Construction Projects Management – Getting It Right
With over 45 years of experience in construction project management, including EPC Construction Management, EPCM Project, and Construction Management, and now working as a Pipeline Management Consultant, I have witnessed first-hand why construction projects fail, including some of the world's mega projects. Often, a significant cause is inexperienced and unqualified project management teams. Managers at all levels are poorly selected from in-house resources or through external recruitment and sometimes friend-of-a-friend who are then plunged into the project management maelstrom. They lack project management training and decision-making ability and are not able to communicate effectively within a project team environment. Team members may have the required technical ability in their particular discipline, but that falls well short of the competencies required to manage and successfully deliver projects. Included below is a matrix on “causes of project failure,” which is by no means exhaustive as numerous other factors with a disposition to produce failure are not considered - change management, management of change, influences related to the value of change, risk management, crisis management, communication, etc. Moreover, decision-making abilities are necessary for adaptation when faced with difficulties.
Causes of Project Failure
Owners |
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Scoping issues – Project scope does not fully address organizational business requirements |
Inexperienced or unqualified project team – Project team lacks appropriate skills and expertise to manage the project |
Poor estimating – Project estimates are incomplete or insufficiently detailed for budgeting |
Lack of integrated budgeting & planning – Project business requirements are not aligned with budget and execution plan |
Incomplete & fluid design – Construction commences based on an incomplete design and project scope is continually in flux |
Lack of proactive risk management – Project risks are not fully understood or vetted prior to project approval |
Unrealistic schedules – Project delays during planning and approval result in compressed schedule milestones and unrealistic completion targets set by management |
Insufficient tools & project management infrastructure – Project tools and infrastructure are not set up to effectively plan, deliver, track, and report performance |
Contractors |
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Poor estimating – Overly optimistic bids, poor or outdated cost data, missed scope items, flawed assumptions regarding regulatory issues, constructability or labor and material price escalation |
Resource shortages and inexperienced or unqualified project team – Lack of available craft or staff labor, inexperienced field supervisory personnel, or lack of qualified and experienced project management team members |
Unfavorable contract – Construction contract favors the owner in areas such as payment terms, change order pricing, reimbursement of general conditions, overhead and profit/fee, and penalties for nonperformance |
Lack of senior management support – The project lacks support from senior management to address project issues and challenges in a timely manner, and manage key communications and negotiations with the owner |
Design issues – Project design issues lead to inefficiencies, unrecoverable cost overruns, and schedule delays |
Overly aggressive schedule – Overly aggressive schedules lead to inefficiencies in the field and unrecoverable overtime and premium time |
Lack of risk management to address unforeseen conditions – Lack of proactive risk management techniques to identify and address project issues and risks |
Lack of project coordination and integration – Projects are managed in silos with limited integration among the owner, architect/engineer, contractor and its subcontractors, and other project stakeholders |
Figure 1: Causes of Project Failure
“These lists will not come as a shock to anyone with experience on major capital projects. The important item to note is that while many project stakeholders can tell when something is not going well on their own projects, many do not notify management because they believe the problems or issues are temporary and will eventually be addressed”.
Source: https://www.kpmg.com/BE/en/IssuesAndInsights/ArticlesPublications/Documents/avoiding-major-project-failure.pdf
Construction projects are complex endeavours that have a high probability of failure without proper construction execution planning, coordination and control. Construction Management, when done correctly, employs a structured approach of processes and procedures to measure and document progress, which is essential in terms of cost and schedule management for determining project performance. However, there are many other aspects to project construction management other than functioning within what was known as the triple constraint of scope, time, and cost, with the contemporary exemplar assimilated with quality as a core consideration. Construction, especially pipeline construction management, has, in addition to the old paradigm, other equally important constraints that must be well-managed to achieve a favourable project outcome. These include Stakeholders, Health, Safety and Environment, Resources, and Client Satisfaction.
Figure 2: Constraint Model – Construction Projects
Processes and procedures do not guarantee the realisation of project objectives. Still, suppose coordination and control practices are not implemented systematically, which invariably they are not because of a lack of project management experience. In that case, it is easy to understand why project management teams' decision-making and communication qualities are also poor. I have included a model that demonstrates the convolution of communication channels necessary for good project management. Communication has to be implemented along upward, downward, and lateral channels to ensure correct information flow, as illustrated in Figure 3:
Figure 3: Project Communication Channels
Source: Adapted from http://articles.techrepublic.com.com/5100-10878_11-1061894.html and Emmitt & Gorse 2003 Construction communication
Behaviour-based management is also very important. Clearly, the project manager has to be able to develop a team with the right skill sets and lead and motivate them. However, the team must be given the level of accountability and responsibility to feel valued and want to take ownership of their assigned tasks. This is absolutely essential to enhance performance. Good communication flows from teams performing well together, while derision and internal conflict are common symptoms of a micromanaged team.
At PCM Ltd, we know all the pitfalls associated with project failure because we are seasoned professionals with years of international project exposure and possess the wisdom and capability to carry out well-organised construction project management using proven tools and techniques supported by unparalleled industry experience tailored to client needs. We offer value for money and pragmatic and unbiased service to administer and accomplish an effective final product.