Construction communication, within an organizational context, is to convey an instruction to influence the actions/behaviors of others, or may involve an

exchange Exchange may refer to: Physics *Gas exchange is the movement of oxygen and carbon dioxide molecules from a region of higher concentration to a region of lower concentration. Places United States * Exchange, Indiana, an unincorporated community * ...

of, or request for information during a construction

project A project is any undertaking, carried out individually or collaboratively and possibly involving research or design, that is carefully planned to achieve a particular goal. An alternative view sees a project managerially as a sequence of even ...

.Dainty, Andrew Dainty; Moore, David; Murray, Michael. (20 January 2006). ''Communication in Construction Theory and Practice.'' Routledge. .

Background

Communication usually involves the transfer of information, a generic term that embraces meaning such as

knowledge Knowledge can be defined as awareness of facts or as practical skills, and may also refer to familiarity with objects or situations. Knowledge of facts, also called propositional knowledge, is often defined as true belief that is distinc ...

, processed data,

skills A skill is the learned ability to act with determined results with good execution often within a given amount of time, energy, or both. Skills can often be divided into domain-general and domain-specific skills. For example, in the domain of w ...

and technology. Communication within project-based environments presents special challenges. This is especially true within the

construction industry Construction is a general term meaning the art and science to form objects, systems, or organizations,"Construction" def. 1.a. 1.b. and 1.c. ''Oxford English Dictionary'' Second Edition on CD-ROM (v. 4.0) Oxford University Press 2009 and c ...

, where

interaction Interaction is action that occurs between two or more objects, with broad use in philosophy and the sciences. It may refer to: Science * Interaction hypothesis, a theory of second language acquisition * Interaction (statistics) * Interactions o ...

tends to be characterised by unfamiliar groups of people coming together for short periods before disbanding to work on other endeavours.

Importance

Per M.E.L. Hoezen, the author of ''The problem of communication in construction.''

The efficiency and effectiveness of the construction process strongly depend on the quality of communication. In literature four reasons are mentioned why improvements in communication are needed. The first reason is that an improvement in the communication within the building team, in project teams and between project manager and contractors, could reduce failure. Second, more open communication at all levels could lead to innovations and better technical solutions. Third, communication improvements in early phases of projects would positively influence the quality as perceived by all stakeholders involved. Finally, improved communication during the briefing might lead to better decision making, for example less haste in moving to solutions and better ways of looking at the requirements first.Hoezen, M.E.L
The Problem of Communication in Construction.
University of Twente. Retrieved 23 December 2011.

Communication is essential to all business activities; it enables an organization, and is an integral part of the construction process. Beyond the argument, any improvement in communication can improve an organization's operating

effectiveness Effectiveness is the capability of producing a desired result or the ability to produce desired output. When something is deemed effective, it means it has an intended or expected outcome, or produces a deep, vivid impression. Etymology The ori ...

. Good communication within an organization and between organizations contributing to the construction project can improve

motivation Motivation is the reason for which humans and other animals initiate, continue, or terminate a behavior at a given time. Motivational states are commonly understood as forces acting within the agent that create a disposition to engage in goal-dire ...

levels and improve the processes. Conversely, inadequate communication can result in a demotivated

workforce The workforce or labour force is a concept referring to the pool of human beings either in employment or in unemployment. It is generally used to describe those working for a single company or industry, but can also apply to a geographic regio ...

and lead to problems in construction.Emmitt, Stephen; Gorse, Christopher A. (2003). ''Construction communication.'' Wiley-Blackwell. . Construction projects are

complex Complex commonly refers to: * Complexity, the behaviour of a system whose components interact in multiple ways so possible interactions are difficult to describe ** Complex system, a system composed of many components which may interact with each ...

and risky, requiring the active

participation Participation or Participant may refer to: Politics * Participation (decision making), mechanisms for people to participate in social decisions * Civic participation, engagement by the citizens in government * e-participation, citizen participat ...

of all contributors.

Co-operation Cooperation (written as co-operation in British English) is the process of groups of organisms working or acting together for common, mutual, or some underlying benefit, as opposed to working in competition for selfish benefit. Many animal a ...

and co-ordination of activities through

interpersonal The concept of interpersonal relationship involves social associations, connections, or affiliations between two or more people. Interpersonal relationships vary in their degree of intimacy or self-disclosure, but also in their duration, in t ...

and group communication are essential in ensuring the project is completed successfully. Poor communication, lack of consultation and inadequate

feedback Feedback occurs when outputs of a system are routed back as inputs as part of a chain of cause-and-effect that forms a circuit or loop. The system can then be said to ''feed back'' into itself. The notion of cause-and-effect has to be handled c ...

are to be found as the root cause of defects in many constructed works. Poor co-ordination and communication of design information lead to design problems that cause design errors. Communication is the one aspect of the management of projects that pervades all others. Given that construction is such a fragmented, dynamic and disparate sector, the challenges of communicating effectively are greater than in most other production environments. Contractually driven relationships,

conflict Conflict may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Conflict'' (1921 film), an American silent film directed by Stuart Paton * ''Conflict'' (1936 film), an American boxing film starring John Wayne * ''Conflict'' (1937 film) ...

and a lack of mutual

respect Respect, also called esteem, is a positive feeling or action shown towards someone or something considered important or held in high esteem or regard. It conveys a sense of admiration for good or valuable qualities. It is also the process of ...

and

trust Trust often refers to: * Trust (social science), confidence in or dependence on a person or quality It may also refer to: Business and law * Trust law, a body of law under which one person holds property for the benefit of another * Trust (bus ...

, all combine to hinder open communication and render the role of the project manager extremely demanding and problematic. Nevertheless, addressing communication in the industry can be seen as a principal enabler for improving the industry in the future.

Issues

Since the early 1940s, literature on communication in construction has appeared, mainly based on the situation in the UK. Many problems concerning communication have been reported, with a focus on intra-supplier communication within the construction sector; demand-supply communication during the design phase; and communication between and within single demand and supply side parties, during whole the construction process. With the globalization of the construction industry, emerging issues in construction communication in international contexts, such as problem-solving in international projects, have started to receive more attention.Handford Michael and Petr Matous (2011
Lexicogrammar in the international construction industry: A corpus-based case study of Japanese-Hong-Kongese on-site interactions in English
''English for Specific Purposes'', Volume 30, Issue 2, Pages 87–100.Handford Michael and Petr Matous (2015
Problem-solving discourse on an international construction site: Patterns and practices
''English for Specific Purposes'', Volume 18, Pages 85–98.

References

{{Reflist Construction

Background

Importance

Issues

See also

References