Executive Summary
Communication is one of the most vital elements for project accomplishment in the construction sector. For instance, information in blueprints, instructions, and construction procedures must be conveyed from one expect to another throughout the construction process. As a result, all construction projects require excellent communication amongst construction specialists throughout the project’s execution. This paper discusses the importance of project communication planning in the California High-Speed Rail Project. The communication implications on the project construction are discussed, including site meetings, annual reports, performance evaluation schemes, and job breakdown structures. It is anticipated that these findings will aid in the elimination or reduction of communication problems in construction projects.
Introduction
The California High-Speed Rail Project is located in Tulare and Kern counties and Wasco. It is bisected in the north at a location — nearly one mile north of the Tulare-Kern County Line and ends in the south at Poplar Avenue, north of Shafter. The project’s 22-mile alignment has created roughly 5,000 jobs and contract opportunities over five years. The construction site is operated by contractors and employees from diverse cultural backgrounds, including African Americans, Chinese Americans, and the Philippines. Project Communication Planning is critical to the project’s success. The California High-Speed Rail Project team comprises Higher-Level Construction Officers, including Civil Engineers, the Chief Construction Officer, and the Building Services Director. The project also comprises those working at middle levels such as Quantity Surveyors, Project Managers, Architects, Building Services Engineers, Structural Engineers, Building Inspectors, Construction Coordinators, and Project Managers. Lastly, low-level skilled workers, such as carpenters and supervisors, are also key personnel in the project.
To ensure the success of the railway project, each member of the construction crew must fulfill their assigned duties diligently. The construction project plan must be communicated from one individual to the next to ensure that each member performs their assigned duties carefully. As the construction project teams grow in size, the problem of keeping everyone focused on the project’s objectives increases proportionately. There is a more significant likelihood of miscommunication or teams becoming out of sync on a critical component of the construction project that influences their work. Such obstacles can derail the construction project and result in unnecessary problems that could have been avoided with improved communication.
Over the years, Construction project managers have acknowledged the concern of effective communication. One of the strategies utilized to address it is Project Communication Planning (Wu et al., 2017). Communication planning in the California High-Speed Rail Project is the process of outlining how team members and stakeholders communicate on the project by identifying communication requirements that may occur throughout the project and ensuring that those requirements are addressed appropriately and timely (Harris et al., 2021). According to Saieg et al. (2018, p. 789), communication should be produced concurrently with the project plan to ensure that the construction project proceeds successfully at each step. According to Rajhans (2018, pp.47-66), the communication planning process considers all the stakeholders and modes of communication necessary to build and maintain good communication channels.
Relevance of Communication Planning in the Project
The construction sector has grown significantly in recent years, becoming one of the essential industrial segments for economic and societal growth and one of the critical areas for job creation. Therefore, its sustained growth and improvement is a barometer for industrial development (Porter and Kramer, 2019, p. 334). In contrast to other industrial sectors, the construction industry is dynamic, multidimensional, multidisciplinary, and extensible (Tay, 2017, pp.261-276; Kerzner, 2017). Proportionately, these characteristics are followed by many difficulties, including inadequate communication planning, leading to project failure.
Effective communication throughout the California High-Speed Rail Project’s lifespan is critical to its success. It encompasses all project stages to transmit performance indicators (Crandell and DEng, 2018; Xu, 2018, pp.90-95). Consequently, Orgut et al. (2020) argue that maintaining an effective communication process and information flow might be critical, given the volume of information and the number of individuals on such a huge project. Hence, insufficient communication advances become a problem in construction projects (Cavka et al., 2017, pp. 169-183). Furthermore, communication planning is viewed as an impediment to maintaining a consistent execution process and good project delivery.
According to a report published by the Project Management Institute (Pmi.org, 2022), over half of all project financial risk is attributable to inefficient communications, incorrect channeling, and inaccurate information transmission time management. Additionally, the survey stated that inadequate and insufficient communication is the leading cause of project failure (Pmi.org, 2022). Furthermore, the British Standards Institution calculated that the cost of rectifying problems caused by inadequate communication in the U.K. construction industry is around £20 billion annually (Bsigroup.com, 2022). Moreover, improved communication and information exchange between engineers, contractors, and designers is important to execute California High-Speed Rail Project on time and under budget.
Ineffective communication in the construction sector has other negative consequences. Frustration, friction, a problematic work climate, and demotivation are some of the negative consequences of ineffective communication (Vessey and Landon, 2017, pp.531-553). These concerns decrease production and efficiency since employees respond to every situation. Thus, efficient communication is essential to create a more intelligible workplace and encourage employee interaction to ensure project success. Based on a study conducted by Loukaitou-Sideris and Peters (2017) on the California High-Speed Rail Project, the American construction industry is characterized by multilingual and multicultural employees. Multiple languages are spoken, and multiple interpretations are created (Dahir et al., 2018, pp.101-113). The American construction industry employs people of various races, international investors, and labor. The workforce comprises nationals from Africa, Bangladesh, Russia, Jamaica, and Asian nations (Hamzah et al., 2020, p.2020). As a result, communication in the sector has obstacles and impediments to becoming effective.
According to Rahman and Landon (2017, pp.149-153), the most severe communication obstacle on American construction sites is the language barrier, making it difficult for supervisors to talk and deliver information, resulting in safety violations and improper execution project activities. Asadi (2019) examined the communication management between clients and architects during the planning stage. He concluded that improving communication between team members is critical to achieving adequate performance.
A global community has been formed in the California High-Speed Rail Project due to the interaction of individuals from different cultures. DeVito (2019) argues that intercultural communication arises when people from two distinct cultures come into contact. Different cultures worldwide have their own unique set of beliefs and practices. As a result, the project manager, California High-Speed Rail Project, must be careful not to mismanage cultural diversity to expand relationships with diverse cultures. An enterprise from a different culture can fail to develop long-term sustainability by mismanaging cultural diversity. Many elements must be considered while deciding how to interact with other2s, including an individual’s attitude toward hierarchy and communication style and one’s capacity to grasp different languages. When communicating between cultures, nonverbal cues, including body language, facial expressions, eye movements, and voice tonality, can be particularly challenging (Hargie, 2021). For example, there is a propensity in the United States to be very direct in communications and residents’ attitudes towards other individuals. Nevertheless, in other cultures, such as certain Asian regions, there is a tendency of soft-spokenness towards other individuals.
Recommendations
When working on a global, virtual project, choosing a common language for the project’s official business is essential. English has been recommended as a connecting language for international projects (Glikson and Erez, 2020). In order to limit the likelihood of misinterpretation, it is crucial to communicate clearly and concisely. A project’s communications should be centered on a vocabulary of only the most essential and unambiguous terms if English is chosen as the project’s common language. A system of regular communication, such as regular updates and reviews, should be set up for team members and stakeholders. A semi-regular meeting can be called by the project manager of a co-located team in the traditional setting. Team members’ proximity makes it unnecessary to spend a lot of time planning, monitoring, and reporting on meetings.
There would be far fewer virtual projects undertaken regularly if not for the ease of use and quick advancement in information systems. Information System components make it easier for the virtual team members to work together. Internet gateways, e-mail, video conferencing, and group decision support tools are just a few standard technologies used today. These tools enable project managers to collect daily progress reports and provide task-specific feedback. Project managers can also keep everyone updated on impending tasks and objectives. The virtual team can overcome some of the constraints imposed by time, location, sophistication, and multiplicity of participants through information technology (Hanelt et al., 2021, pp.1159-1197). Project team members can build personal ties with each other through information technology.
Conclusion
There is a clear need to improve project communication planning and management to optimize project delivery in the construction sector. According to the studies analyzed in this report, a lack of effective communication between consultants, contractors, and all project stakeholders substantially impacts the success of a construction project. To this objective, all stakeholders in construction projects must establish mechanisms to ensure communication is always a top priority for site workers and management prior to the start and throughout any project. The use of information technology in construction project management is advised for professionals involved in all construction project stages. This will boost performance and increase the likelihood of a project’s success.
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