by asking for

feedback or follow-up. Inadequately communicated scope of work, project objectives,

unclearly defined responsibility can result in ineffective communication and lead to project

failure. Hence the PM leadership communication has a prime importance because it helps in

analysing the audience in every situation and accordingly develops a communication strategy

that facilitates the objectives (J. Barrett, 2006), e.g. a PM has arranged a meeting with a seller

who did not show up. This happened several times until he found that they had a fixed

contract which did not have any mention of such a meeting. This replicates that the PM must

have a strategic approach to leadership communication. Also, succession in the managerial

and corporate leadership communication depends in mastering the core capabilities of

strategy, writing and speaking. Construction project management requires constant flow of

ideas or signals for negotiation with suppliers, contractors, clarifying scope internally and

externally, resolving disputes, bargaining with service providers (Zulch, 2014b). Leadership

communication demands for foreseeing all interferences through audience analysis and thus

developing a communication strategy to control the situation and accordingly transmitting the

message (J. Barrett, 2006). Hence, we argue that leadership communication can lead to better

project integration. A construction project progresses from initiation to closure (Figure 6), but

there is no communication in the initiation and closure phase indicated in Table 5. In the

setting of communication management, it is worth discussing.

Figure 6: Project phases

Initiation – A project in the initiation phase is top driven and the project scope is broad before

appointing a PM. There is no mention of the application of communication management in

19

this phase, but it does mention integration and stakeholder management. Most of the

communication takes place in silos unless a PM is appointed. Upon selecting a PM, he or she

formally operationalizes the communication process. This is when the communication is

planned and further executed and monitored. We agree that the initiation phase does not have

a stringent communication requirement but, even the initiation phase of a construction project

needs to be integrated and stakeholders to be managed. We argue that there is a chance of

useful information being missed to communicate during this transition of project from

business development or bidding team to the project department. Identifying stakeholders is

an important activity in the initiation phase. Without communication an important

stakeholder can be missed which can further result in project objectives not met or change of

scope (Pmbok, 2017). This has not been addressed in the former research articles and project

management books.

Closure – The important document which is created in the closure phase is the “lesson learnt”

document which is updated in the organization process asset (OPA) so that it can be referred

and used in another project of the program or portfolio. It is prepared in consultation with the

project execution team. Since this does not have much dependency on other support functions

and stakeholders, this might be the reason that there is no mention of communication

management in the closure phase in Table 5. However, in the same table the presence of

integration, human resources and procurement can be seen. The most important things in the

HR management which takes place in the closure phase is project performance appraisal. It is

done to address unresolved issues and provide constructive feedback to the team. The need

for performance appraisal is dependent on the project duration, complexity, organization

policy and the frequency and quality of regular communication. The procurement closure

involves administrative activities such as finalizing open claims, addressing each and every

contract applicable to the project or project phase. Procurement negotiation also takes place

to settle all outstanding issues, claims and disputes (Pmbok, 2017). These activities require

coordination with internal stakeholders as well external stakeholders such as seller,

contractor, service provider. It requires a PM to manage changes, teams, employee relations

(J. Barrett, 2006). This shows the requirement of leadership communication in the closure

phase as well. We argue that the communications management needs to be included in the

closure phase. Now let us view in brief how project communications are planned, executed,

monitored & controlled in the remaining three phases throughout the project lifecycle.

2.5.1 Project communications management planning

The PM and the project team are the central point of all project communications. They are

not limited to just sharing project information and documents but also collecting, analysing

and providing feedback to various stakeholders to overcome cultural, social and contractual

barriers. The complex multi organizational, varying interests and diverse communication

network (Figure 7) formed in a construction project is the primary source of challenge to the

project objectives. It is very important to assess the project documents such as contract,

specific conditions, design documents before preparing a plan for communication. The

requirements specified in the contract, determines what has to be documented to meet the

contractual obligations. Communication plan should ensure that communications occur

20

internally and externally to the core

project team, vertically up-down to

different levels of the organization

and horizontally among the peers.

While preparing the communication

plan high level corporate and social

responsibility shall be considered by

the PM. The communication plan

should take care of the

communication flow among the

designers, contractor, subcontractors,

procurement team, and project owner

organization for coordinating the

change orders, RFP, RFQ, IFB, RFI

claims etc. as these have a serious

impact on the project cost and

timeline. The communication plan also determines the frequency of reports, e.g. daily report

is a document which is shared on a daily basis to keep all the stakeholders informed regarding

the project progress. It also acts as an extremely important means to resolve disputes

(Construction Ext. Pmbok, 2016). It is evident from the above that, while planning the

communications management the PM needs a solid communication strategy to make the

communication plan effective, clear and concise. This connects to the core communication of

the leadership communication framework by Barrett.

2.5.2 Project communications management execution

Due to the high complex construction environment, PMs must act proactively to ensure that

the information is generated, transmitted and understood appropriately. Based on the project

delivery methods explained in introduction, various organizations may work together in the

construction having competing interests. This can become a source of conflict.

Documentation is one the most important means to solve contractual disputes. Centralized

management of project documents such as contracts, insurance, equipment warranty,

checklists, invoicing etc is very effective. Avoid, smoothening, compromise, forcing and

collaborating are some conflict resolution techniques among which collaborative approach is

the best and long-lasting resolution. To collaborate it needs for a PM to interact well

individually as well as in groups which is an attribute of a manager. Managerial

communication begins with interpersonal skills, understanding of the cultural differences and

active listening (J. Barrett, 2006). Thus, the construction communication management in

execution conforms to the managerial ring in the leadership communication framework.

2.5.3 Project communications management monitoring & control

Project communications shall be monitored and controlled so that the right information

reaches the right person at the right time in the right format to meet the information need of

the stakeholder. There are several reporting formats in construction projects which solve

different purposes, e.g. performance report, geotechnical report, topographical survey report,

Figure 7: Construction project communication

network (Cons. Ext. Pmbok)

21

soil report, contractor performance evaluation (CPE), customer satisfaction index (CSI),

quality assurance (QA), quality control (QC), project performance index (PPI), project

quality index (PQI), earned value management (EVM), health safety & environment (HSE)

report, lessons learned documentation etc. Every report has a specific purpose of reporting

with different frequency and different set of concerned stakeholders. The PM needs to listen

to stakeholders, teams and understand the cross-cultural differences to interact effectively

with them (J. Barrett, 2006). The performance and various other reports keep the stakeholders

informed regarding the predictability of project success thus keep them satisfied. The

monitoring and controlling of communications management requires managerial

communication skills from the leadership communication framework by Barrett. When there

are crises and escalations which are unresolved by the mid managers, it is then escalated at

senior level. As an individual moves up in the hierarchy, he or she becomes accountable for

resolution of such issues. They are also responsible for the smooth functioning of the entire

program or portfolio and thus they are the face of the organization and voice for the public.

This requires mastering the core and managerial ring of the leadership communication

framework.

2.6 Theoretical framework

A goal-oriented construction project has strong focus on results and hence driven by stringent

deadlines. The project performance is highly based on the schedule, cost, scope and quality

performance. Any issue impacting the project baseline (schedule, cost or scope baseline)

results in either project getting delayed, over budget or scope not met. Integration of project

is the main role of the PM as it helps to minimize the impact on schedule, cost and resources

due to project issues. A PM integrates the human resource, risk, HSSE, procurement,

stakeholder and financial knowledge area and then makes a trade-off between the project

constraints. They are interrelated and changes in one also affects the other. Quality is the

product of interrelationship between these three. (Pmbok, 2017).

When a technical expert is being promoted to a PM position, they fail to meet the project

objectives due to lack of managerial skills (Palm and Lindahl, 2015). Leadership is one of the

essential factors in construction management and communication is a topic frequently linked

to it, but the linkage often is limited to a view of communication as a means to achieve

particular purpose (Ruben and Gigliotti, 2016). Practically, this view of communication does

not capture the broad leadership practice. High importance has been placed in effective

leadership in research, the construction industry still faces major leadership challenges.

Because the construction industry has been considering leadership and communication in

isolation to each other. So far, there has been little research on integration of project

knowledge areas with leadership communication. The PM’s leadership communication has a

prime importance because it helps in analysing the audience in every situation and

accordingly develop a communication strategy that facilitates better people management and

also achieves the project objectives (J. Barrett, 2006). Past researches in the construction

industry are focused on few known leadership styles for effective communication,

communication competencies for being a leader or better people management in an atomistic

manner. There is a need to design a framework that integrates leadership communication with

22

project knowledge areas with a prime importance to integration. Figure 8: Leadership

communication framework used in this study is derived from the integration of

communication foundation model (Zulch, 2014b) and leadership communication framework

(J. Barrett, 2006).

Figure 8: Leadership communication framework used in this study

Article by Zulch (2014a) stated that leadership cannot be the starting point. A professional

should be a good manager before becoming a great leader. Strategy is the foundation on

which every effective communication depends. Leaders are required to successfully analyse a

situation and accordingly develop a communication strategy (J. Barrett, 2006). Thus, in the

context of leadership communication, the core should be at the bottom. Managerial leadership

should be in the next layer as it is built upon the core. Post mastering in the core and

managerial a professional move into the next layer of corporate leadership communication.

Our study does not intend to go into the management layers but the core, managerial and

corporate conform to the operating core, mid-level management and senior-level

management respectively (Roth, 2016).

Table 6: Dimensions under test from the theoretical framework below capture the dimensions

to be tested. From the article on leadership communication by Barrett, we see that the three

levels of managers require different leadership communication skills. Integration

management is the main role of a PM. Apart from the knowledge in schedule, cost, scope and

quality a PM should also master skills that help to effectively integrate the project. Hence

knowledge of what facilitates project integration is highly relevant for a PM. The leadership

style influences the communication effectiveness of a PM and the ability to create a positive

image towards the audience, so knowing reliable leadership style with respect to the

construction is relevant. Section 2.3 showcases that there can never be an agreement on what

leadership style can be best suited for a project environment but Smit, Cronje and De

23

described the mostly applied and well-known leadership styles in business management and

same were also mentioned in the “Leadership Communication in Project Management”

article by Zulch (2014a). The styles which are generally used in management are situational,

visionary, people and task oriented, McGregor theory X and Y, action centred and

behavioural which we will examine in our study. Authentic leadership is said to be a solution

to the problem of leadership crisis in the modern business world (Toor and Ofori, 2007).

Hence, we have also considered authentic leadership for this study.

Table 6: Dimensions under test from the theoretical framework

Management Level Dimension under test Dimension under test

Operating core Core leadership communication i)Project integration, ii)Characteristics to communicate effectively

i)Strategy ii)Writing iii)Speaking

Mid-level Managerial leadership communication i)Project integration, ii)Characteristics to communicate effectively

i)Emotional intelligence ii)Cultural literacy iii)Coaching/mentoring iv)Listening v)Meeting, vi)Team

Senior level Corporate leadership communication i)Project integration, ii)Characteristics to communicate effectively

i)Employee relations ii)Media relations iii)Change communication iv)Image management v)Crisis communication

24

3 METHOD

This chapter presents the methodology for conducting this research study. It shows our research

design & setting. Then it describes how data has been collected and analysed to answer the research

question. It also states how research quality has been ensured during the data collection process and

risk of error has been mitigated. In the next section, the interview findings will be discussed.

3.1 Research design and setting

There are some steps involved in this research which has to be recapped before going into the

details of research methodology. Based on reviewing the several past literatures on leadership

communication we have tried to find what the past researches in the construction industry

have been focusing and accordingly we designed the theoretical framework. We tried to find

a method which can answer the research question in the best way. The nature of the research

question shapes the research methodology (Kember & Corbett). To understand how

leadership communication ensures project success, it is important to understand the

interviewee’s point of view and the context of his or her answers. It is also essential to know

what and why the interviewee sees anything important and relevant and how it is related to

their job roles and responsibilities. This can be very complex. Due to complexity of the

research response and importance of the context, we selected the qualitative approach and

conducted it in a flexible manner. The research design forms the framework for data

collection and its analysis. The design is selected based on the type of research study.

Based on the research problem, a research approach is a stepwise procedure (Figure 9) of

collecting, analysing and interpreting the data. There are two approaches for this- deductive

and inductive. Deduction results in an observation or finding whereas the general outcome of

an inductive research is theory (Bryman and Bell, 2011). The research approach for this study

is deductive because this approach is used to test previous theories. Using a logical approach,

the project management body of knowledge, its construction extension and other research

articles were explored to make some specific conclusions. To draw a true conclusion from

deductive approach is to make sure that these conclusions when tested should not contradict

(Walliman, 2011).

Figure 9: Research procedure

25

The books and articles were investigated using an exploratory approach because past research

on leadership communication showcased an underutilized lens for looking into leadership

dynamics. From the exploratory study we found out that there is a need to combine the

project management knowledge areas suitably with leadership communication at various

management levels – senior, mid and operating core. Formation of the interview questions in

an exploratory approach requires to have prior knowledge about the subject to ensure

strategic fit and further progression in the research (Walliman, 2011).

3.2 Data collection

The primary data is collected through semi-structured interviews of professionals working in

various industries. The primary data obtained qualitatively is understandable, interpretive,

and is usually rich and detailed which can further result in ideas and concepts in the research

field (MacDonald & Headlam, 2009). The primary data was collected through semi-

structured interviews where the researcher needs to have a list or interview guide which

contains questions on specific topics, but the interviewee has flexibility in how he or she

wants to reply. During the course of the interview if the interviewee deflects from the topic,

the interviewer may ask questions which are not included in the interview guide. Questions

may be asked on motivations, strategies, organization culture, emotions (Bryman and Bell,

2011). Special importance shall be given so that the interviewee understands the issues. The

secondary data is collected from the project management books and past research articles on

our topic.

Professionals interviewed in this study are experienced in different types of construction

projects in different roles. The interviews were intended to cover managers from all the three

levels – operating core, mid and senior to examine if there is a correlation between their

leadership communication and project management skills as per their roles and

responsibilities. We tried to find an equal mix of gender among the respondents.

Unfortunately, we did not manage to interview female managers and all the respondents who

are interviewed for this study are male. The interviewees were asked for general information

when we communicated for the first time. The general information covered their age, total

experience, current organization, role, sector, experience in current organization, past

experiences and sectors worked for, managerial level and average team size. The general

information helped us to share the right interview questions 4-5 days in advance with the

respondent so that they have a brief understanding of the research as well as the questions to

be asked. It also helped us understand the level of motivation, team bonding, trust building

and relationship building is required by the respondents. The interview guide consists of

questions which are slightly different for the three levels based on the theoretical framework.

Section-I starts with information about how they spend a typical day in their work

environment and then goes into depth of their actual role. Questions were asked to understand

their job roles and responsibilities and how it affects the flow of leadership communication.

Follow-up questions were asked to enable exploration of unanticipated responses. Integration

management is the main role of a PM. Section-II consists of a few questions in the form of a

26

questionnaire to understand which knowledge area facilitates project integration. We also

tried determining through the questionnaire regarding the characteristics the respondents

think are important to communicate effectively. Constructive codes will be used to interpret

the findings.

3.2.1 Critical discussion

The interviews were conducted over telephone and skype which continued for about 8-10

days. It took long because the interviewees were located at different time zones and locations.

Table 7 presents below a brief summary of the interview mode and duration. As explained

earlier the interviewees were purposely chosen from the operating core, mid-managerial and

senior-managerial levels examine if there is a correlation between the project. During

interviews our focus was to understand how important leadership communication is in their

job responsibilities at all the three levels.

Few respondents during the interview answered in a way which demonstrated that they are

self-evaluating themselves. In general professionals believe that they have done a good job,

however this can be verified by looking at the success rate. To avoid this we made them

understand the definition of project success as per our research study. To a certain extent we

also tried to understand the factors which made their projects unsuccessful. This would

further need to look deeper into the operations to understand how leadership communication

affects the project management in reality. But this is extremely difficult to do remotely.

Hence, it can be said that the answers by the respondents are only self-evaluation.

Table 7: Information about Interviews

(SL1 - senior level interviewee 1; ML1 - mid level interviewee 1; OC1 - operating core

interviewee 1 and so on)

S. No. Name Sector Location Mode Duration

1 OC1 Manufacturing India Skype 20 minutes

2 OC2 Renewable energy India Skype 22 minutes

3 OC3 Solar infrastructure India Skype 23 minutes

4 ML1 Telecom construction Kuwait Skype 46 minutes

5 ML2 Oil and gas India Skype 27 minutes

6 ML3 Robotics Israel Skype 44 minutes

7 ML4 Telecom construction India Skype 25 minutes

8 ML5 Building construction Denmark Telephonic 49 minutes

9 ML6 Renewable energy infrastructure India Skype 27 minutes

10 ML7 Railways India Skype 34 minutes

11 SL1 Energy Infrastructure India Skype 33 minutes

12 SL2 Automobile France Telephonic 26 minutes

13 SL3 Renewable energy infrastructure India Skype 73 minutes

14 SL4 Building infrastructure Denmark Telephonic 25 minutes

3.3 Data analysis

This section of the study will tell about how systematically logical techniques have been

applied to describe, illustrate and evaluate the data. For this, we have followed the “Thematic

analysis by LincoIn and Guba, 1985 which consists of six steps as mentioned in Table 8.

27

Table 8: Thematic analysis of data

Phase-I Familiarizing yourself with your data

Phase-II Generating initial codes

Phase-III Searching for themes

Phase-IV Reviewing themes

Phase-V Defining and naming themes

Phase-VI Producing the report – writing it up

The first phase is familiarizing with the data and it requires us to fully devote ourselves to the

data and repeatedly go through it. The purpose is to find meaningful patterns in the collected

data. Our data collection is done in three levels and the initial pattern will be in three different

levels and then we will check whether there is a possibility to generalize the pattern or not.

The second step is generating initial codes which is basically sorting and organizing the set of

interviews which again has been done in three sets – senior, mid and operating core. The next

phase is searching a theme to bring meaning and identity to the codes followed by reviewing

the themes. The review brings meaningfulness, resonance, consensus and validation to the

theme. In the fifth phase we will write a detailed analysis and try identifying the story which

the themes tell. The last step is writing up the report in a concise, coherent, logical, non-

repetitive and interesting manner within and across themes.

3.4 Research quality

3.4.1 Reliability and replication

If the results obtained from a research study can be repeated, then it can be said as reliable.

Reliability becomes more important in a quantitative study compared to a qualitative study

(Bryman and Bell, 2011). The data gathering in a qualitative study is done by asking

questions in a flexible manner and the answers are very much context dependent. Different

respondents may have different answers for the same question. Therefore, the results obtained

would be difficult to replicate unless it is applied in a similar setting in a construction

environment.

3.4.2 Validation of collected data

Leadership is one of the essential factors in construction management and communication is

a topic frequently linked to it, but the linkage often is limited to a view of communication as

a means to achieve a particular purpose. Practically, this view of communication does not

capture the broad leadership practice. So far, there has been little research on integration of

project knowledge areas with leadership communication. Hence in line with the theoretical

framework we created an interview guide. The respondent of the interviews are real world

practitioners working in construction companies in segments such as building, energy,

railway, telecom and oil & gas. Comparing the primary data from interviews with the

secondary data from project management books and relevant articles helped us to clearly

understand how essential leadership communication is for construction projects. Validity can

become questionable if it is not able to answer what this research is intended to answer. It can

be classified as internal and external validity. Internal validity is basically answering the

28

relationship between the variables of this study defined in the theoretical framework whereas

external validity is the generalisation and application of the results of this study to other

research areas (Bryman and Bell, 2011). As this study is focused on the construction industry

and the respondents of the interview are from a construction background, therefore the

external validity of this study seems to be frail.

3.4.3 Risk analysis and mitigation

There are always chances of occurrence of risks which can affect the whole research study.

We need to identify these sources of risk and plan a risk mitigation strategy to reduce these

risks. Table 9 presents how we have ensured a strategy to tackle the risks.

Table 9: Risk mitigation strategy

Risk Type Risk Sources Mitigation strategy

Descriptive Validity (Norris, 1997)

Use of unauthentic data sources, factual inaccuracy

Use of authentic data from verifiable sources

Interpretive validity (Norris, 1997)

Incorrect interpretation of data Transparency in interpretation to be built by transparent use of synonyms while interpreting data

Internal Validity (for causal links, not for descriptive cases) (Yin, 2003) - Second type of theoretical validity (Norris, 1997)

Ambiguity in understanding the correct relationship of found variables as it is just one or few cases, lack of evidence in data, incorrect analysis of data

Using pattern matching, explanation building, logical models Bringing transparency in analysis, if possible, using replication of casual links for more than one evidence in cases

Reliability (Yin, 1981, 2003)

Replication of case study with similar results could be difficult because of non-transparent data collection and analysis methods

Protocol preparation for data collection, data categorization and data storage, transparent and robust analysis methods for case analysis

3.4.4 Ethical considerations

Blomkvist & Hallin in their book on “Method for engineering students” mentions four ethical

requirements in a scientific research work. The ethical requirements are attached herewith:

• The respondents in the study shall be made aware regarding the purpose of the study

• The respondents shall agree to the interview data being used for study

• If the gathered data for the research is considered confidential, it should not be shared in a

free manner

• The collected data for the study shall only be used for the purpose it was declared to be

used while collection

We followed all the above stated points during this study. While collection of data both from

primary and secondary resources, we followed anonymity and confidentiality. We did not

mention the name of respondents or their organization name anywhere. This is as per Bryman

and Bell.

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4 EMPIRICAL FINDINGS & ANALYSIS

In this chapter the data collected through interviews are presented and analysed. The data collection

is based on the interview guide which we have described in the previous chapter. As shown in our

theoretical framework the data has been collected and presented in three segments -operating core,

mid managers and senior managers. Here we will describe and interpret the components of core,

managerial & corporate leadership communication, project management skills that are essential for

the respondent in order to integrate the project and communicate effectively. In the next chapter we

will discuss the significance of the findings.

The interview findings and analysis are presented in the different managerial levels for better

understanding. For better presentation the section-II findings of the interview guide have

been presented collectively. Constructive codes have been used to interpret the findings.

4.1 Operating core

We have interviewed three interviewees from the operating core level working in different

companies. Table 10 shows the details for the operating core respondents.

Table 10: Details for operating core

(Res.-respondent; yrs-years; exp-experience; no.-number; org.-organization)

Res. Age Total exp (yrs)

Location No. of employee

Current org. exp

Current sector Current role Team size

OC1 25 2 India 2000 2 Manufacturing Project coordinator

-

OC2 26 3 India 1350 3 Renewable energy

Project coordinator

2

OC3 29 3 India 1350 3 Solar construction

Quality specialist

-

The interviewee OC1 works in a manufacturing company which produces graphite

electrodes. His role is to coordinate for plant expansion projects. He spends most of his time

preparing reports, communicating and co-ordinating for various project requirements. “A

typical day starts with tracking the progress where we stand today with respect to the actual

plan[…]having an overview on the entire project and then meeting my manager and updating

him with the status report. There are basically three types of report – DPR, WPR and

MPR[…]. My job also is to analyse risks and raise an alarm if there are issues which can

impact the critical path or near critical path.” (Respondent OC1, 2020).

When asked about PM skills and interpersonal skills he answered critical thinking, some

project management tools and communication. He described the performance drivers as good

communication skill and technical knowledge. “As most of the work is done on MS project

and primavera, […]tasks on time. Second is critical thinking and analysing skills because

whenever there is a problem, I have to find solutions as well. Having technical knowledge of

electrical installation […]plan the schedule which is practical. Effective communication is

30

very important […]shared with the senior management and give a presentation. […]I have to

communicate with lot a of people on the ground to understand the actual status of the project

who are from various backgrounds.” (Respondent OC1, 2020).

OC1 starts his day gathering information about how the project is progressing. This data

helps him predict the success of the project. This is communication by tracking at his level.

To do this he has to communicate with a lot of people on the ground to understand the exact

situation. The purpose of this bottom communication is to gather information as well as to

keep them informed about the project goals. After gathering the data, OC1 has to analyse

problems, check for risks and raise an alarm when there are issues impacting the critical path

or near critical path. The respondent needs to have good writing and speaking skills to

communicate effectively during collecting the data as well as during collating and sharing the

communication by report. In all these communications, cultural awareness is a must to

effectively communicate. The predictability of the project is evaluated by the PM when she

or he checks the daily, weekly and monthly progress report shared by OC1. This is a form of

reporting communication which OC1 has made upward to the PM to forecast the project

progress. At certain instances OC1 has to give presentations to higher management regarding

the progress because these projects support in increasing the plant production and have high

importance. This can be coded as upward communication.

The respondent OC2 works in a renewable energy company as a project coordinator. His role

is to coordinate for EPC projects. He spends most of his time communicating with

stakeholders. It involves a lot of tracking communication and reporting communication.

“I am working[…]tracking, communicating, documentation and problem-solving. I spend my

time mostly in communication but depends a lot on which phase the project is

currently[…]project meets the timeline. Most of the communication is verbal, through email

and presentations during project progress discussion meetings. […]I think effective

communication is very important for my role. […] know how the project is progressing.

There are many milestones[…]specially the payments from clients. It is pre-decided in the

contract and payments are linked to it.[…]So everything is linked and ability to communicate

effectively the right thing at the right time is very important.” (Respondent OC2, 2020).

The drivers in his role are having a good knowledge of the project lifecycle, project

scheduling and management tools such as primavera, stage gate and effective

communication. OC2 also keeps a track of the contract so that the project progresses as per

contract and payments are received as per the terms mentioned in the contract. So, he is also

involved in contract communication to align the project requirements to the agreed terms.

The communication OC3 makes is dependent on the project phase but information flow is

towards different stakeholders vertically up and down the organization, which means that it is

upward communication as well as bottom communication.

Respondent OC3 works as a quality specialist in a solar construction company. His job

requires him to communicate and travel a lot as the suppliers and site location are very

distributed across the country. “I work as[…]quality reviews and I am generally engaged in

31

one project at a time. My job involves reviewing the supply quality as well as the field quality

technically[…]visit a site for reviewing the quality. […]I have to also make sure that all the

concerned departments such as construction, logistics and procurement are informed

regarding the recent development. […]changes are requested through my manager.”

(Respondent OC3, 2020).

Respondent OC3 ensures material supply quality and field quality for his infrastructure

company. He has to ensure quality reviews at supplier’s premises and construction site also.

He has to communicate mostly with sellers, procurement, design, construction and sometimes

to client quality in charge also. If the material or service is not acceptable as per company

SOP, change is requested through his manager. This also indicates change communication by

his manager. Hence it is mostly upward communication and bottom communication. Good

technical knowledge, communication and observation skills are the performance drivers in

his job role. He also thinks that his role required him to handle stress because he often has to

travel unplanned which affects his work life balance.

“It is very important to write and speak well. I have to communicate to procurement and

sellers during supply quality visits and with PM and construction lead at site during field

quality review. The written report which I share may trigger a lot of confusion if not

communicated correctly. I need to have good observation skills to strategize the

communications well.” (Respondent OC3, 2020).

He stated that he has to write and speak well, and he also needs good observation skills to

prepare the quality report after his visit. Based on the quality review, the material or the

service is approved or rejected. If the same is rejected the material or service gets delayed

followed by the project getting delayed. The quality review report can be termed as

communication by report.

4.1.1 Core leadership communication

Table 11 below shows the communication codes in which the operating core is mainly

involved. Presence of a communication is indicated by ✓ and absence is indicated by .

Table 11: Communication codes for operating core

Communication codes Respondent

OC1 OC2 OC3

Communication by tracking ✓ ✓ ✓

Communication by report ✓ ✓ ✓

Upward communication ✓ ✓ ✓

Bottom communication ✓ ✓ ✓

Contractual communication ✓

The communication codes mentioned in Table 11 requires operating core respondents to

speak, write and strategize for gathering the data effectively from various stakeholders

analyse the data, extract useful information and report status, communicate by report and

32

formulate the data in form of daily, weekly, monthly and review reports which is easy to

understand and act upon. We also feel that this requires cultural awareness, though it can be

argued that this requirement increases when a professional move to a mid-managerial

position and he has a team to manage. In relation to the above analysis, it is evident that the

three components of core leadership communication strategy, writing and speaking is

essential for operating core professionals.

4.1.2 Project integration & effective communication characteristics

OC1 stated the PM skills essential for his role as communications management and also

primavera, MS project which basically are scheduling tools. This means that communication

and schedule management are the required knowledge areas in his role. OC2 has also

mentioned high importance on PM tools, communications knowledge area, stage-gate and

knowledge of the project lifecycle. This is because when the engineering phase is completed,

the project has to cross over the gate to start procurement after qualifying the decision points.

OC3 was found to be highly focused on technical knowledge and quality management. But

communication is very vital for him, e.g. When during quality review he rejects the quality,

communication is initiated to inform the procurement to act suitably as per agreement,

logistics and construction team that the material will be delayed so that they can plan their

activities. Above discussion suggests that due to their job responsibilities revolving around

certain areas, OC1, OC2 and OC3 are mostly focused on a few PM knowledge areas

(schedule, quality, communication). This restricts them to enhance their horizon to a more

holistic picture of a project, but within their responsibilities use effective communication for

integration as explained above.

The response to the questionnaire in the section-II (Appendix IV) reveals that all three

respondents consider formal written the most important and effective communication mode.

This is obvious because construction projects are goal oriented with the scope clearly defined

via a contract, project charter, project management plan etc. A project can complete only

when all the requirements in a contract are met. The second most important communication

mode described by the three respondents is informal written because most of the

communication done by them such as tracking communication, communication by report,

upward communication, bottom communication and contractual communication are via email

or messages. Among the issues most difficult to handle were answered to be schedule,

communication, quality and cost starting from highest to lowest. OC1 and OC2 are project

coordinators and their main role is to ensure that the project timeline is met. OC3 also thinks

that if the material or workmanship does not meet the quality requirement it will definitely

impact the project schedule and cost. This clarifies their logic behind the ratings. There is no

agreement on which knowledge area can facilitate issue resolution and help in project

integration the most. This can be understood that they have different roles and their

responsibilities do not engage them in integration or other knowledge areas. There was also

no clear pattern observed when asked about which knowledge areas they think will be highest

impacted by ineffective communication, but they rated schedule, cost and communication

management to be highest impacted by ineffective communication. When asked about the

33

characteristics of a PM to successfully communicate, they consider below four characteristics

equally important-

• Developing trust, collaboration and teamwork

• Set clear vision and maintain integrity

• Stepwise project planning and sticking to schedule

• Allowing people to take responsibility of their work

4.2 Mid-level managers

We have interviewed seven mid-level managers from the construction industry. The details

are mentioned in Table 12 below.

Table 12: Details for mid-level managers

(Res.-respondent; yrs-years; exp-experience; no.-number; org.-organization)

Res. Age Total exp (yrs)

Location

No. of employee

Current org. exp

Current sector

Current role Team size

ML1 31 9 Kuwait 150 9 Telecom construction

Project manager

15

ML3 32 8 India 35000 8 Oil &Gas Project manager

15

ML2 32 10 India 150 1 Robotics Program manager

6

ML4 31 8.5 India 1000 8.5 Telecom construction

Project manager

30

ML5 40 10 Denmark

16000 6 Building Construction

Team leader 9

ML6 34 11 India 1350 8 Renewable energy

Design manager

8

ML7 30 6 India 1.3m 5 Railway Procurement manager

35

Respondent ML1 works at a public sector company as a PM. The company he works for is an

end-to-end facilitation services provider for all IT enabled services to the Kuwait

government. His firm has had a strong presence in Kuwait since 1980 and is an approved

contractor of the Ministry of communication, Kuwait. When asked about his job roles and

responsibilities he briefly replied his role. “We are an[…]through vendors and contractors.

Basically, it is a back to back subcontracting. We keep the quality control and monitoring in

our scope[…]network expansion project in Kuwait City where I am involved in the site

construction activities.” (Respondent ML1, 2020).

When he was asked to describe a typical work day and how he spends most of the time in

office he replied “A typical day starts with reviewing the project progress with my team. […]

current status to concerned stakeholders. […]coordinating with the client team due to

language barrier. Understanding the requirements of the client is very vital for a project’s

success. […]Due to language barrier many times it becomes problematic.[…]” (Respondent

34

ML1, 2020). ML1 starts his day with reviewing the project progress which can be said to be

tracking communication and then circulating the current status via communication by report.

We wanted to understand the skills that are essential for a mid-level manager to accomplish

his/her job. So, we asked to list out the project management and interpersonal skills which is

essential for this role. He replied “A sound technical knowledge […]Knowing local

Language[…]an overview regarding the project knowledge areas and how they impact each

other.[…] motivate the team to work an extra mile and at this time your leadership skills

come into play. Imagine leading the team in a matrix environment…[…]Your ability to

influence them is directly proportional to the trust they have on you and this cannot be built

over night. […] spend time with them, nurture and mentor them from time to

time.[…]Keeping your team motivated is very important. It may be through recognition,

rewards or achievement.” (Respondent ML1, 2020).

ML2 is working in a matrix environment where he finds it difficult to influence the

workforce. He considers that influencing and motivating them is directly proportional to the

trust they have upon the manager. So, he ensures trust-building communication by spending

time with them, nurturing and mentoring them. As he spends more time in the field with the

team, he can understand their feelings better which enables sharing team member’s thoughts

more easily and thus can reduce stress and improve relationships. It also helps him to

motivate the team to work an extra mile whenever the project lags behind schedule. The

client of the current project he is working for is Arabic. The team members are also from

various backgrounds, language, cultures which makes cultural awareness very important.

Thus, cultural awareness is a must.

“I think emotional intelligence[…]can reduce stress and improve relationships and thus

build trust. Our team has people from various backgrounds, languages, cultures.

Understanding this will help a manager in effective communication and leadership.”

(Respondent ML1, 2020).

When asked about the performance drivers in his job role he replied that apart from project

management skills delegation of work is an important factor which many managers bypass

resulting in project delay. Thus, communication by delegation is also of prime importance.

“A combination of[…]a construction project is always measured with respect to the

schedule, cost, scope and quality. […]projects get delayed because the team did not

understand their work properly and this may arise due to improper delegation of

responsibility. […]” (Respondent ML1, 2020).

Respondent ML2 works in an oil and gas public sector company. He has joint responsibility

for business development as well as process improvement projects. ML2 starts his day at the

office with a daily team meeting where he analyses the production report to check why there

was a production downfall and make a strategy to plan and prioritize the activities for his

team. His role is to evaluate the communication by report and generate communication by

delegation. When asked about the essential project management skills for his job role his

answer was mostly focused on people management. He and his team need to go very deep in

the oil wells to check for problems and so there is a very high health and safety requirement

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in his role. People management is vital to get the work done. The workforce is required to be

trained well and they shall understand the work very well. “[…]business development of joint

ventures[…]process improvement projects […]There is a handover mechanism in place while

we officially take over the oil wells from the drilling team. […]daily team meeting

[…]production report. […]in meeting and tracking the daily progress. […]What and why

was the problem? […]different set of priorities […]analysing the scenario, we plan the next

48 hours and monitor the work […]high standard of safety requirement which is of highest

priority[…]understand the current process and identify areas of improvement.” (Respondent

ML2, 2020).

The answer to interpersonal skills requirements was revolving around leadership and

communication. He also has to talk to several stakeholders. He stated that his role is mostly

managerial, and he thinks that mastering the art of writing an email as well as talking to

stakeholders is very important for managerial communication. He finds talking to people

face-to-face over writing emails more effective because this can help understand their

emotions and culture and there would be fewer chances of communication gaps. During the

interview when we discussed the main drivers of his role the answer was having a holistic

and integrative project approach. “The people management is very vital […] If you don’t give

a proper direction and training to your human resources, you cannot get the desired result.

[…]HR management is one of the main aspects I would say for getting the work done by the

team. I sit with my team very often, spend time with them, […]focus on their performance

enhancement, learning and self-development. […]delegating the responsibility […]is

communication, both internal and external.[…]verbally and in writing. […]communication

[…]also active listening. […]mastering the art of writing an email as well as talking to

stakeholders is very important. […]trust building and […]talk to a person face-to-face if

possible, rather than writing an email. Cultural awareness and understanding their emotions

can help eliminate communication gaps. […].” (Respondent ML2, 2020).

The respondent ML3 works in an Israeli company which constructs robust robotic solutions.

He works as a program manager and is responsible for several ongoing projects and has to

communicate to several departments and teams regarding production and organizational goals

which can be said to be horizontal communication and communication by report. ML3

described soft and communication skills as one of the most important project management

skills. “A typical day […]60-70% of my time coordinating with various departments and top

management regarding production, procurement, construction, quality etc. […]a lot of

communication and updates float horizontally and vertically. […] 15-20% is on risk

identification and strategizing risk mitigation philosophies[…]identification of process

improvement/implementation activities. […] Communicating with various teams working

towards the organizational goals. Soft skills […]Human resource management, conflict

resolution and paramount of all maintaining transparency and honesty in communication of

updates. […].” (Respondent ML3, 2020).

When asked about interpersonal skills he was mostly focused on having an empathic leader,

good listener and follower. ML3 considers cross-cultural and emotional intelligence very

important to build an environment of trust, harmony and motivated employees which are the

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essential of managerial communication. His roles also demand for trust-building

communication and managerial communication across teams to motivate them. “A mid

managerial role […]an empathetic leader as well as a good listener and follower. […]a good

leader is quintessential as this helps develop the confidence of the team and thereby

motivates the team […]. Having to deal with people […], cultural background and set of

beliefs, appreciation of cross-cultural intelligence is crucial and emotional intelligence is

something which any good leader should have. […]build an atmosphere of trust and

harmony which goes a long way both in retention of talent and motivating team mates.”

(Respondent ML3, 2020).

Respondent ML4 works in an information and communication technology (ICT) company in

the public sector as a PM. So, ML4’s roles and responsibilities involve upward

communication, horizontal communication and risk communication. He described what his

work is and what are the challenges faced by him on a day to day basis. He explained that he

spends most of his time in risk management and communication. “[…]primary stakeholders

are the central government who is funding the project, state government, vendors.

[…]independent temporary organization […]to audit the entire project. […]services are

offloaded to an authorized contractor […]entire project is done in house. […]procurement is

done by us. […]more of an administrative role supervising the whole project holistically, be

accountable of the timelines, continuously check for risks and mitigate them. […]lot of

necessary approvals […]ensure timely completion of deliverables and motivate the resources

at site. […].” (Respondent ML4, 2020).

The main challenge is getting the RoW approval which involved coordinating with various

key and high power, high influence stakeholders. Sometimes to gain support from other

internal and external parties he has to escalate issues to senior management in the form of

reports because it can delay the project. So, his role involves communication by report also.

He explained that integrating helps him make trade-offs between various requirements and

manage projects in an effective way. The projects he is involved in continue for several years

and failing to integrate the project may cause failure in achieving the project objectives. “[…]

I consider risk management very important. […]RoW (Right of way) which is the first step to

start our work. […]getting the approval from Indian railways, national highway authority of

India […]escalate issues to higher senior management […]. “Having a holistic view of the

entire project and project integration […]make a trade-off between different variables of

projects. […]several years […]may deviate from the project objective.” (Respondent ML4,

2020).

Team motivation, task delegation and relationship management were the main interpersonal

skills ML4 was focused on. He said that the projects in his organization are executed in a

matrix environment and he does not have full control over the resource. The resources are

more loyal towards the department manager. Being in a public sector he also feels that public

and cultural awareness is also very important. It helps him communicate effectively to get

your work done. He also has to maintain good relationships with suppliers, contractors, and

other government agencies. Thus, relationship-building communication is vital for ML4.

“[…]delegate the work to someone. […]get the job done in a good way and trust is highly

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dependent on how you communicate with them. […]listen to their problems […], have

empathy and motivate them. […]team bonding and coaching activities […]public and

cultural awareness […]good relationships with suppliers….[…].” (Respondent ML4, 2020).

Respondent ML5 works as a team leader in a building construction company. The company

he works for has projects in Europe, Middle East and India. Previously ML5 has worked as a

discipline lead in electrical building design. Talking about the job role and professional life

he explained his main role as human resource management. He has to collect a lot of

information and drawings from team members, be part of the meetings with builders,

entrepreneurs, get feedback from them and get them implemented into the project, do follow-

up work after delivery of the project as stated in the contract and communicate changes in his

projects. This refers to tracking communication, horizontal communication and change

communication and communication by report. He spends most of his time overseeing the

finances, budget, resource allocation and also has to communicate changes in the project.

“[…]is a team lead where I am responsible for human resource management., allocating

them as per requirement of the project and training them. […]in the contract. […]budget in

specific discipline and engage in several feedback meetings with the PM […]project

objectives are met and if there is a deviation meet the project owner […]contract

administrator […] respect to budget we stand and delegate work. I have to oversee many

projects as a whole […]have to communicate changes in the projects. […].” (Respondent

ML5, 2020).

When asked about the skill requirement he answers mostly in and around communication and

leadership. Relationship-building communication and contractual communication has to be

done by ML5 on a regular basis. He is also responsible for budgets in specific disciplines and

engages in several feedback meetings with the PM monthly to have an overview. He has a lot

of financial responsibility and also mentioned that as a professional move up the ladder in

your career the responsibility shifts more on finance. “[…]communication and

leadership[…]building good relationships […]are able to come to you and without hesitating

[…]broader understanding of what contract states […]meet the deadlines, project objectives.

[…]act proactively and upfront know what has to be done which can happen only with

effective communication. […]broad knowledge […]understand the dependencies between the

deliverables when you allocate budget […].” (Respondent ML5, 2020).

ML5 stated emotional intelligence and cultural awareness are very important in his job

responsibility and mentioned the key drivers as thinking out of the box, timely delivery,

budget, being passionate in your work. Thus, ML5’s job responsibilities are found to revolve

around managerial communication. “Cultural awareness is huge […]manage teams in

Denmark and India […]flat leadership structure […]India there is a hierarchical system.

[…]East European countries have similar systems like in India. […]manager needs to

understand the emotions of his team […].” (Respondent ML5, 2020).

Respondent ML6 works at a renewable energy company as a design manager. The company

he works for delivers turnkey engineering, procurement, construction (EPC) projects and is

one of the top brands in the country. When asked about his job roles and responsibilities he

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briefly replied his role. ML6 has to manage various competing requirements and

stakeholders. Meeting competing requirements needs him to continuously communicate and

motivate his team. Much of the back and forth communication happens in verbal and written

form. The communications mainly are communication by tracking, communication by report,

bottom, upward & horizontal communication and technical communication. What consumes

most of the time in his daily professional life was answered as prioritization of work.

“Managing competing requirements and stakeholder management […]always a resource

crunch […]procurement with technical validation of product, proposal & business

development with preliminary design and also coordinating with client […]prioritization of

work consumes a good part of my daily […]through meetings […].” (Respondent ML6,

2020).

When we asked about the project management skills and interpersonal skills required for the

job, most of the focus was put on quality management, scope management, stakeholder and

communications management, technical knowledge and delegation of work. Just like the

other mid-managerial professionals he has a team working for them which they have to

mentor from time to time to keep them motivated. Motivated employees perform better

especially in the peak work periods. He also stretched upon to have empathy towards his

team and understand them culturally. “Multiple project runs […]formulate the techno-

commercial offer […]coordinate with the construction team […]procurement or construction

phase. […]evaluate the offer received by the sellers technically […]“as build” drawing.

[…][…]think critically regarding the contractual requirements and prepare a design which

meets quality and scope. […]proficiency in designing software […]with the PM, I have many

times to a trade-off between the competing requirements […]The long-term focus

[…]Negotiation skills […]Having clear communication channels and communicating

effectively […]Being empathetic […]helps in making a close-knit team and motivating team

members as well.” (Respondent ML6, 2020).

ML6 handles a diverse team and so cultural awareness is very important for his role. He

believes that if a manager is sensible and emotionally intelligent, he can easily handle diverse

and stressful situations. “[…]cross-cultural differences […]diverse, tolerant and sensible.

[…]stressful situations. Thus appreciation of cross-cultural difference […]explore new and

emerging technologies […]offerings better. […].” (Respondent ML6, 2020).

The respondent ML7 works in the railway construction industry in India and it has a huge

employee base. He has the overall responsibility to manage procurement and supply chain

management activities for the timely delivery of projects. He spends most of his time meeting

the higher management team discussing various projects and procurement issues,

implementation issues, inventory issues and scrap sales. Thus the communication is mainly

tracking, upward communication, bottom communication and techno-commercial

communication. He also delegates work to his team through delegation communication.

“[…]railways […]procurement and supply chain management activities. […] LHB

[…]project. […]procure with and without tendering. […]₹1 million and without tendering

and up to ₹10 million. […]hierarchical organization structure. I spend most of the time

meeting the higher management team […]We procure close to 4,000 different types of

39

material in a railway project and imagine the number of communication channels […].”

(Respondent ML7, 2020).

The respondent spends most of the time communicating various requirements to vendors and

meeting higher management. There are numerous items in a railway project and the

communication requirement is very high in these projects. His role is also to perform

integration management of various knowledge areas such as cost, schedule, quality and

procurement. HR management, delegation of responsibility, effective communication,

feedback flow and managing work in a highly stressed environment are the performance

drivers in his role. When asked about the project management and interpersonal skills the

answers were mostly revolving around schedule, cost, quality and risk management. “There

are always several issues in a project which impacts the cost, time, scope and quality. My

role involves having a vision regarding how to complete the work and evaluate risks time to

time so that the project constraints aren’t impacted.” (Respondent ML7, 2020).

He mentioned emotional intelligence and cultural awareness to be very important in his job.

Defining the performance drivers he stated effective human resources management,

identifying their skills, delegation of responsibility suitably, effective Communication,

feedback mechanism both vertically up and down and ability to work in a highly stressed

environment.

4.2.1 Managerial leadership communication

Table 13 below shows the communication codes in which the mid-level managers are mainly

involved. Presence of a communication is indicated by ✓ and absence is indicated by . The

mid managers generally start their day with tracking the progress, checking for issues and

delays with their team validating reports. They also have a higher financial responsibility but

not all the managers have this. What is common among all of them is the human resource &

team responsibility. They have to spend time with their team to motivate them, build an

environment of trust and appreciation through managerial communication. This requires

listening to the team, mentoring them, supporting their needs and building trust. Compared to

the operating core the number of stakeholders here has increased considerably which urges

mid managers to be more aware in terms of culture and emotions of the stakeholders. They

also have to communicate via reports, tracking, strategizing and effectively writing and

speaking in forums such as meeting, presentation, bidder conferences which also require

them to master the core communication skills. Relationship building is not just limited to

internal stakeholders but also to vendors, sellers, and consultants. However, the change

communication is found existent only in ML5, technical communication in the role of ML6

as he is a design manager and & techno commercial in ML7 as he is a procurement manager.

The communication codes mentioned in Table 13 requires operating core respondents to

ensure stakeholder engagement, team work, team building, team mentoring and to keep the

workforce focused towards achieving the project objectives. analyse the data, extract useful

information and report status, communicate by report and formulate the data in form of daily,

weekly, monthly and review reports which are easy to understand and act upon. In relation to

the above analysis, it is evident that apart from the six components of managerial leadership

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communication (emotional intelligence, cultural literacy, coaching/mentoring, listening,

meeting, team), mastering the core communication is also essential for mid-level managers.

Table 13: Communication codes for mid managers

Communication codes Respondents

ML1 ML2 ML3 ML4 ML5 ML6 ML7

Communication by tracking ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

Communication by report ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

Risk communication ✓ ✓ ✓

Upward communication ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

Bottom communication ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

Contractual communication ✓ ✓ ✓

Trust-building communication ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

Communication by delegation ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

Managerial communication ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

Relationship building communication ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

Horizontal communication ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

Change communication ✓

Technical communication ✓

Techno-commercial communication ✓

4.2.2 Project integration & effective communication characteristics

The job responsibilities of ML1 is very broad and touches all phases of the project from

initiation to closure. He understands the importance of leadership communication to motivate

his team members. He suggests that a manager in his role need not be an expert but should

have an overview of the project knowledge areas. As far as project knowledge area is

concerned, ML2 stresses more on human resource and risk management. He also focuses a

lot on leadership to get the work done by his team. He spends time with his team very often,

spend time with them, talk to them to understand what problems he is facing in professional

as well as personal life, appreciate them for their good work because he thinks that leadership

is must for influencing people. He also mentioned that having a view on the project as a

whole is very important. ML3 stresses mostly on human resource and communications

management but his responsibilities include procurement management, quality management

and also touches the other knowledge areas of project management.

ML4’s responsibilities require him to manage a lot of human resources and so he focused a

lot on HR management and communications management. ML4 stated that “Having a

holistic view of the entire project and project integration is very essential. This helps you

make decisions when you have to make a trade-off between different variables of projects.

These projects are executed in several years and if you do not have a holistic view you may

deviate from the project objective.” I think that in the context of a construction project which

is going to be executed for several years this type of long-term view is highly important for

leaders to help their organization achieve its goal. ML5 finds leadership and communication

the most important skill in any job which involves managing a team. ML5 said that knowing

every single detail is not necessary but effective communication and having a broader picture

of the entire project is very essential. ML6 expressed that having a long-term focus towards

achieving the goals and vision is necessary in the stressful environment in which he works.

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The major focus areas in the ML7’s job responsibilities include integration, HR, quality,

schedule, cost, scope, communications and procurement management.

The response to the questionnaire reveals that the mid managers consider the formal written

most important and effective followed by informal verbal. This is because documents such as

project charter, project management plan, project reports, decision logs from the stage gate

etc. are mandatory project governing documents and it provides a framework as per which

the project decisions are made. The second most important communication mode as per the

mid-level managers is informal verbal. The mid managers have to manage human resources

and they have to communicate with them orally on a daily basis to discuss project issues,

risks, status updates and to also motivate them. The informal verbal communication cannot

be corrected once made. A mid-manager has already mastered the core leadership

communication skills which makes him handle the increased communication complexity

(Figure 8) at his level.

The past literatures have been stressing a lot that people issues are the real problem in

projects and most difficult to handle. However, the results from interviews show otherwise.

Among the project issues most difficult to handle the respondents consider integration,

communication and risk. As explained in section 1.4, the barriers to integration are lack of

coordination and motivation. Communication leads to cooperation, cooperation to

coordination and coordination to project success. Thus, effective communication can lead to a

better project integration and this is why the respondents consider that leadership, integration

management and communications management can help resolve the most difficult issues in a

project.

Risk management is also very vital for project success. ML4 said “You can always plan for

risks which are generally known but when something happens out of the blue, it can

completely invalidate the project planning.” Generally when such events occur the project’s

management reserve is used to safeguard the project. The ML respondents consider

leadership, integration management communications management most important to

facilitate project integration. They believe that ineffective communication can have the

highest impact on leadership, integration management, communications management and risk

management. When asked about the characteristics of a PM to successfully communicate,

they consider below three characteristics as most important-

• Developing trust, collaboration and teamwork

• Set clear vision and maintain integrity

• Stepwise project planning and sticking to schedule

• Self-discipline, Strong moral character, accepting mistake

4.3 Senior-level managers

We have interviewed four interviewees from the senior manager level working in different

construction companies. The details of them are mentioned in Table 14 below.

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Table 14: Details for senior-level managers

(Res.-respondent; yrs-years; exp-experience; no.-number; org.-organization)

Res. Age Total exp (yrs)

Location No. of employee

Current org. exp

Current sector

Current role

Team size

SL1 40 18 India 150 2 Energy infrastructure

COO 25

SL2 34 11 France 45000 4 Automobile Head - Strategy & planning

26

SL3 35 12 India 200 3 Renewable energy

Head – Intl O&M

14

SL4 59 35 Denmark 15500 14 Building infrastructure

HoD – electrical & security

35

The respondent SL1 works as a chief operating officer in one of the top energy infrastructure

companies which is the sustainability partner for leading corporations in Asia. They provide

solutions for EPC projects. When the respondent was asked regarding a typical day in his

professional life his reply was reflected as communication by report and tracking, risk

communication, relationship-building communication, image-building communication &

morale-building communication. He spends most of his time in risk assessment &

management, financial management to maintain the cashflows, process improvement and

most importantly align the mid management towards achieving the organizational objectives.

“A typical day would include conducting a status meeting and assessing risks/opportunities.

The second major engagement is maintaining client relations and image of the organization.

The third engagement amongst other responsibilities is maintaining the morale of colleagues

and team members. […]risk assessment […]cash flows […], process improvement and

reorienting of the mid management […].” (Respondent SL1, 2020).

When asked if their work assignments require any type of project management skill and

interpersonal skills, he answered the human resource to be an important area because all the

tasks need to be delegated via delegation communication. He also focuses on building an

environment where employees trust that their concerns are heard and addressed. This is done

through employee satisfaction surveys. Thus, trust building is also an important part of his

role. “[…]master technical or project management skills. […]tasks are delegated to

managers, so having a broad idea is okay. […]human resource management and motivation

through leadership […] employee satisfaction surveys quarterly […] shapes our strategy.

[…]more efficient when you communicate effectively and build trust. […]self and cultural

awareness […]employee emotions.” (Respondent SL1, 2020).

To ensure image management of the company, SL1 ensures timely response to the concerns

of clients as well as employees, sustainable products, services and investing in making the

society sustainable. As a face of the company he believes in the vision and aligns his

organization towards it. “[…]timeliness of response and its commitment […]best in class

service to its client […]goals through realising goals of its employees […]processes,

43

solutions and products sustainable […]sustainable society. […]face of the company

[…]Vision is what drives and motivates me […].” (Respondent SL1, 2020).

When asked about how he manages relations with stakeholders and media he shared insights

of different platforms designed to take care of feedback flow which helps improve the

organization. They also have a crisis communication strategy which means that SL1 also

needs to communicate crisis when the situation demands. He denied involvement in any

media relations. “[…]environment of trust with […]clients […]employees, sellers, third party

consultants, HR consultants and society because trust is very important in every relationship.

[…]stakeholder’s pain is important […]feedback is very important. […]quarterly satisfaction

survey for client and employee. […].” (Respondent SL1, 2020).

Change communication is very important for SL1 because the sector he works in is very

dynamic, and the success of an organization depends on how quickly they adapt to the

change. This makes change communication crucial for a company’s success. Most of the

changes are due to change in the business strategy and it can be effective through bottom

communication. Each and every employee needs to understand the reason to change. They

also have a crisis communication strategy and a separate team is formed for the same. “Most

of the change communication is due to change in the business strategy […]change

communication related to the program and project are taken care of by the respective

program and PM’s. The change can be effective only when the employees understand the

change. […]The crisis communication team is identified […]performing a post crisis

analysis.” (Respondent SL1, 2020).

Respondent SL2 as an HoD – Strategy and planning in an automobile company. When we

asked him to describe a typical day in his profession, he replied that most of the time is spent

in management meetings. This involves but is not limited to communication by tracking,

report, communication upward to the board of directors till the bottom so that everyone is

aware of the organizational targets and how they are contributing to it, relationship building

communication. Conflict resolution communication to the stakeholders under conflict or

competing interests is another important management point at the SL2’s position. When

asked about project management and interpersonal skills the respondent focused mostly on

communication management, risk management and effective listening. “Majority

[…]understanding the market scenario […]short-term plan and […]long-term plan.

[..]discussions with the management and the team.[…]continuous improvement projects

[…]improving customer satisfaction index. […]conflict resolution, stakeholder management

and communicating with the team are the top three activities. Communication skill

[…]mindset and situational awareness. […]identify, manage and mitigate risks […]essential

managing points in my position. Being a good listener, being empathetic and ability to work

under stressful situations […]in a leadership role.” (Respondent SL2, 2020).

When we questioned if his responsibilities include setting a positive image of the company,

he replied it was necessary for brand value and he does it by focusing on the employee’s

happiness and work life balance. Happy employees take care of the clients. “[…] keep your

employees happy, they will ensure a happy customer. If work life balance is lost, then the

44

impact is first in the personal front which negatively impacts the client interaction front

[…].” (Respondent SL2, 2020).

He explained the drivers of his job role, change and crisis communication jointly and has

answers mostly reflected on being quickly adaptive to change and having a long-term vision.

He also focused on stakeholder engagement and good leadership. “[…]marketplace is very

dynamic, […]If you fail to change quickly it may become a crisis. When we change the

business strategy the vision, mission of our company also changes. […]Addressing the

stakeholders from time to time regarding changes is very vital and this requires you to be a

good leader.” (Respondent SL2, 2020).

Interviewee SL3 works as a Head-International O&M in a renewable energy company and

has past experience in power infrastructure companies. He is mostly engaged in people

management, enhancing efficiency of processes and risk management. The discussion

exceeded more than an hour and was useful for our study. He spends 80% of his time in

management meetings and remaining time communicating to other managers and team. He

believes that if you have the right resources for the right job you are done with 50% of your

job as a manager. Thus, communication by report, tracking, risk communication, upward

communication, and bottom communication are essential elements of SL3’s role. “My prime

responsibility is people management across all projects […]coordinating and operating

[…]all strategic business units so that all are aligned to organizational objectives.

[…]implementation of new initiatives […]operational efficiency of processes. […]DWM

(daily work management) with my team. […]control with your deliverables. New risks

[…].management meetings […]communication to managers […].” (Respondent SL3, 2020).

When asked about project management skills and interpersonal skills required in his role, he

mentioned effective techno-commercial skills, communication skill and leadership as very

important requirements. Managerial communication, techno-commercial communication,

delegation communication, trust-developing communication are other important ingredients

of SL3’s responsibility. He also mentioned emotional intelligence very important because it

can make or break a conversation and it is important for every manager who has a team to

manage. Cultural awareness is equally important because it can set a good tone. “Techno

commercial skill […]Effective communication […]human resource management. […]right

resources for the right job you are done with 50% of your job. […]delegation of

responsibility and trust building. […]build leaders and have succession planning. […].

Emotional intelligence […]make or break a conversation. […]team member who came to

office after having a bad fight with his wife. If you can understand his emotions,

[…]understanding emotions […]team to manage at any level. I also do a thorough research

[…]meet a new client […]culture and background. […]set a good tone for the discussion.”

(Respondent SL3, 2020).

When asked regarding how he sets a positive image for his company he mentioned

stakeholder engagement and relationship building. He said that good relationships can help

you gain repeat business. It can also motivate your employees and client to promote your

business and indirectly help in building a brand image. “[…] […]can attract superior talents,

45

buyers, sellers as well as clients. […]requires a lot of continuous effort. […]responsive.

[…]monthly calls out of the project […]by good relations with clients […]other stakeholders.

[…]reduce escalations and bring repeat businesses. Customers and employees can become

your organization’s promoters […]positive image.” (Respondent SL3, 2020).

When asked about the performance drivers in his role he explained a relationship between

change management and crisis communication. Both of them require effective

communication because you need to appropriately address the parties who are affected by the

crisis. Improper crisis management can also result in trust issues of employees and clients

over the company. SL3 had a separate department in his company which deals with media.

“[…]If you do not manage the crisis well it can result in a turbulence. Crisis management

and change management goes hand-in-hand […]unmanaged change can lead to crisis.

[…]inform the party […]no one is ready for crisis. Improper management can lead to trust

issues […]there is a media communication policy […]” (Respondent SL3, 2020).

Respondent SL4 works as a HoD -electrical and security at one of the top construction

companies in Denmark. He has to manage the human resources in a way that the department

objectives are met. He has a budget responsibility and also in accessing and mitigating risks.

“[…]overall responsibility of the department to […]objectives set for the year[…]budget for

the departments. My KPI is to ensure good economic resources and wellbeing of my

employees so that they can perform. […]human resource, budget and risk management.

[…]Employee satisfaction is one of my KPI’s. I also support the team for formulating the

contracts.” (Respondent SL4, 2020).

He was not able to describe a typical day because his job is very diverse which he loves the

most. He cannot generalize a day because many changes come from nowhere. SL4 focused a

lot on the employees and clients which make trust-building, relationship building, morale-

building, conflict-resolution and delegation communication very obvious. “[…]employees

have filled the work hours, mentoring […]getting cooperation from other departments. I have

an administrative responsibility. […]projects from clients, making contracts for the jobs we

do, meeting clients, relationship building.” (Respondent SL4, 2020).

He focuses on keeping his employees and clients happy and satisfied. He is very good at

identifying people’s technical and personal competencies and he knows whom to push to

complete tasks on time and who can complete tasks with a little mentoring. He thinks that for

effective communication cultural and emotional awareness is essential. Also, he stated that a

positive image is built over time by delivering many successful projects. To do this empathic

understanding of client requirements & paints and work ethics is very important. “My motto

is communicate, communicate and communicate. […]understand your employees culturally

and emotionally. […]exceptional people management and analysing & mitigating risks. […]a

positive image, […]back to back orders from your client. […]projects does not go well, you

will have to deliver ten […]good image to your client. […]empathic understanding of the

client’s requirements and pains to satisfy them. Being ethical […].” (Respondent SL4, 2020).

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The performance drivers as per him is keeping the employee and client satisfied. To ensure

this, managers need to engage in communication on a regular basis. The more one

communicates, more he understands the situation. What meetings can’t reveal, can be

revealed by informal communication is what SL4 thinks. He also considers leadership and

crisis communication vital for his role. He does not take care of media relations. He considers

crisis communication and risk management vital in his responsibilities. “[…]communication

on a regular basis […]being informal sometimes. […]talk to them over a cup of coffee

[…]aren’t satisfied […]cannot […]over a formal meeting. […]. Risks do occur in a project

which changes the project trajectory to a considerable extent. […]construction or we have

failed to meet an important deliverable […]support your team in difficult times or crisis.

Leadership becomes very important in managing crises and communicating changes.”

(Respondent SL4, 2020).

4.3.1 Corporate leadership communication

Table 15 below shows the communication codes in which the senior-level managers are

mainly involved. Presence of a communication is indicated by ✓ and absence is indicated by

.

Table 15: Communication codes for senior managers

Communication codes Respondents

SL1 SL2 SL3 SL4

Communication by tracking ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

Communication by report ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

Risk communication ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

Upward communication ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

Bottom communication ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

Contractual communication ✓ ✓

Trust-building communication ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

Communication by delegation ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

Managerial communication ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

Relationship building communication ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

Horizontal communication ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

Change communication ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

Technical communication

Techno-commercial communication ✓

Image-building communication ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

Morale-building communication ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

Crisis communication ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

Conflict resolution communication ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

Media communication

The mid managers generally start their day with tracking the progress, checking for issues

and delays with their team validating reports. They also have a higher financial responsibility

as a whole unlike individual project responsibility like mid managers. Another important

point to note is that, though all the senior managers did not specifically mention conflict

resolution, it is an important part of their role because anything which is unresolved escalates

to them and they have the ultimate responsibility. They didn’t involve everything in detail but

kept a track of everything which is important for the company’s goal, mission, vision and

47

strategy. They have an empathic understanding of their clients and employees. They are such

leaders who build leaders and have a succession plan to make the offering, processes and

services better every financial year. They are effective listeners, mentors, team supporters and

motivators and trust builders and know exactly how to get the best out of the mod managers.

At their level the communication complexity is very high, and this requires them to have

mastered the managerial and core leadership communication. They are masters in emotional

intelligence and cultural awareness.

The main role of a senior manager is to keep the employee and customers happy. So they

keep a close eye on the customer and employee satisfaction surveys and as per the results

strategize and make organizational announcements in the form of writing and speaking in

different forums. Relationship building is not just limited to internal stakeholders, vendors,

sellers, consultants but also expands to society and shareholders. However, the senior

managers interviewed were not found to manage media relations and said that it was a

separate department which looks after media. In relation to the above analysis, it is evident

that apart from the media relations, the other components of corporate leadership

communication (employee relations, change communication, crisis communication,

image/reputation management), mastering the core communication is also essential for mid-

level managers.

4.3.2 Project integration & effective communication characteristics

SL1 does not have to keep a track of every project and so he does not have any specific

project management skill. He just has to keep a broad idea in his mind because all such tasks

are delegated to project and program managers. He has to manage many people, so human

resource management and leadership are essential for his role and the success of the

organization. Issues which are escalated to him are very severe and urgent in nature and

require quick resolution. Whatever be the source of an issue or risk he has to be a problem

solver. SL2 does not have to be an expert in the project management knowledge areas but he

considers communication skills as one of the most important skills followed by a frugal

mindset and situational awareness. SL3 reckons human resource management and

communication management important knowledge areas in his role, but he is found to have a

broad knowledge of other areas as well. Respondent SL4’s project management skill

requirement is found to revolve around risk, cost, communication, human resource and

leadership. All the respondents need to have a broader understanding of what is going on in

their projects and not be an expert of project management knowledge areas. The integration

which they perform in their level touches the main areas of risk, cost, schedule and most

importantly human resource management. The other areas are delegated to various team leads

and discipline leads in their respective projects or program.

The response to the questionnaire reveals that the senior managers consider the formal

written most important and effective followed by informal verbal. This is a trend just similar

to the mid managers because contractual documents, organizational policies, mission, vision

and strategy are mandatory project governing documents of an organization and administers

the entire organization. The second most important communication mode as per the senior-

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level managers is informal verbal. This is again similar to that of the mid managers because

they too have to manage and delegate tasks to human resources. Senior managers need to

communicate organizational announcements via oral podcast to employees for strategic

changes, objectives and motivation. The informal verbal communication cannot be corrected

once made. A senior manager has already mastered the core and managerial leadership

communication skills which makes him handle the high communication complexity (Figure

8) at his level.

Among the project issues most difficult to handle the senior level respondents consider

integration issues the most difficult to handle followed by communication and human

resource issues. The respondents during the interview stressed a lot on effective

communication and well-being of human resources. Although, the integration management in

their role does not necessarily touch all knowledge areas of the project but they consider

integration vital for the success of the organization. They believe that effective

communication can lead to a better integration of organizational mission, vision and

strategies and therefore they also consider that leadership, integration management and

communications management can help resolve the most difficult issues in a project. They do

consider risk management important for an organization’s success. The past literatures have

been mentioning that the people component of the project is where the real problem lies. SL3

stated that if you have the right and motivated resources for the right job half of your work is

done and this is why senior managers focus a lot on the wellbeing of employees. A happy

employee will perform better and also keep the client happy. The senior level respondents

consider leadership, integration management communications and scope management most

important to facilitate project integration. They believe that ineffective communication can

have the highest impact on leadership, integration management and communications

management. When asked about the characteristics of a PM to successfully communicate,

they consider below three characteristics as most important-

• Developing trust, collaboration and teamwork

• Motivate team and be concerned about their well-being

• Stepwise project planning and sticking to schedule

• Self-discipline, Strong moral character, accepting mistake

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5 DISCUSSION

This chapter will show the significance of our research findings so that the theory can be applied in

an independent manner. Here we will discuss our findings from several perspectives by questioning

them and considering different interpretations. In the next chapter we will go through the theoretical

contribution, implications for practice and future work.

The respondents of the interview belong to three different levels operating core, mid

managerial and senior managerial, have different roles, responsibilities, background, skill set,

experience & expertise but all of them contribute to the organizational strategic objectives.

During the interpretation of interviews we found that different roles of managers engage them

in different communication codes. Some communications are common across different roles

whereas some are distinct and apply specifically to their job roles and responsibilities. Refer

table below which shows all the patterns of communication codes across three managerial

levels. Table 16 below represents the communication codes of leadership communication

across all respondents shown in the theoretical framework (Table 6). Presence of a

communication is indicated by ✓ and absence is indicated by .

Table 16: Communication codes for operating core, mid and senior managers

S. No

Communication codes

Respondents

Operating core Mid-level Senior level

1 Communication by tracking ✓ ✓ ✓

2 Communication by report ✓ ✓ ✓

3 Risk communication ✓ ✓ ✓

4 Upward communication ✓ ✓ ✓

5 Bottom communication ✓ ✓ ✓

6 Contractual communication ✓ ✓

7 Trust-building communication ✓ ✓

8 Communication by delegation ✓ ✓

9 Managerial communication ✓ ✓

10 Relationship building communication ✓ ✓

11 Horizontal communication ✓ ✓

12 Change communication ✓ ✓

13 Technical communication ✓ ✓

14 Techno-commercial communication ✓ ✓

15 Image-building communication ✓

16 Morale-building communication ✓

17 Crisis communication ✓

18 Conflict resolution communication ✓

19 Media communication

5.1 Leadership communication

The communication codes in use in the operating core professionals were found to be from

s.no. 1 to 5 (Table 16). The majority of the communication was by tracking and reports. This

could be understood through their responsibilities which mostly include determining the

current status of their projects to communicate regarding the progress of the project so that

the PM can take necessary action in case there is a deviation with respect to the actual plan.

Once the project schedule is finalized in the planning phase it is easy to visualize risks which

50

impact the critical path of the project. Projects have strong focus on results and change in

critical path may delay the project (Tonnquist, 2013). When we talk about risk

communication by the operating core professionals, it mostly talks about risks which arise

due to certain factors which impact the critical path or near critical path of the project.

However, we argue that the risks are more complex in the mid-managerial role because of the

increase in the communication complexity (J. Barrett, 2006). The contractual communication

found in OC2 cannot be generalised because it is a job specific requirement. It could be

argued that this is more of a requirement in a mid-managerial role based on the interview

findings.

Table 16 shows that the operating core professionals mainly communicate with different

stakeholders in other departments, sellers, vendors or the workforce actually working on the

shop floor. They communicate vertically up and down as per the communication flow shown

in the construction project (Figure 5). They need to analyse the data received and make a

strategy regarding how to interpret the data in the form of different reports. They

communicate both to bottom and upward to let every stakeholder know about how the project

is progressing and if there is any risk. If the communication works well in the projects, the

stakeholders feel safe and greater the chances for the project success (Tonnquist, 2013).

These project documents are very important because they inform the PM and project owner

regarding the project predictability and align the project towards the portfolio or program and

ultimately towards the organizational strategic goals (Pmbok, 2017). The leadership

communication framework by Barrett shows that cultural awareness is required at a

managerial position, however we argue that the operating core also requires cultural

awareness because they too have to interact with a lot of stakeholders. It can be argued that

the requirement of cultural awareness increases when a professional move to a mid-

managerial position due to team responsibility, considerable increase in the number of

stakeholders, responsibility to coach the team and chair various meetings (J. Barrett, 2006).

In relation to the above discussion, it is evident that the three components of core leadership

communication strategy, writing and speaking is essential for operating core professionals

and is extremely important in achieving the project success & organizational goals.

The communication codes in use in the mid-managerial professionals were found to be from

s.no. 1 to 14 (Table 16). Most of the mid-managers start their day meeting their team where

they discuss the production, progress, issues, risks in the form of reports. Their role is to

effectively decode the reports and inputs provided by the team to communicate regarding

prioritization of work, generate decisions about the issues which require immediate attention

and what can be acted on later, delegation of work and feedback on the work. Proper

decoding of reports is necessary because barriers can impact the delivery and receipt of

information (Gillard and Johansen, 2004). They act as an administrator to the contract,

negotiate terms and conditions and have a track on the project’s performance indicators. They

actively engage in risk management because a risk not managed in an effective way can bring

a crisis. The risk in the level of mid managers is more complex to manage due to the

increased communication complexity (J. Barrett, 2006). The mid managers also engage in

managing uncertainties which were not planned for and came out of the blue and can

51

completely invalidate the project planning (Pmbok, 2017). Horizontal communication flows

through them for project-led learning in other projects and project managers. This is in line

with the horizontal communication flow in Figure 5. Mid-level managers mostly have to

manage the team under them which they need to develop, train, support, mentor and coach. In

order to influence their employees and get the work done, they apply leadership to shift focus

of project workers on key, thus better managing people (Toor and Ofori, 2007). This shows

how important it is to build trust because the more the trust, the more will be the influence.

Trust towards a leader also minimizes communication barriers (J. Barrett, 2006). The human

resource is the most important resource in any project. The mid managers were found to be

an empathic leader as well as a good listener. They create an environment where their team

feels that their concerns are listened to and addressed.

Trust can help in relationship building not just to employees but also with clients, sellers,

vendors, consultants and other stakeholders indirectly linked with the project. When a

professional move from operating core to mid-managerial the communication channels

increase immensely and so increases the communication complexity (Figure 7). The mid

managers dealt with people who operate in different time zones, cultural background, beliefs

and conflicting sets of interests, so they appreciate cross-cultural intelligence (J. Barrett,

2006). They understand the emotions of the team members and make them more comfortable

in sharing the thoughts and ideas resulting in reducing stress, building trust and improving

relationships. This changes the organizational climate and enhances business performance

(Goleman, 2000). On one hand interview results show that only two respondents dealt with

technical and techno-commercial communication but on the other hand we could argue that

any issues not resolved at the operating core level have to be dealt with by the mid managers.

So, if the issue demands, mid managers will have to deal with it. The PM’s generally have

technical communication with the design manager and techno-commercial with the

procurement manager.

Change control is a part of integration management (Pmbok, 2017). When we talk about

change communication, one type could be related to projects and programs whereas the other

type could be related to changes originating from change in business strategy. The mid

managers generally deal with the first type. The framework by Barrett shows change

communication in corporate communication but mid-level respondent ML5 was found to

communicate changes in his projects. The change communication strategy is already planned

in the planning phase of the project management and it can be argued that every mid-level

manager needs to communicate changes in their projects to integrate the project. The mid

managers did not mention managing conflicts. Since, most of their role is related to managing

human resources, conflicts are bound to happen. Hence, it can be argued that conflict

resolution communication is one of the responsibilities of a mid-manager. It can also be

argued that to certain extent, the mid managers have to communicate morale-building and

crisis communication. However, both of these two are limited in scope to a certain project or

program, whereas the same communication in a senior managerial position is more at a

broader organization level (J. Barrett, 2006). In every organization, the mid management

serves as an important link and interface between the senior management and the operating

52

core (Roth, 2016). Mid managers via leadership communication, align the operating core of

the organization towards the organizational strategy (Figure 1). Holding a unique position in

the organization, the mid managers are responsible to implement the organization’s policies.

In relation to the above discussion, it is evident that the six components of managerial

leadership communication (Table 6) coupled with the core skills helped mid managers to

serve as a link in aligning the operating core towards the organizational strategy.

The communication codes in use in the senior-managerial professionals were found to be

from s.no. 1 to 18 (Table 16). As you see on the table most of the communication code is

present for the senior managers. Most of the senior managers start their day meeting their

team where they discuss the status of deliverables, access risks, opportunities but it is

important to note that these are in the setting of the organization as a whole and not limited to

a project, program or portfolio. Thus, senior managers are leaders with long-term focus

(Geotech and Davis, 2003). This validates the fact in our theoretical framework that as we

move from operating core to mid-manager to senior manager, the communication complexity

increases, and managers need to master the core and managerial to reach to the corporate

level. A possible explanation could be that, operating core professionals manage risks

associated to the critical path or specific knowledge areas, mid managers manage risks which

are related to projects or programs, but the senior managers manage risks which can become

threat to the organizational objectives, brand image, employee relations and if not managed

well can become a crisis for the entire organization (J. Barrett, 2006). Communication by

report and tracking takes place for such parameters which are important for organizational

success. Barrett’s framework showcases employee relations as an important parameter in a

senior manager’s role, but we argue that the relations managed by senior managers are not

just limited to employees and extends to vendors, sellers, consultants, competitors,

complementors, government officials, tax officials, society and shareholders. The senior

respondents described that good relationships with clients reduce escalations, bring repeat

businesses, facilitate in promoting the organization’s business and also helps establish a

positive image of the company (J. Barrett, 2006). Building a positive brand image will attract

superior talents and customers.

The contractual communication by senior managers helps in improving and increasing the

effectiveness of the contracts. A contract can serve as a means of reducing risks by risk

transference (Pmbok, 2017). They focus on strategy development and execution planning to

achieve the organizational objectives. As a senior manager, the focus and responsibility of

financial and budgetary activities shift from project/projects or program towards an

organization as a whole corporate level. Similarly the upward, bottom, horizontal and

managerial communication becomes more complex, but they have a sustainable approach in

comparison to managers (Toor and Ofori, 2008). The communication flow as per Figure 5

flows in all directions and not just limited to portfolio, program or project. The change

communication is mostly due to strategic changes occurring from changes in the marketplace,

process improvement and changes in the organizational structure due to reorienting of the

mid management towards the organizational goals. A broad understanding of technical as

well as commercial is also important. Managing the mid managers is another responsibility to

53

achieve the organizational goals. It takes time to develop an environment to trust to motivate

the employees and build a good relationship. The relationship building in the role of senior

managers is not just limited to internal stakeholders, vendors, sellers, consultants but also

expands to society and shareholders which could be another explanation for the increase in

the communication complexity. The complex multi organizational, varying interests and

diverse communication network in a construction project is the primary source of challenge

to the project objectives (Pmbok, 2017). Since people management is where the main

problem lies, the senior managers highly focus on happiness and wellbeing of people. The

senior managers are emotionally and culturally aware to deal with the increased

communication complexity. They communicate, make sound decisions and get things done

by others (J. Barrett, 2006).

What makes the senior managers distinct from the mid managers is their increased focus and

responsibility towards the organization’s image/reputation management and crisis

communication. Crisis management and change management goes hand-in-hand because an

unmanaged change can lead to crisis. This is very complex and improper management can

lead to trust issues and low morale. The way senior managers motivate, make decisions,

communicate, handle changes and manage crisis changes the organization climate and

business performance (Goleman, 2000). The respondents did not refer to any media relations

in their responsibility. In relation to the above discussion, it is evident that components of

corporate leadership communication (Table 6) combined with the core and managerial skills

is essential for senior managers to deliver the organizational strategy.

Above explanations prove that, though the three different levels of respondents operating

core, mid managerial and senior managerial, have different roles, responsibilities,

background, skill set, experience & expertise but all of them contribute to the organizational

strategic objectives (Figure 1)in different ways.

5.2 Project integration & effective communication characteristics

Table 17 consists of the engagement of respondents in different knowledge areas. This will

help us understand their involvement in project integration. As you see the table below

explains the focus of all three levels of managers. The main focus area, broader

understanding and areas of minimal focus are represented in the table.

Here we will discuss the dimensions in a cohesive manner. The responsibility of operating

core is limited only to a few specific knowledge areas such as schedule, cost, quality,

communication and stakeholder. It can be argued that the operating core professionals also

engage in project integration, but the integration is rather limited to few areas under their area

of operation. This also reflects the theory that professionals in the early stage of their career

are mostly focused on issuing reports but as they gain experience, they focus more on

integration (Mulcahy,2016). The area which is common for all operating core professionals is

communication. Every knowledge area is important, but the PM will be unable to achieve

anything without strong communication skills (Zulch, 2014a).

54

All projects are linked to organizational strategy (Pmbok, 2017) and managers at different

levels contribute to its success differently. The interviews also revealed that unlike the core

operating professionals, mid managers were involved in broader roles. They were found to

have a high focus on integration, human resource and communication, however they have a

holistic view upon all knowledge areas of the project. As already explained that to integrate

the project, it is important to understand how one knowledge area impacts the other. Mid

managers knowing this, perform trade-off between different knowledge areas. Success in a

construction project relies on different dimensions of project management among which

integration is the most important because it can integrate people and process together

(Demirkesen & Ozorhon, 2017). At one hand the mid managers integrate people focusing on

human resource management and on the other hand they integrate processes by integration

management. This also helps them execute the project faster, cheaper and with fewer

resources (Mulcahy, 2016). However, project integration cannot happen without the

communication support and this is why mid managers have high concentration on

communication (Zulch, 2014a). The senior level respondents stressed a lot on human

resource, communication, financial & risk management but had a strong focus on scope,

schedule and cost. A possible explanation would be that issues originating in any area

ultimately impacts the project constraints (Pmbok, 2017).

Table 17: Knowledge area vs managerial level mapping

(✓- main focus area; - broad understanding; - minimal focus area)

Knowledge Areas Respondents

Operating core

Mid-level Senior level

Integration Management ✓

Scope Management ✓ ✓

Schedule Management ✓ ✓ ✓

Cost Management ✓ ✓ ✓

Quality Management ✓ ✓

Human Resource management ✓ ✓

Communication Management ✓ ✓ ✓

Risk Management ✓ ✓

Procurement Management ✓

Stakeholder Management ✓ ✓

Health, Safety, security & environment Management

Financial Management ✓

Table 18 presents important insights about how the respondents view regarding most difficult

issues in a project, communication and leadership. Formal written is the most important and

effective communication mode across all respondents because construction projects are goal

oriented and governed thorough documents such as project charter, project management plan

etc. which are in formal written mode (Tonnquist, 2013). Another possible explanation for its

high effectiveness is that it is referred throughout the project also to handle disputes over the

scope issues (Construction Ext. Pmbok, 2016). This issue is very common in projects because

55

stakeholders have conflicting interests and PMs must deliver only what is there in the

contract and not allow any scope creep.

Table 18: Questionnaire result

Questions Respondents

Operating core Mid-level Senior level

Most important communication mode Formal written Formal written Formal written

Informal written Informal verbal Informal verbal

Most effective communication mode Formal written Formal written Formal written

Informal written Informal verbal Informal verbal

Issues most difficult to handle Schedule Integration Integration

Communication Communication Communication

Quality Risk Human resource

Cost

What helps in resolving most difficult issues

No clear pattern Leadership Leadership

Integration Integration

Communication Communication

What is most important for project integration

No clear pattern Leadership Leadership

Integration Scope

Communication Communication

Highest impacted by ineffective communication

Schedule Cost

Communication

Leadership Integration

Communication Risk

Leadership Integration

Communication

The operating core considers informal written the next more important because in their

responsibilities, they have to communicate via emails and other electronic forums. A possible

explanation for mid and senior managers considering informal verbal as the second most

important form because they have human resources to manage whom they have to interact via

meetings, conversation, team building sessions to motivate them and keep them focused on

the key deliverables. This also explains their strong focus on leadership because verbal

communication has the most influence on project leadership (Zulch, 2014a). The operating

core differs from the mid and senior managers in their view of what they believe are the most

difficult issues in a project. But on the other all the three level respondents have an agreement

that communication is one of the most difficult issues in a project to handle. Hence,

mastering the art of communication should be the priority of a PM (J. Barrett, 2006). One

explanation could be because of the diverse stakeholders in a project operating at different

time zones and geographical locations. Another possible explanation of operating core

differing from the mid and senior managers could be due to their limited knowledge area

responsibility and maturity when compared to mid and senior respondents.

Apart from communication, experienced mid and senior managers consider integration,

human resource and risk issues the most difficult to handle. Lack of motivation and

coordination among the employees are the biggest barriers to project integration (Kotzé,

Berry and Verster, 2008). This requires effective management of a diverse workforce which

can be difficult if managers do not understand different human motivations. As explained in

Figure 2 and also confirmed by mid-level respondents (ML1&4) that this becomes even more

challenging in a matrix environment and thereby directly impacting project success (Zika-

56

Viktorsson, 2006). To cope with this, both mid and senior managers spend time with their

team and put effort in training & developing them. Another most difficult issue to handle by

managers is risk, because unknown unknowns can completely invalidate the project or end up

annihilating the management reserves completely (Pmbok, 2017). There is no clear pattern

found in operating core professionals when asked about what can resolve the most difficult

issues and facilitate project integration because of their responsibility limited to certain

knowledge areas. However, the mid and senior managers consider leadership, integration and

communication can resolve the most difficult issues in a project, can facilitate project

integration and are highest impacted by ineffective communication. Project integration

cannot happen without communication support. This means leadership communication and

project integration are closely related. Leadership communication relational as well as goal

driven. It is embedded in the values and culture of an organization and has the ability to

integrate diverse workforce, crisis situations and manage changes to achieve desired project

performance (J. Barrett, 2006). Thus, leadership communication helps in project integration.

Several insights have been recorded from the interviews regarding the different dimensions

mentioned in our theoretical framework (Figure 8). The core leadership communication

containing the strategy, writing and speaking is the foundation. At this level, the tasks of the

operating core keep them limited in expanding their skills in all project knowledge areas and

specially integration. There is a gap in the operating core level when it comes to project

integration management (Demirkesen & Ozorhon, 2017). There is a need for training them in

managing integration with a holistic approach extended to a broader level of knowledge

areas. Mastering this core level when a professional move to a managerial position and

handles a diverse workforce he has to learn expertise in emotional & cultural awareness,

coaching, listening, meetings and team. He also needs to have a broad understanding of

knowledge areas to facilitate trade-off between various requirements because he is the one

accountable for delivering the projects with the desired performance level. Experienced

managers engage with stakeholders to know exactly what needs to be communicated to each

other and often recheck the project communications requirement at team meetings to limit the

possibility of communication problems (Mulcahy,2016). At this level managers have focus

on a project/projects/program. Mastering the core and managerial level when a professional

move to a senior position, the communication channel, complexity and diversity increases

immensely and managers need to widen their horizon to managing employee relations,

change communication, media relations, crisis communication and image management of the

organization. They have a bigger responsibility of achieving the organizational strategic

goals.

Table 19 below shows the most important PM characteristics to successfully communicate in

a construction project. As the results show, there is a mix of situational, behavioural, people

oriented, task oriented, authentic and McGregor theory-Y leadership. During the interviews

the respondents had a high focus on trust and teamwork and the results are in line with it.

Trust towards a leader minimizes communication barriers. Trust building helps leaders to

guide the behaviour of their workforce by setting a vision and keeping them focused in

achieving it (J. Barrett, 2006).

57

Table 19: PM characteristics to successfully communicate

PM characteristics to successfully communicate

Respondents

Operating core

Mid-level Senior level

Developing trust, collaboration and teamwork ✓ ✓ ✓

Set clear vision and maintain integrity ✓ ✓

Stepwise project planning and sticking to schedule ✓ ✓ ✓

Motivate team and be concerned about their well-being ✓

Allowing people to take responsibility of their work ✓

Self-discipline, strong moral character, accepting mistake ✓ ✓

58

6 CONCLUSIONS

This is the final chapter of our research and will start with the theoretical contribution. We will

answer our research questions. First, we will briefly discuss our results from different perspectives

followed by implications for practice, future work and final remarks.

6.1 Theoretical contribution

Our research aim is to find out how leadership communication contributes in delivering a

successful construction project. We also aim to present the characteristics of a leader to

communicate effectively. From our primary and secondary data we found out that leadership

communication highly influences the construction project environment. This will help us

answer the research question. Our first research question is: -

• How does leadership communication ensure a successful construction project?

All the respondent’s responsibilities have one thing in common, which is effective

communication. The formal written communication has the highest importance and

effectiveness in all the three levels – core, mid and senior. Informal written is the most

important for the operating core because they need to track, evaluate and manage the project

so that it is completed as per schedule, within budget and quality. At their level, effective

writing and speaking skill facilitates tracking the project status, interpreting the data from

reports and encoding it requires structuring and strategizing it. This ensures that that the

daily, weekly and monthly reports and other emails are delivered as per the expectation of

business leaders, which is understandable, with clear language, correct, concise and is able to

overcome interferences. Professionals in the early stage of their career spend most of their

time collecting data and issuing reports without a clear strategy and this is not effective.

At mid-level informal and formal verbal becomes more important because they have to

engage in meetings and conversations to keep the team motivated and keep them focused on

the key deliverables and improve relationships. The mid managers using managerial

leadership communication support, motivate and inspire the operating core towards the

successful completion of the project. They communicate to a more diverse group of

stakeholders and to facilitate effective communication, mid managers must be empathic,

emotionally and culturally aware of the recipient as well as self-awareness. This helps them

understand the audience, their motivations and actions, minimize communication barriers in

all situations and get the work done by them. Thus, at mid-level the components of effective

communication extend to emotional intelligence, cultural awareness, trust and relationship

which motivates the operating core to achieve the project.

At the corporate level, formal and informal verbal communication are of highest importance

because they have to make communication at the entire organization level regarding vision

and organizational strategies. Corporate leadership communication helps a senior manager

adapt to a highly complex environment and effectively communicate to human resources

which guides, directs, motivates and inspires them. At the senior management level the

communication complexity is highest and thus the emotional awareness, cultural awareness,

59

employee relations become even more important to deliver effective communication.

Employees will be motivated, focused and perform better if they are happy and satisfied.

Senior managers ensure well-being and happiness of employees and strategize based on the

results from employee satisfaction surveys. The change communication by senior managers

ensures the alignment of the project and operations towards the organizational strategic goals.

Thus, our study shows that strategy development, effective speaking and writing are the

foundation to generate effective communication.

The relational nature of leadership communication helps in managing people, crisis situations

and changes to achieve desired project performance to accomplish project success. The goal

driven nature of leadership communication helps deliver projects within the given timelines,

budget, scope and keep the customer satisfied. This is how leadership communication helps

achieve the desired project performance to accomplish project success.

Our second research question is: -

• What characteristics of a PM will ascertain effective communication during the project

lifecycle of a construction project?

As per the respondents below mentioned characteristics of a PM will ensure effective

communication flow in a construction project.

• Developing trust, collaboration and teamwork

• Set clear vision and maintain integrity

• Allowing people to take responsibility of their work

• Stepwise project planning and sticking to schedule

• Motivate team and be concerned about their well-being

• Self-discipline, Strong moral character, accepting mistake

A PM who promotes jointly working and team work will create an environment of trust.

Followers will therefore be less hesitant to communicate and easily collaborate to perform the

tasks to deliver the project objectives. Trust can significantly impact the organizational

climate and business performance in a positive way. Setting clear vision and maintaining

integrity will give a clear direction for the project and keep employees focused and thus

ensure clear and concise communication. Allowing team members to take responsibility will

ensure effective communication flow in all directions (horizontally, upward and downwards

to the bottom). Stepwise project planning and sticking to schedule is more task oriented. The

remaining two are more inclined towards people-oriented and authentic leadership. But this

replicates that the PM needs to apply the appropriate characteristics as per situation. This

makes situational leadership most important. This answers the second research question.

The construction industry has been considering leadership and communication in isolation to

each other. Our framework integrates leadership communication with project knowledge

areas at different management levels. Our theoretical framework contributes to the

communication foundation model by Zulch, 2014b and leadership communication framework

by J. Barrett, 2006 (Figure 8). We make this contribution by adding three layers as shown in

60

Figure 8 which showcases important dimensions for leadership communication & PM

knowledge area theory.

6.2 Implications for practice

This study investigates the relationship between leadership communication and project

success in a construction project. In this perspective, semi structured interviews were

conducted to check specific components of leadership communication and to validate the

theoretical framework. Our findings reveal that leadership communication has a considerable

impact on the project success. There was a gap in the past literatures because communication

has been forgotten as a leadership principle. This study demonstrates leadership

communication anchored in the character of a PM to handle diverse workforce & situations

as well as to integrate the project and achieve the organizational strategic goals. Hence, PM’s

are recommended to use our framework for project success. Based on the findings a model

(Figure 10: Leadership communication & PM knowledge area model) is proposed which

maps the communication types and project management knowledge area competency with

the managerial levels.

Figure 10: Leadership communication & PM knowledge area model

The formal written communication has the highest importance and effectiveness at all

management levels because the construction project is goal oriented. The operating core uses

the formal written documents such as project charter for tracking and reporting

communication. The mid managers play an important role in forming these documents and

the senior managers critically review these documents and provide feedback for

improvements to better achieve the strategic goals. So it can be seen that how the application

of formal written communication varies in different managerial levels. Informal written

communication has the highest importance at operating core level because almost 100% of

their job responsibilities are fulfilled via tracking and reporting communication. Mastering

this a professional reaches a mid-managerial position where he or she has higher human

resource responsibility, whom he or she has to motivate through conversations and meetings.

They also have to perform speeches and presentations. So, at this mid-level informal and

61

formal verbal are most important. Similarly for senior manager formal verbal and informal

verbal are of high importance but the complexity increases. Here he or she has to address a

wider range of diverse audience regarding organizational changes, crisis and strategies.

The proposed framework (Figure 8) and model (Figure 10) can be used by construction

companies to implement organizational strategies and to ensure project success. It can

increase the effectiveness of current human resource policies in construction companies by

focusing on training specifically suited to enhance their leadership communication and

project management skills. The main limitation to this study is that most of the respondents

are from Indian companies and so the interview questions are answered based on their roles

& responsibilities. In this respect, data collected from companies operating in different

geographical locations might yield results which are varying in nature. However, considering

the fact that all respondents belong to a construction environment and work in highly diverse

and dynamic companies, the results can be generalisable and the proposed strategies might be

acquired by other construction companies as well.

6.3 Future work & final remark

The proposed framework (Figure 8) and model (Figure 10) could be used by researchers in

studies relating to the construction industry and the findings may be used for construction.

Similar frameworks with different components can also be developed for other projects.

Future studies should consider the personal demographics of managers such as gender,

ethnicity, education. They should also focus on organization culture and type such as

developer, contractor, architect and engineer. These can generate interesting insights for

leadership communication in practice.

In a fast-changing construction industry, there is a high pressure on PM’s to perform better

with less resources. Such circumstances demand PM’s to manage diverse workforce,

situations and also meet the desired project performance. This can be achieved through

leadership communication. The characteristics of a PM which ensure successful

communication are mentioned while answering the second research question. Following

these characteristics managers in the construction industry can resolve the communication

problems in projects, but the challenge is how to develop these characteristics in order to

apply the right leadership style at the right time and in the right measure.

62

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66

APPENDIX

Appendix I: Interview guide for operating core

Section-I

1. Please describe your job role and responsibilities.

2. Describe a typical day in your professional life.

3. What do you spend most of your time professionally?

4. What project management skills do you think is essential for your work assignments?

5. What interpersonal skills do you think is essential for your job role? Please elaborate.

6. How important is writing and speaking skill in your job role? How do you strategize your

communications? Please explain.

7. What are the performance drivers in your job role and why?

Section-II

1. What type of communication do you think is more important among the formal written,

formal verbal, informal written and informal verbal?

Modes Formal written Formal verbal Informal written Informal verbal

Example Project Charter,

contract

Presentations Email, text

message

Meeting,

conversations

2. Which of these types of communication you think is more effective.

Modes Formal written Formal verbal Informal written Informal verbal

Example Project Charter,

contract

Presentations Email, text

message

Meeting,

conversations

Refer below table for question 3 and 4.

Integration issue Communication issue

Scope issue Risk issue

Schedule issue Procurement issue

Cost issue Stakeholder issue

Quality issue HSSE issue

Human resource issue Financial issue

3. Which issues in a project do you think are most difficult to handle? Why?

4. Which of these in the table below helps in resolving the most difficult issue in the previous

question and why?

Refer below table for question 5 and 6.

67

Leadership Communication issue

Integration issue Risk issue

Scope issue Procurement issue

Schedule issue Stakeholder issue

Cost issue HSSE issue

Quality issue Financial issue

Human resource issue

5. The main role of a PM is integration. Do you agree? What do you think is most important

to integrate the project and why?

6. Which of these knowledge areas will be highest impacted by ineffective communication?

7. Which characteristics of a PM do you consider most important to ensure successful

communication. Please explain.

PM Characteristics Your Rating (1-5)

Developing trust, collaboration and teamwork

Giving and receiving feedback

Set clear vision and maintain integrity

Being flexible and adaptive

Listen to others and focus on vision

Motivate team and be concerned about their well-being

Support team for learning and development

Stepwise project planning and sticking to schedule

Allowing people to take responsibility of their work

Micro manage people to complete tasks

Give support and recognition to individuals

Maintain trust and quality of relationship

Self-awareness, transparency and long-term focus

Self-discipline, Strong moral character, accepting mistake

Appendix II: Interview guide for mid-level managers

Section-I

1. Please describe your job role and responsibilities.

2. Describe a typical day in your professional life.

3. What do you spend most of your time professionally?

4. What project management skills do you think is essential for your work assignments?

5. What interpersonal skills do you think is essential for your job role? Please elaborate.

6. How important is understanding emotional intelligence & cross-cultural differences in your

job role?

68

7. What are the performance drivers in your job role and why?

Section-II

1. What type of communication do you think is more important among the formal written,

formal verbal, informal written and informal verbal?

Modes Formal written Formal verbal Informal written Informal verbal

Example Project Charter,

contract

Presentations Email, text

message

Meeting,

conversations

2. Which of these types of communication you think is more effective.

Modes Formal written Formal verbal Informal written Informal verbal

Example Project Charter,

contract

Presentations Email, text

message

Meeting,

conversations

Refer below table for question 3 and 4.

Integration issue Communication issue

Scope issue Risk issue

Schedule issue Procurement issue

Cost issue Stakeholder issue

Quality issue HSSE issue

Human resource issue Financial issue

3. Which issues in a project do you think are most difficult to handle? Why?

4. Which of these in the table below helps in resolving the most difficult issue in the previous

question and why?

Refer below table for question 5 and 6.

Leadership Communication issue

Integration issue Risk issue

Scope issue Procurement issue

Schedule issue Stakeholder issue

Cost issue HSSE issue

Quality issue Financial issue

Human resource issue

5. The main role of a PM is integration. Do you agree? what do you think is most important

to integrate the project and why?

6. Which of these knowledge areas will be highest impacted by ineffective communication?

7. Which characteristics of a PM do you consider most important to ensure successful

communication. Please explain.

69

PM Characteristics Your Rating (1-5)

Developing trust, collaboration and teamwork

Giving and receiving feedback

Set clear vision and maintain integrity

Being flexible and adaptive

Listen to others and focus on vision

Motivate team and be concerned about their well-being

Support team for learning and development

Stepwise project planning and sticking to schedule

Allowing people to take responsibility of their work

Micro manage people to complete tasks

Give support and recognition to individuals

Maintain trust and quality of relationship

Self-awareness, transparency and long-term focus

Self-discipline, Strong moral character, accepting mistake

Appendix III: Interview guide for senior-level managers

Section-I

1. Please describe your job role and responsibilities.

2. Describe a typical day in your professional life?

3. What do you spend most of your time professionally?

4. What project management skills do you think is essential for your work assignments?

5. What interpersonal skills do you think is essential for your job role? Please elaborate.

6. How do you ensure a positive image of your organization?

7. What are the performance drivers in your job role and why?

8. How do you maintain relationships with your stakeholders? Do you have to manage media

relations?

9. How important is managing crisis and communicating changes in your role?

Section-II

1. What type of communication do you think is more important among the formal written,

formal verbal, informal written and informal verbal?

Modes Formal written Formal verbal Informal written Informal verbal

Example Project Charter,

contract

Presentations Email, text

message

Meeting,

conversations

70

2. Which of these types of communication you think is more effective.

Modes Formal written Formal verbal Informal written Informal verbal

Example Project Charter,

contract

Presentations Email, text

message

Meeting,

conversations

Refer below table for question 3 and 4.

Integration issue Communication issue

Scope issue Risk issue

Schedule issue Procurement issue

Cost issue Stakeholder issue

Quality issue HSSE issue

Human resource issue Financial issue

3. Which issues in a project do you think are most difficult to handle? Why?

4. Which of these in the table below helps in resolving the most difficult issue in the previous

question and why?

Refer below table for question 5 and 6.

Leadership Communication issue

Integration issue Risk issue

Scope issue Procurement issue

Schedule issue Stakeholder issue

Cost issue HSSE issue

Quality issue Financial issue

Human resource issue

5. The main role of a PM is integration. Do you agree? What do you think is most important

to integrate the project and why?

6. Which of these knowledge areas will be highest impacted by ineffective communication?

7. Which characteristics of a PM do you consider most important to ensure successful

communication. Please explain.

PM Characteristics Your Rating (1-5)

Developing trust, collaboration and teamwork

Giving and receiving feedback

Set clear vision and maintain integrity

Being flexible and adaptive

Listen to others and focus on vision

Motivate team and be concerned about their well-being

Support team for learning and development

Stepwise project planning and sticking to schedule

71

Allowing people to take responsibility of their work

Micro manage people to complete tasks

Give support and recognition to individuals

Maintain trust and quality of relationship

Self-awareness, transparency and long-term focus

Self-discipline, Strong moral character, accepting mistake

Appendix IV: Questionnaire findings for operating core

As mentioned earlier the interview findings of section-II are mentioned in the table below.

The ratings are on a scale 1-5 where 1 is lowest and 5 is highest. Table 20 contains the rating

for four different types of communication modes as per their importance and effectiveness.

Table 20: Communication importance & effectiveness – operating core

Communication importance

OC1 OC2 OC3 Average Standard deviation

Formal written 5 5 5 5.00 0.00

Formal verbal 3 3 4 3.33 0.58

Informal written 4 4 4 4.00 0.00

Informal verbal 2 2 2 2.00 0.00

Communication effectiveness

OC1 OC2 OC3 Standard deviation

Formal written 5 5 5 5.00 0.00

Formal verbal 2 2 3 2.33 0.58

Informal written 4 4 4 4.00 0.00

Informal verbal 2 2 2 2.00 0.00

The ratings in Table 21 presents the issues in the project most difficult to handle.

Table 21: Issue difficulty rating - operating core

Issue OC1 OC2 OC3 Average Standard deviation

Integration 4 3 4 3.67 0.58

Scope 2 2 3 2.33 0.58

Schedule 5 5 5 5.00 0.00

Cost 4 4 5 4.33 0.58

Quality 5 4 5 4.67 0.58

Human resource 3 2 3 2.67 0.58

Communication 5 5 4 4.67 0.58

Risk 3 3 4 3.33 0.58

Procurement 4 4 4 4.00 0.00

Stakeholder 2 3 4 3.00 1.00

HSSE 3 4 4 3.67 0.58

Financial 3 3 3 3.00 0.00

The ratings in Table 22 present the capability in resolving the most difficult issues.

72

Table 22: Issue resolution rating - operating core

Facilitating issue resolution

OC1 OC2 OC3 Average Standard deviation

Leadership 3 4 5 4.00 1.00

Integration 5 3 4 4.00 1.00

Scope 5 3 5 4.33 1.15

Schedule 5 4 4 4.33 0.58

Cost 5 4 5 4.67 0.58

Quality 5 3 5 4.33 1.15

Human resource 3 3 4 3.33 0.58

Communication 5 4 5 4.67 0.58

Risk 4 4 4 4.00 0.00

Procurement 3 3 4 3.33 0.58

Stakeholder 4 3 5 4.00 1.00

HSSE 3 3 4 3.33 0.58

Financial 3 3 5 3.67 1.15

The ratings in Table 23 present the capability of different knowledge areas to ensure project

integration.

Table 23: Project integration rating - operating core

Facilitating project integration

OC1 OC2 OC3 Average Standard deviation

Leadership 3 4 5 4.00 1.00

Integration 5 4 5 4.67 0.58

Scope 5 3 4 4.00 1.00

Schedule 5 4 4 4.33 0.58

Cost 5 4 5 4.67 0.58

Quality 5 3 5 4.33 1.15

Human resource 4 3 4 3.67 0.58

Communication 5 4 5 4.67 0.58

Risk 4 4 4 4.00 0.00

Procurement 3 3 4 3.33 0.58

Stakeholder 4 4 5 4.33 0.58

HSSE 4 4 4 4.00 0.00

Financial 4 4 5 4.33 0.58

The ratings in Table 24 present the impact of ineffective communication to various

knowledge areas.

Table 24: Ineffective communication rating - operating core

Ineffective communication impact

OC1 OC2 OC3 Average Standard deviation

Leadership 4 4 5 4.33 0.58

Integration 5 3 5 4.33 1.15

Scope 4 4 4 4.00 0.00

Schedule 5 5 4 4.67 0.58

Cost 5 4 5 4.67 0.58

Quality 4 4 5 4.33 0.58

Human resource 4 3 4 3.67 0.58

73

Communication 5 5 4 4.67 0.58

Risk 4 4 5 4.33 0.58

Procurement 5 3 4 4.00 1.00

Stakeholder 3 3 4 3.33 0.58

HSSE 4 3 5 4.00 1.00

Financial 5 3 5 4.33 1.15

The ratings in Table 25 present the leadership characteristics of a manager to ensure effective

communication.

Table 25: PM characteristics rating - operating core

PM characteristics OC1 OC2 OC3 Average Standard deviation

Developing trust, collaboration and teamwork 5 4 5 4.67 0.58

Giving and receiving feedback 5 3 4 4.00 1.00

Set clear vision and maintain integrity 5 4 5 4.67 0.58

Being flexible and adaptive 4 3 5 4.00 1.00

Listen to others and focus on vision 4 4 5 4.33 0.58

Motivate team and be concerned about their well-being

3 4 5 4.00 1.00

Support team for learning and development 4 4 5 4.33 0.58

Stepwise project planning and sticking to schedule 5 5 4 4.67 0.58

Allowing people to take responsibility of their work 4 5 5 4.67 0.58

Micro manage people to complete tasks 1 4 4 3.00 1.73

Give support and recognition to individuals 4 4 5 4.33 0.58

Maintain trust and quality of relationship 4 4 5 4.33 0.58

Self-awareness, transparency and long-term focus 4 4 5 4.33 0.58

Self-discipline, Strong moral character, accepting mistake

4 4 5 4.33 0.58

Appendix V: Questionnaire findings for mid-level managers

Table 26 contains the rating for four different types of communication modes as per their

importance and effectiveness.

Table 26: Communication importance & effectiveness – mid-level

Communication importance

ML1 ML2 ML3 ML4 ML5 ML6 ML7 Average Standard deviation

Formal written 5 4 5 5 5 5 5 4.86 0.38

Formal verbal 4 4 3 4 3 4 4 3.71 0.49

Informal written 5 4 4 4 4 4 4 4.14 0.38

Informal verbal 3 5 5 4 5 4 5 4.43 0.79

Communication effectiveness

ML1 ML2 ML3 ML4 ML5 ML6 ML7 Average Standard deviation

Formal written 5 5 3 4 3 5 5 4.29 0.95

Formal verbal 4 4 4 3 4 3 4 3.71 0.49

Informal written 4 4 4 3 4 4 2 3.57 0.79

Informal verbal 2 5 5 4 5 4 5 4.29 1.11

Table 27 presents the issues in the project most difficult to handle.

74

Table 27: Issue difficulty rating - mid-level

Issue ML1 ML2 ML3 ML4 ML5 ML6 ML7 Average Standard deviation

Integration 4 4 5 4 3 4 3 3.86 0.69

Scope 1 2 2 3 3 5 5 3.00 1.53

Schedule 3 3 2 4 3 4 5 3.43 0.98

Cost 4 4 3 3 4 3 4 3.57 0.53

Quality 1 4 2 5 3 5 2 3.14 1.57

Human resource 1 3 5 4 3 3 1 2.86 1.46

Communication 2 4 4 5 4 4 4 3.86 0.90

Risk 5 4 4 4 3 4 3 3.86 0.69

Procurement 1 4 1 3 3 3 1 2.29 1.25

Stakeholder 3 3 3 5 4 2 3 3.29 0.95

HSSE 2 4 2 5 3 5 1 3.14 1.57

Financial 4 4 4 4 4 3 3 3.71 0.49

The ratings in Table 28 present the capability in resolving the most difficult issues.

Table 28: Issue resolution rating - mid-level

Facilitating issue resolution

ML1 ML2 ML3 ML4 ML5 ML6 ML7 Average Standard deviation

Leadership 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5.00 0.00

Integration 5 5 5 4 4 4 3 4.29 0.76

Scope 3 3 2 5 4 5 5 3.86 1.21

Schedule 4 3 2 5 5 4 5 4.00 1.15

Cost 4 4 2 3 3 3 5 3.43 0.98

Quality 4 4 1 5 0 5 2 3.00 2.00

Human resource 4 3 4 4 3 3 2 3.29 0.76

Communication 3 3 5 5 5 4 5 4.29 0.95

Risk 3 4 4 5 4 4 3 3.86 0.69

Procurement 3 4 1 4 3 2 5 3.14 1.35

Stakeholder 5 2 3 5 4 2 2 3.29 1.38

HSSE 3 3 1 5 3 5 1 3.00 1.63

Financial 5 5 1 4 4 3 1 3.29 1.70

The ratings in Table 29 present the capability of different knowledge areas to ensure project

integration.

Table 29: Project integration rating - mid-level

Facilitating project integration

ML1 ML2 ML3 ML4 ML5 ML6 ML7 Average Standard deviation

Leadership 5 4 5 5 5 2 5 4.43 1.13

Integration 5 5 5 5 4 5 3 4.57 0.79

Scope 5 3 1 5 3 5 5 3.86 1.57

Schedule 5 3 1 5 3 5 5 3.86 1.57

Cost 4 4 1 4 3 4 5 3.57 1.27

Quality 4 4 4 5 3 2 2 3.43 1.13

Human resource 4 3 3 4 3 3 2 3.14 0.69

Communication 3 3 5 5 5 4 5 4.29 0.95

Risk 3 4 4 5 4 4 4 4.00 0.58

Procurement 3 4 1 5 3 2 5 3.29 1.50

75

Stakeholder 3 2 2 5 4 2 5 3.29 1.38

HSSE 3 3 4 5 3 2 5 3.57 1.13

Financial 5 5 2 4 5 3 5 4.14 1.21

The ratings in Table 30 present the impact of ineffective communication to various

knowledge areas.

Table 30: Ineffective communication rating - mid-level

Ineffective communication impact

ML1 ML2 ML3 ML4 ML5 ML6 ML7 Average Standard deviation

Leadership 5 5 5 5 4 2 5 4.43 1.13

Integration 4 5 5 5 4 4 3 4.29 0.76

Scope 3 3 4 4 4 4 5 3.86 0.69

Schedule 5 4 4 5 4 4 5 4.43 0.53

Cost 3 4 4 4 4 3 5 3.86 0.69

Quality 3 5 4 5 4 2 2 3.57 1.27

Human resource 3 3 5 3 4 2 2 3.14 1.07

Communication 4 4 5 5 4 5 5 4.57 0.53

Risk 3 5 4 5 5 4 4 4.29 0.76

Procurement 3 4 3 3 4 2 5 3.43 0.98

Stakeholder 4 3 4 5 4 2 5 3.86 1.07

HSSE 3 4 3 3 4 2 5 3.43 0.98

Financial 5 4 2 3 5 3 5 3.86 1.21

The ratings in Table 31 present the leadership characteristics of a manager to ensure effective

communication.

Table 31: PM characteristics rating - mid-level

PM characteristics ML1 ML2 ML3 ML4 ML5 ML6 ML7 Average Standard deviation

Developing trust, collaboration and teamwork

5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5.00 0.00

Giving and receiving feedback

4 5 4 4 5 5 5 4.57 0.53

Set clear vision and maintain integrity

5 5 4 5 5 5 5 4.86 0.38

Being flexible and adaptive

5 4 3 5 4 3 4 4.00 0.82

Listen to others and focus on vision

5 5 5 4 4 4 3 4.29 0.76

Motivate team and be concerned about their well-being

5 4 5 4 4 4 3 4.14 0.69

Support team for learning and development

3 5 4 3 3 3 4 3.57 0.79

Stepwise project planning and sticking to schedule

5 5 2 4 4 5 5 4.29 1.11

Allowing people to take responsibility of

5 5 5 5 3 3 4 4.29 0.95

76

their work

Micro manage people to complete tasks

4 4 1 2 2 1 4 2.57 1.40

Give support and recognition to individuals

4 5 4 5 3 3 4 4.00 0.82

Maintain trust and quality of relationship

5 5 4 5 3 5 4 4.43 0.79

Self-awareness, transparency and long-term focus

5 5 4 5 3 5 4 4.43 0.79

Self-discipline, Strong moral character, accepting mistake

5 5 5 5 3 5 4 4.57 0.79

Appendix VI: Questionnaire findings for senior-level managers

Table 32 contains the rating for four different types of communication modes as per their

importance and effectiveness.

Table 32: Communication importance & effectiveness – senior-level

Communication importance

SL1 SL2 SL3 SL4 Average Standard deviation

Formal written 5 5 4 5 4.75 0.50

Formal verbal 4 4 1 4 3.25 1.50

Informal written 4 3 4 3 3.50 0.58

Informal verbal 4 4 3 4 3.75 0.50

Communication effectiveness

SL1 SL2 SL3 SL4 Average Standard deviation

Formal written 5 5 4 5 4.75 0.50

Formal verbal 4 4 4 4 4.00 0.00

Informal written 4 2 3 4 3.25 0.96

Informal verbal 5 4 4 5 4.50 0.58

The ratings in Table 33 presents the issues in the project most difficult to handle.

Table 33: Issue difficulty rating - senior-level

Issue SL1 SL2 SL3 SL4 Average Standard deviation

Integration 5 5 3 4 4.25 0.96

Scope 4 4 3 3 3.50 0.58

Schedule 3 3 3 2 2.75 0.50

Cost 2 4 3 4 3.25 0.96

Quality 2 3 2 3 2.50 0.58

Human resource 3 3 4 5 3.75 0.96

Communication 4 4 4 3 3.75 0.50

Risk 3 3 3 3 3.00 0.00

Procurement 3 2 3 1 2.25 0.96

Stakeholder 3 3 4 3 3.25 0.50

77

HSSE 4 3 5 1 3.25 1.71

Financial 3 2 3 4 3.00 0.82

The ratings in Table 34 present the capability in resolving the most difficult issues.

Table 34: Issue resolution rating - senior-level

Facilitating issue resolution

SL1 SL2 SL3 SL4 Average Standard deviation

Leadership 5 5 5 5 5.00 0.00

Integration 5 5 4 4 4.50 0.58

Scope 3 3 4 4 3.50 0.58

Schedule 3 3 3 3 3.00 0.00

Cost 2 3 3 4 3.00 0.82

Quality 4 2 2 3 2.75 0.96

Human resource 3 3 3 4 3.25 0.50

Communication 4 4 4 4 4.00 0.00

Risk 5 4 3 4 4.00 0.82

Procurement 5 3 3 1 3.00 1.63

Stakeholder 4 3 4 3 3.50 0.58

HSSE 4 3 5 1 3.25 1.71

Financial 3 3 3 4 3.25 0.50

The ratings in Table 35 present the capability of different knowledge areas to ensure project

integration.

Table 35: Project integration rating - senior-level

Facilitating project integration

SL1 SL2 SL3 SL4 Average Standard deviation

Leadership 5 4 4 5 4.50 0.58

Integration 5 5 5 4 4.75 0.50

Scope 5 4 3 4 4.00 0.82

Schedule 5 4 3 3 3.75 0.96

Cost 3 4 3 4 3.50 0.58

Quality 2 3 3 3 2.75 0.50

Human resource 3 3 3 4 3.25 0.50

Communication 4 4 4 4 4.00 0.00

Risk 4 4 3 4 3.75 0.50

Procurement 4 2 4 1 2.75 1.50

Stakeholder 4 4 3 3 3.50 0.58

HSSE 4 3 3 1 2.75 1.26

Financial 3 3 3 4 3.25 0.50

78

The ratings in Table 36 present the impact of ineffective communication to various

knowledge areas.

Table 36: Ineffective communication rating - senior-level

Ineffective communication impact

SL1 SL2 SL3 SL4 Average Standard deviation

Leadership 5 5 2 5 4.25 1.50

Integration 5 5 4 4 4.50 0.58

Scope 4 4 3 4 3.75 0.50

Schedule 3 4 3 3 3.25 0.50

Cost 3 2 3 4 3.00 0.82

Quality 3 2 4 3 3.00 0.82

Human resource 2 3 3 4 3.00 0.82

Communication 4 5 5 4 4.50 0.58

Risk 4 3 4 4 3.75 0.50

Procurement 2 3 3 1 2.25 0.96

Stakeholder 4 4 4 3 3.75 0.50

HSSE 3 1 2 1 1.75 0.96

Financial 3 2 3 4 3.00 0.82

The ratings in Table 37 present the leadership characteristics of a manager to ensure effective

communication.

Table 37: PM characteristics rating - senior-level

PM characteristics SL1 SL2 SL3 SL4 Average Standard deviation

Developing trust, collaboration and teamwork 5 4 5 5 4.75 0.50

Giving and receiving feedback 5 3 5 3 4.00 1.15

Set clear vision and maintain integrity 4 4 5 4 4.25 0.50

Being flexible and adaptive 3 5 5 3 4.00 1.15

Listen to others and focus on vision 4 3 5 3 3.75 0.96

Motivate team and be concerned about their well-being

4 5 5 5 4.75 0.50

Support team for learning and development 4 4 5 2 3.75 1.26

Stepwise project planning and sticking to schedule

5 5 5 3 4.50 1.00

Allowing people to take responsibility of their work

4 3 5 5 4.25 0.96

Micro manage people to complete tasks 3 2 2 2 2.25 0.50

Give support and recognition to individuals 3 4 5 3 3.75 0.96

Maintain trust and quality of relationship 4 4 5 4 4.25 0.50

Self-awareness, transparency and long-term focus

4 5 5 3 4.25 0.96

Self-discipline, Strong moral character, accepting mistake

5 4 5 4 4.50 0.58