The importance of structured communication for effective stakeholder management of construction projects in the Cape metropolis

Abstract

Communication is what links together all those who influence or are influenced by the execution of a construction project. The fact that managers spend 80% of their time communicating indicates the critical nature of this competency. Research suggests that communication can be one of the critical elements responsible for project implementation failure, if information is not sufficiently or appropriately made available to stakeholders. The objective of this research was to identify how poor communication contributes to the failure of about 50% of projects (in terms of time and budget overruns, etc.), even though nearly 100% of project managers are qualified and experienced in the technical aspects of their jobs. The dissertation also sought to explore the importance and function of structured communication in the achievement of construction project objectives. The research opted for a descriptive research design and methodology, combining elements of quantitative and qualitative enquiry in a mixed-methods approach. This enabled both depth and breadth in the understanding of the phenomenon. A structured questionnaire was used, containing both closed-ended and open-ended questions. The analysis that ensued involved capturing, cleaning, editing, coding and interpreting the data derived from respondents’ answers to the questionnaire. The study makes several suggestions as to how to recognise and implement effective communication in construction projects. It is hoped that the findings will make a contribution to the training of future project managers, to eliminate the rate of construction project failure due to unstructured communication. Project managers should consider all the possible communication styles and models, in order to choose the most appropriate for managing project-specific communication with both internal and external stakeholders.