Recent studies on the nature of management have been basedon broader observation and research. The studies have also focused on thediversity of management and the variation in the jobs that managers do. Amongthe well-known experimental studies on the nature of managers jobs and howmanagers spend their time, are by Henry Mintzberg, John Kotter. Fred Luthansand Rosemary Stewart. Construction management is a procurement route inwhich the works are constructed by a number of different trade contractors. These trade contractors are contracted to the client butmanaged by a construction manager.
Construction management is a route in whichthe works is constructed by a number of different trade contractors.Construction management is different to management contracting, as managementcontractors place direct contract with works contractors, while constructionmanagers only manage the trade contracts, the contracts are place by theclient.Construction managers are essentially proceeding as aconsultant to the client.
The client takes all the risk for the contractor’s’performance. In legal definition, the management contractor is proceeding as aprincipal while the construction manager is proceeding like an agent.Client is expected to place and administer the tradecontracts and therefore to accept price uncertainty, construction management isonly appropriate for experienced clients. The construction manager is usually appointed as early aspossible in the design process so as to benefit from their experience for theadjustment of the cost and the buildability of the proposed development.
And,to advise on selecting packages, the risk between packages and the selection ofthe trade contractors.Construction managers are usually appointed at the end ofthe concept design stage. Appointing the construction manager at that stage mayenable early tendering on some trade packages, occasionally even before thedesign is completed.
For example, piling, might commence whilst thedetailed design of above ground works continues. This can shorten the timetaken to complete the project, however it means that there will be priceuncertainty until the design is complete and all contracts have been let. The services provided by a construction manager mightinclude: Advising on the development of the brief (if appointed at this stage). Advising on the procurement route. Advising on appointments (such as site inspectors). Advising on the feasibility, interfaces, buildability, cost and programming of the design.
Advising on statutory approvals. Defining key performance indicators for trade contractors. Advising on the need for mock ups, samples, tests and inspections. Acting as the principal contractor. Cost planning and cost control. Preparing a construction programme and defining methods of working on site. Identifying potential trade contracts.
Tendering trade contracts. Consenting to subcontracting of work by trade contractors. Arranging for site accommodation, welfare facilities, fences, hoardings, roads and walkways, drainage, power and water supply. Co-ordinating setting out. Arranging labour for certain site activities (such as cleaning).
Managing site inspectors. Co-ordinating the release of information. Managing and coordinating trade contracts, including acting as contract administrator, carrying out or coordinating inspections, issuing instructions and certificates etc. Co-ordinating the work of statutory undertakers. Witnessing tests and coordinating commissioning. Collating as-built information, building owner’s manual, building user’s handbook, project handbook, health and safety file, pre-construction information and construction phase plan. Monitoring key performance indicators. Managing the site.
Chairing site progress meetings and preparing progress reports for the client. Construction manager may be paid based on reimbursable costs(such as sitefacilities, staff costs, statutory fees,offices and so on) and a management fee. Including pre-construction andconstruction fees that may be fixed or calculated on an agreed formula. It is essential to determine what is included in theconstruction manager’s pay (for example insurance needs or payment of statutoryfees) and to decide on the limit of the construction manager’s authority inhanding out instructions which may affect the cost of the projectIf the construction manager carries out a consultancy andmanagement role (unlike a traditional contractor), their selection could be onsimilar terms as that of the consultant team. A Construction manager may be required to hold aprofessional indemnity insurance and to make available collateral warrantiesfor tenants, purchasers or funders. And collaborating with the consultantteam is important to the success of the project.
As construction managers tend to be appointed early in theproject, their appointment is unlikely to include a completiondate. NB: TheChartered Institute of Building (CIOB)created a new profession of ‘Chartered Construction Manager’ in 2013. CIOB’s useof the term ‘construction manager’ is a much broader one than the contractualdefinition described above. They describe constructionmanagement as, ‘Management of the development, conservationand improvement of the builtenvironment’. This might involve any role managing constructionactivities, rather than the specific role of managing trade contractorswho are contracted to the client.
In a project management contract the company fillingthe role supplies only the management and other professional services wherebywork is carried out under a series of direct contracts. The contract containsobligations limited to managing and coordinating these individual directcontracts, the drafting of which involve certain common difficulties. Comparethe contractual implications of using external consultants or internal teamsfor project management. An internal consultant may give at first similar impressionas to an external consultant: a specialist that is employed to come up withsolutions for a specific organisational problem with aim to enhance theperformance of the organisation.
The two types of consultants can be employed in allconceivable management and organisational areas. Areas such as strategicplanning to mergers and acquisitions, finance, organisation efficiency, processimprovement and technology. Comparable to external consultants, their vyinginternal colleagues can work as advisors, change agent, execution facilitators,coaches or trainers. The dissimilarity sits at the relationship with the clientorganisation. Internal consultants are employees and therefore restrictthemselves to only full-time advisory within the organisation.
The key motivation for the emergence of internal consultingis that organisations are in constant need of expertise from outside theorganisation. Therefore to reduce the reliance on third parts that chargeexcessive amount of money, some organisations opt to develop their internalconsulting unit. The internal consultant report back to a central consultingdepartment, which appoints a number of employees from different businessdepartment within the organisation to proceed with the project. Officiallyeveryone on the team is still employed by the organisation. But only theconsulting department works as an outsider since the consultants do not workfor that specific business unit. The definition of internal consulting may be contingent tothe real size of the consulting market that may vary according to the orders ofmagnitude.
Only a small part of the typical ‘consulting’ roles works in formalinternal consulting groups. Several consulting and execution are dispersed overa number of departments and function, altogether supporting internal clientwith particular problems. Internal department such as Corporate Development,Corporate Finance, Human Resources, Finance, Project Management Offices and ITbusiness units. In addition many employees fill the role of consultant as partof their daily work without carrying the title of consultant. If these twogroups are added to the statistic then the internal consulting market wouldeasily exceed the value of the actual external consulting market.The creation of the internal consultancy branches is notonly thought of reducing the cost but there are a number of other reasonsorganisations build up internal teams or opt for internal over externalconsultants. Porsche Consulting, which was initiated originally in automotivecompany Porsche and nowadays offers advice to a wide range in the industrialsector.
There are innumerable other examples of consultancy firms growing outfrom internal practices within big corporates such as GM, Philips and Shell, toname a few.Finally, developing an internal consulting department couldbe an interesting way for an organisation to place themselves in theconsultancy market and therefore provide external consultancy to otherorganisations. Additionally, External consultant build for themselves a goodreputation by working with specialised consultancy firms with the biggest namesin the market. And building on that track record are regarded to be credibleadvisors. Internal consultants do not have this advantage. Choosing for an optionOrganisation that are confronted with the decision to eitherbuild internal consultancy or hire external consultants should study theadvantage and disadvantages of building an internal consultancy team orregularly hire consultant ahead of this issue arising.
Also, the context inwhich the choice should be made plays a big role in this.In some cases hiring external consultants can beadvantageous, in case where deeply specialised knowledge is needed for a largescale project. Or in case a third party opinion is needed on a problem. In somecase organisations don’t have in-house capacity to deal with a specificproblem. Internal advisors, on their side, know the organisation well and, forexample, are aware of what is taking place with the organisation – as theyspeak the language of the organisation and understand the culture of theprofessionals working there. Furthermore, hiring an external consultant can bea more costly commitment, whereby an internal advisor, from a cost viewpoint,could be the better choice. Internal advisors can, also, switch gears fasterwithin the organisation, if necessary.Organisation should initially consider if an externalconsultant can better be utilised for a specific problem, if it the case, howmuch expertise is needed.
Large organisations that have already build awell-established internal consultancy department, the decision whether toemploy an external consultant is easily made. However, when a major (change)project requires a large quantity of resources (human capital, specificexpertise), it can be easier to choose for external reinforcementhttp://www.consultancy.uk/consulting-industry/external-vs-internal-consultantsaccessed on 7 January 2018Task 5 (Evidence for LO 3.3)The management of the project by the project managerinvolves: The leading of the team Co-ordination of the team members Control of the team The way that the project interfaces with the project environment.Discuss the relationship that a project manager willhave with the design and production teams.According to Harold Kerzner (2009 Ref 1), ‘projectmanagement is much more behaviour based than quantitative, becauseprojects are managed by people’. Therefore the people such as the project teamand project managers that are relevant to the success or failure of theproject.
The word ‘team’ can be used for any group of people who mustextensively collaborate with each other to achieve common objectives. Team building Roles and responsibility Role and responsibilities matrix A Roles and Responsibilities Matrix can be utilised to planthe roles and responsibilities within a project. This matrix may assist inrecognising the roles required, actions each person or groups will need toundertake. It can also help to discover any gaps or if extra resources areneeded to complete the project.
An evaluation can be undertaken to determinewhether extra resources are available within the organisation or whether newexternal resource will be needed. As the project progresses a clearedResponsibility Assignment Matrix (RAM) can be developed to identify which taskto assign to which person. The project manager The role and responsibility of the project manager are extensivelydiscussed in previous tasks, it’ll only be looked at in this section inrelation to other teams. The project manager (team leader) has to control andguide resources while achieving performance targets such as standards, scheduledates and cost.
Project managers are responsible their team management throughguidance, motivation, output and control. They are also responsible for thesuccessful completion of the project by needed resources such as human,financial and material resources at the appropriate time.The project manager must show leadership as they are theproject integrator, planner and communicator. The project manager must have theability to work with others, using good communication, experience andcooperation skills and have the aptitude to maintain control of the team andthe project. Leadership Styles As part of the team building process, the project managermust earn his team trust by showing distinct leadership skills and management.He/she must assume as a leader the role model for the team and become someonethat employees follow easily and willingly as he/she could deliver them themeans to achieve personal objectives.
There are different styles of management styles forproviding guidance, executing plans and inspiring people: Autocratic leaders make managerial decisions by themselves. They tell their employees what they want done and how they want it accomplished, without getting the advice of their followers. Consultative autocrats use information from the members, but keep all substantive decision-making authority to themselves. Consensus managers tend to throw open the problem to the group for discussion and allow or encourage the group to make the decision.
Shareholder managers, give the group the ultimate authority for the final decision. Team members Team members are inevitably different types of employees,each with a different skill to contribute to the team. Their role can haveeither a constructive or destructive role. Constructive role can motivate theteam towards achieving their objectives.
Destructive roles can obstruct theteam to achieve their objectives.Constructive roles may include: the originator, theinformation seeker, the information giver, the encourager, the harmoniser, theclarifier, the summariser and the gatekeeper.Destructive roles include; the, the blocker, the withdrawer,the recognition seeker, the topic jumper and the dominator.And finally the devil’s advocate, who brings up alternativeviewpoints, can be positive or negative. Conflict Normally, organisation’s goals and objectives areestablished by its senior management in conjunction with the organisation’svalue, purposes and missions.
The team members have to accept and apply these goals andobjectives even if their personal convictions or objectives differ considerablywith these. Constructive conflict occurs when people change and growpersonally from the conflict, involvement of the individuals affected by theconflict is increased and a solution to the problem is found.Conflict occurs due to issues such as intersecting oropposing goals, roles, authority, ideas, and personality etc.
… Conflict isunavoidable as projects are human driven enterprise, but it is not alwaysnegative. Beneficial conflicts happen when people gain experience through thatconflict and involvement of the person affected by the conflict is amplifiedand finally a resolution of the conflict is achieved.Nevertheless, if a resolution of the conflict is quicklyachieved it can damage, endangering organisational unity, businesspartnerships, team relationships, and interpersonal connections.
Destructiveconflict happen if a resolution isn’t achieved and the conflict persists,consuming energy away from important activities, have an impact on the team’smoral or individual is destroyed, and groups of people or teams are polarised. Conflict can arise between parties when: They have unclear work boundaries and role definitions (ambiguous jurisdictions). Parties try to achieve different or inconsistent goals (conflict of interest and personality). Communication difficulties create misunderstanding and the blocking of efforts to explain needs, viewpoints and actions. Disagreements concerning scheduling and timing constraints. Differing ideas over the sequence of activities and tasks.
Differences between and within the project team and support groups. Disagreements over technical issues.It is within the project manager’s responsibility to resolveconflicts and avert destructive results. Depending on the project phase, thesituation, different existing powers can be used.
For example; legitimatepower, coercive power, reward power, expert power and referent power.https://www.designingbuildings.co.uk/wiki/Team_management_for_building_design_and_construction_projects accessed on 7 January 2018
