Project Management Methods Module - Management Help

Assignment Task

Case Study on Leadership, Communication and Negotiation

The UK construction industry slipped further down in 2016 with construction project profitability decreasing from 2.8% to 2.5% (Glenigan, 2016). Therefore, construction companies need to stick to their plans and estimations as the profit margins are so low. Poor leadership, communication and negotiation skills can lead to disputes arising and misconceptions being created which can further decrease the profit margins. Therefore, methods and theories need to be incorporated within the project to decrease the chances of anything going wrong.

Topic 1 - Leadership 

Leadership is a complex, developing process that’s described in various ways, using different styles, theories and traits. One such description as per Kevin Kruse is ‘leadership is a process of social influence, which maximises the efforts of others, towards the achievement of a goal’ (Kruse, 2013). Therefore, having effective leadership on a construction project is vital for project success as it requires everyone to collaborate effectively to get the project finished on time, within budget and with the right quality. 

it is important for project managers to be leaders as their ability to lead people has a significant effect on the project. However, the construction industry and educational institutions now focus more on management rather than leadership, therefore, they are producing managers with no leadership skills (Toor and Ofori, 2008). This may be the reason why managers are more involved in the management of activities that achieve short term goals and are focused on the end goal. Whereas leaders would be focused on the means to achieve the end goals and leading their team to achieve long term objectives. 

To fix this, leadership should be taught in educational institutes and in the construction industry to produce more leaders. Once a project manager develops leadership skills, they can then develop the skills of the managers underneath them. Teaching leadership to site managers is also vital as they can affect the project cost by up to 10% (Herbert, Martvall and Wirdenius, 1969). 

Research conducted by the CIOB shows that the two greatest barriers to potential leaders becoming leaders are the lack of opportunities and the organizational culture (CIOB, 2008). Construction companies need to work with the government and other organizations to create opportunities for potential leaders to develop their skills and find a place in the industry. Also, construction companies need to review their organizational culture to help up and coming leaders to reach their full potential and to feel like they belong in the construction industry. The project manager is in the best position to make these changes if they take the leadership mantle, rather than being just a manager (CIOB, 2008). 

Some common challenges that project managers face in construction are listed below with how leadership could solve them (ProofHub, 2018): 

• Poorly defined goals or vision – A leader can bring people together to work towards a common goal or vision. Strong and united teams are the result of a leader communicating the vision clearly and effectively.
• Disagreements due to poor communication – A major part of leadership is to be prepared to communicate effectively with all the various stakeholders at their respective levels (2020 Project management, 2019).
• Repeated unsatisfactory execution – Good leaders advise their followers on how they are performing and what they can do to improve performance.
• Insufficient team skills – A leader can lead by example and show their team how to work as a team and how to improve their team work.

Trait theory

in the early years of the 20th century, leadership traits were studied to determine what made certain people great leaders and others not so great (Northouse, 2013). These were then labelled ‘great man’ theories as they were based on the principles that great people were born with the traits that made them good leaders. 

The trait theory is based on the characteristics of both good and bad leaders. These characteristics are then used to predict the effectiveness of an individual’s leadership and then the born leaders can be developed into great leaders (Educational Business Articles, 2016). Thomas Carlyle had a large influence on the theory stating that ‘effective leaders are those gifted with divine inspiration and the right characteristics’ (Cherry, 2018). 

Strengths of the trait theory (Northouse, 2019): 

• It is backed up by centuries of research unlike other theories.
• By focusing solely on the leader, it provides a deeper understanding of how a leader’s traits are related to leadership.
• It gives benchmarks to show what to look for in a leader 

One way this theory can be implemented into the construction industry is that if individuals are found with the skills that make a great leader in the construction industry or in educational institutions, they should be developed and attuned into great leaders.

Behavioural theories

The behavioural theories of leadership are significantly different from trait theories. This is because they focus on the behaviour and actions of the leaders, while discarding the thought of inborn potential or virtue (Johnson, 2018). The underlying assumption of behavioural theories is that leaders don’t have to be born with leadership skills, they can be made through development and experience (Pratap, 2016). Therefore, anyone can be a leader if they have the correct training and environment that will help them develop their leadership qualities. 

The construction industry and educational institutions can use this theory to tackle the declining number of leaders. They can do this by providing people with the correct training and environment that will help them develop their skills and leadership qualities.

Contingency theory

The contingency theory of leadership states that there is no one effective leadership style (Miner, 2005). Rather, every leadership style is effective only if it matches the internal and external situation (McKenzie and Love, 2019). Therefore, a leader effective in one position would not necessarily be effective in a different position if they use the same style of leadership. The contingency theory looks at the leader’s behaviours just like the behavioural theories. However, it isn’t just limited to this as it also takes the situation into account. 

Gill 2011 (cited in Cherry, 2017) stated that ‘contingency theories suggest that there is no one best style of leadership. Successful and enduring leaders will use various styles according to the nature of the situation and the followers’ (Cherry, 2017). This shows that for a leader to be successful they would have to change their style and adapt to each different situation that is placed before them. The contingency theory is different from the trait theory as it doesn’t focus on just the leader. It also focuses on the situation and the people around the leader (Northouse, 2019). 

The contingency theory can be implemented into the construction industry to create leaders that can adapt to various situations. These leaders will be more effective than managers as they will know what style to use in each situation for success. 

To tackle the lack of leadership the construction industry can (CIOB, 2008):

• Create leadership development platforms and programmes.
• Collaborate with the government and other industry bodies to create and promote leadership scholarships.
• Conduct research into why individuals with leadership skills are going to other industries.
• Hold events to recognise and award overachieving leaders in the industry 

Topic 2 – Communication 

Communication is the process of sharing information through verbal and non-verbal means such as writing, speaking, body language and graphical representations (Nordquist, 2018). Communication can be viewed as a metaphorical pipeline along which information is transferred from one person to another (Axley, 1984). 

Without communication construction is not possible. Communication plays an important role in projects being delivered as it is used on day to day activities such as planning, creating contracts or even between site workers. Good communication is vital to the success of any construction project as one miscommunication could delay projects or cause other mishaps such as an increase in cost or a serious accident. 

Good communication can lead to many advantages on construction projects. Some of these advantages are listed and explained below (Flesner, 2018): 

• Good communication can help in building and maintaining relationships. For this the communication, must be transparent and open. This is especially important because a lot of decisions are made based on trust and relationships in the construction industry.
• For leadership to be effective, the leader needs to be able to clearly communicate their vision and intentions. If the vision or goal is not clear everyone will be working towards different goals and will not see the bigger picture. 
• Good communication will help strengthen a team and will help them to develop more effective solutions to challenges together in unity.
• Good communication can help a group put their ideas and past experiences together to create something new. This could include new innovations or ideas on how to save project time or cost. 

Technology and communication (current practices in the construction industry)

Technology has changed the way we communicate in the construction industry. It has created new practices which have decreased the time taken for information to be communicated between the various stakeholders. Some of these current practices are (Day, 2015): 

- Project meetings between the various stakeholders can happen virtually using apps 

such as GoToMeeting rather than requiring them all to be in the same room. - Daily reports and progress can be communicated instantly using apps such as 

FieldLens. Project managers can use this to instantly check what progress has been made. - Health and safety incidents can now be predicted using apps such as Rhumbix. They 

look for patterns and instantly communicate any upcoming incidents that may occur to supervisors or managers stopping accidents happening. - Email and mobile phones have made instant communication possible around the world. 

A project team is usually very diverse with individuals from various backgrounds thrust together to deliver a project. Each project brings new day to day activities and challenges for the team. Among these challenges, communication is the most common and may be the largest as per the Project Management Institute (2013), roughly one out of five projects are unsuccessful due to ineffective communication (2020 Project Management, 2019). Therefore, it is vital for every project manager to lead by example and communicate effectively down the chain to the project team, so they can recognise it and learn from it. The art of good communication should be taught to project managers in educational institutions as well as in construction companies. 

Everyone has their own perception of the world based on their past experiences. The differences in perception will lead each individual to perceive the situation in a different way (Stanton, 2009). This can be solved by having the project managers communicate their perception and vision to the rest of the team so everyone is on the same page. 

Failure to communicate or delay notifications could lead to a serious accident (Pellerin, 2018). For example, if a crane operator fails to tell the site manager workers are ignoring the no-walk sign. They will carry on which could lead to someone getting hit by the crane or getting run over. Additionally, if workers don’t understand the vision of the project manager, they may not be motivated or focused on the project. This could also lead them to not listen in the brief meetings which could lead to accidents or misunderstandings (Pellerin, 2018). 

Another potential barrier to effective communication in the UK is language or accents. Not everyone on site will speak fluent English or the client may not speak fluent English. This could lead to misunderstandings which will lead to works being done wrong. 

The communication accommodation theory

The communication accommodation theory suggests that an individual adapts to the person they are communicating with. When this same individual interacts with other people they will attempt to adjust their speech patterns, body language and gestures to accommodate them (Prescott, 2013). According to Howard Giles of the University of California the adjustment is made to minimise the social difference between themselves and the people they are interacting with (Communication Theory, 2019). The theory can help you understand how and why the adjustments take place. 

Project managers can use the communication accommodation theory to better understand and communicate with their team. This would lead to a mutual understanding between them and would lead to the build-up of a relationship with trust. 

The diffusion theory

The diffusion theory states that humans are creatures of habit and it is challenging for them to accept changes or to change their choice of thinking in an instant (Prescott, 2013). While it is a challenge for some to change their thinking, it is much easier for others. Project managers should keep this theory in mind when changing plans and find a way to communicate the changes effectively. They could find a way to make transitions easier for the team to adapt to.

Topic 3 – Negotiation

Just like leadership and communication, the word negotiation doesn’t have an agreed universal definition. However, Rubin and Brown 1975 (cited in Ogilvie 2019) state that ‘negotiation refers to a process in which individuals work together to formulate agreements about the issues in dispute’ (Ogilvie, 2019). Negotiation skills are vital in both day-to-day interactions and formal transactions such as creating a contract in construction (Business Queensland, 2016). Therefore, it is vital managers in construction have excellent negotiating skills so they could get the best deals and reduce costs. Negotiations also contribute to construction projects by (Business Queensland, 2016): 

• Helping to build better relations with the various stakeholders.
• Good negotiations combined with good communication can help you to avoid any disputes or conflicts throughout the project.
• Helping to find long term solutions rather than short term ones 

One of the biggest challenges to successful negotiation is when one party is not ready to listen to or understand another party (Juneja, 2019). This occurs due to the selfish nature of humans as they are only interested in what will benefit them rather than coming to an agreement that benefits all parties. This type of negotiation usually ends up failing. To avoid this project managers or other negotiators must understand that to come to a mutual conclusion all the parties must be given an incentive or profits (Juneja, 2019). 

Another challenge faced when negotiating is poor communication. if information isn’t communicated effectively it could cause misconceptions or misunderstandings (Gaston, 2019). This could ultimately lead to the negotiations failing. A fundamental objective of negotiation is to use various communication techniques to persuade or change the perception of another (Thebusinessprofessor, 2019). Therefore, construction companies and educational institution should teach project managers how to combine communication and negotiation to be effective negotiators. 

Lack of confidence is another major problem that affects negotiations negatively (Stark, 2011). Tony Hughes, the Huthwaite international CEO states that ‘confidence has a huge impact on negotiators behaviour and what they ultimately achieve’ (Amble, 2015). Huthwaite international also conducted a survey of over 1300 professionals. The results showed that only one in five negotiations conducted by under-confident negotiators were successful and just sixteen percent were successful by negotiators who were neutral in confidence (Amble, 2015). This shows that confidence is vital for negotiations. Project management involves daily negotiations with the various stakeholders, therefore, project managers should be given support and encouragement to boost low self-esteem and confidence (Cuncic, 2019). 

Having a shortage of time or a lack of patience during a negotiation can be very challenging. It will lead the parties to rush through everything which could lead to misunderstandings and mistakes (Morgan, 2014). The project manager should make sure that there is enough time to negotiate when going to the table. The longer the negotiation lasts the more time the parties have to create a relationship and trust (Watershedassociates, 2019). 

Going into a negotiation unprepared and without any planning is like stepping into a battlefield without a weapon. Rather, the negotiator should check even the smallest details as the opposing party could ask anything or try anything to catch you out (MSG, 2019).

The win-win model

The win-win model of negotiation is a fairly new concept which started in the 1980’s. It involves all parties working to get the best deal while also satisfying each other (Shonk, 2018). Win-win negotiation allows all parties to profit, thereby makes maintaining long term relationships easier (Skillsyouneed, 2019). 

Win-win negotiations can be used to get rid of parties not wanting to listen to each other. If people are interested in satisfying all the parties involved in the project, they will listen and understand each other, therefore coming to an agreement of mutual interest.

Conclusion 

With the number of leaders in the construction industry dwindling, change to the organizational culture of construction companies is required (CIOB, 2008). This change should start with project managers that excel at leadership as they are in the best position to voice the change to their teams. New opportunities need to be implemented into the industry for up and coming leaders to develop and enhance their skills to make them more effective at leadership (Smith and Howard, 2016). The industry should also utilize organizations such as Associated Builders and Contractors to train and develop the leadership skills of project managers. The trait, contingency and behavioural theories can be implemented into the construction industry to find and develop leaders of the future. 

With the construction industry becoming globalised, communication has become even more challenging. However, new technologies have increased the speed and quality in which information can be shared (Day, 2015). The communication accommodation and diffusion theories can help project managers create better communication channels within the construction team (Prescott, 2013). Therefore, creating a team based on trust and a clear cohesive vision. 

Project managers negotiate daily. So, they should be aware of the challenges they will face and what they should be prepared for (MSG, 2019). They should be aware that the best and most successful type of negotiation is the win-win negotiation model as it can satisfy all parties and create long lasting relations (Shonk, 2018). 

For a project manager to excel at their role they need to be able to adopt all three of the above skills into their role. This is because they are all intertwined and each one requires at least basic knowledge and skill of the others. A lack of any one of these three can seriously affect the whole project and cause major losses. 

In conclusion, the construction industry needs to implement changes to the way it operates. These changes can be implemented by the project manager as they consist of upgrading vital skills that they require to be successful. This portfolio contains three alternative yet intertwined methods that support the changes needed to improve leadership, communication and negotiations in the construction industry.

 

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