Introduction

As a traditional method of project delivery, most construction industry projects in the UK

typically follows the Design Bid Build approach. This traditional method is simple and linear
where one phase ends before a new phase is begun. There’s no overlap in between the
design bid and build phases. One phase is completed before the project moves onto the
next one. (Kubba, 2017). The most common drawback of this approach is that it cuts the
feedback loop from the construction and practicality point of view. It focuses on the design
as the best possible solution as opposed to the most practical one where the construction
team is involved with the design team during the planning phase. The construction phase
comes with its own challenges to cope up with the design and keeping it as practical as
possible and managing the expectations of all participants involved throughout the project
duration.

A study published in the Harvard Business Review states that ‘one in every six projects costs
more than 200 percent of the estimated amount and almost 70 percent of IT projects face
project delays’. The percentage of companies successfully completing their projects on time
are just 2.5%. Such low project success rates are the reason why overcoming project
challenges is vital for the success of a project. The person who deals with these challenges
firsthand is the project manager. He is the point of contact between the client, project
sponsor and all stakeholders, but this job comes with a lot of responsibilities and challenges.

Project Management is all about managing, coordinating, and directing available resources
(human and material) throughout the project life, with one objective in mind i.e., to
complete the project in predetermined time, cost, and quality.

Challenges faced by Project Managers

Project Manager is the main point of contact between the client and the project team and is
therefore responsible for planning, coordination, and execution of project according to the
set standards. An essential trait for a good project manager is the leadership qualities to
lead the project as well as the project team. To complete a project successfully the project
manager must be able to foresee the challenges which might obstruct the project progress.
He will take measures to mitigate the risks involved to the best of his capacity with available
resources.

Projects in construction industry involve multiple teams widely spread-out functioning in

different domains e.g., procurement, finance, legal and technical etc. Managing these teams
on site and back in design rooms is one big challenge. The project manager will have to
manage the contractors and subcontractors, or any other tasks outsourced to third parties.
He might lack influence on outsourced teams due to long chain of commands. Projects run
smoothly when all teams are experienced with right expertise and when they are kept on
same page. All of them should have clarity regarding their jobs and their collective impact
on the project progress.

There are multiple challenges a project manager has to face when leading project teams.
The success of any construction project is completely dependent on the project teams who
execute the project on ground. A team will be as good as its team members. So, it sums up
to each individual who is responsible for the quality of work he is assigned. Efforts of each
team members create a compound effect which leads to the success of project. The project
team can lack experience, or the required skill set to perform a certain task. Dealing with
such project teams can be extremely challenging, since acquiring skills is a time taking
process, the project may suffer by slow progress or might lead to termination. A poor team
will put a great project at risk and a team with right skills will lead the project to success. A
project manager can only create best environment for the teams but if the staff lacks
problem solving skills, the project will be at risk. Therefore, it is crucial to have right team for
right job to make a project successful. Proper experience and foresight can help overcome
this challenge. An effective project manager will determine the required project criteria
beforehand to ensure which project staff and skills are required for the job. For that matter,
a project initiation document is created which deals with the project needs and required
resources and lays the foundation of project plan.

Along with experience and skill sets of project teams, availability of right team also remains
a main challenge. Often when hiring for project teams, a project manager must assign the
team for availability rather than their expertise (Sandeep Kashyap, 2019). For example,
certain construction projects demand specific skillset and knowledge, so it is up to the
project manager to train the existing team members or to hire someone with right
expertise. It depends on case to case whether the project manager can afford the time
taken by training them or has the resources to hire experts and save time. The project
manager can overcome these challenges by documenting the core skills required to
accomplish workload as well as analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of the staff. If
required, bridge the skill gap by training them.

Other challenges faced by project managers include politics or nepotism within

organizations, blame game, lack of accountability and lack of influence of project manager.

Dealing with Project participants

Another important challenge in project management is communication gap between the
project manager and other project participants. Construction projects involve many internal
and external stakeholders. For a project to complete smoothly, all participants need to be
on same page having a clear image of the project and must be kept up to date of any
changes during the project lifetime. Each of them must be managed accordingly to make
these projects a success. A project manager should be available for the project teams to
solve any issues within teams. The functional barriers should be removed to progress
effectively, and regular standing meetings must be held for progress updates. Each project
team is essential for a project to succeed, and a communication gap can adversely affect the
project. It is vital to consider client’s feedback and update him throughout the project as an
unconcerned client can be problematic in the final stages of project.
The project manager must keep in loop all internal and external stakeholders and the client
at all decision points right from the planning phase. He must encourage them to provide
feedback and shape the project.

These stakeholders shape the success criteria and strategy of the project. The major
stakeholders in any construction project are the client, projects sponsor, project manager
and its team members, suppliers (material/equipment), service providers (technical and
financial), consultants (internal and external), contractors and subcontractors, site workers,
end users and local jurisdiction authorities (Designingbuildings.co.uk, 2013). These all are
direct stakeholders and each of them are linked to the project in their respective domains
and must be taken on board where necessary. A communication or expectation gap
between the stakeholders might halt the project.

An experienced project manager will inform, consult, involve or collaborate with project
participants depending on their influence and stake on the project. Not all participants are
required to be considered on every decision point. For example, the project manager will
inform about decisions and how the decisions will affect the stakeholders who have less
power but high legality on project. Similarly, the project manager will consult the
stakeholders who have higher power influence on project. They provide their opinions and
inputs to key decisions, but it often doesn’t affect the overall project strategy. The
stakeholders having the highest power influence will be involved in all project activities
according to their interest. Their decisions have an impact on the project and management
is required to work closely with these participants to ensure their interests and expectations
are consistently managed. Stakeholders having high legitimacy and power which can affect
the project success should be treated as partners. The project manager will collaborate with
these participants to maintain their engagement and contribution to the project.
(Designingbuildings.co.uk, 2013).

To achieve project goals, it is also important for a project manager and the project teams to
communicate their expectations from each other. All stakeholders must be taken on board
regularly to report milestones, costing and deadlines, resource availability and trainings.

Conclusion
Construction projects are one of the most complex projects to manage since they involve a
lot of different domains ranging from building design, procurement, installation,
construction, legal framework, and standardizations approvals etc. Only an expert project
manager can take up this project successfully since he is the main point of contact between
the client/project sponsor and the project teams. Project management can be a nerve-
wrecking process. Therefore, a project manager must have great leadership qualities to lead
the project as well as separate project teams. Leading project teams comes with its own
challenges. The main challenge is matching the expertise of project teams with the tasks to
be performed. The project manager must manage the time and budget of the project and
must decide whether to train the existing teams or hire new experts and save time. The
project manager can document the core skillset require for project analyze the progress of
project teams accordingly. Other challenges when managing project teams are the
communication gap and functional barriers within the teams. The project manager should
try to keep all teams on same page by holding regular progress meetings and
communicating milestones and targets to each project team.

Other main challenge in construction projects is to manage the expectations of major

stakeholders in the project. The stakeholders can be divided into two parts i.e., internal
stakeholders and external stakeholders. These stakeholders can then further group down
according to their influence on project and their legal standing. The participants having the
most stakes in project are involved in key decision-making progress and they have an impact
on project strategy. Whereas the participants having the least stake in project are just
informed about the progress and decisions taken. Afterall, project management is a skill that
takes time and patience and there is no project without these challenges.
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