Communication Management Practice for Better Project Controls in the Construction Industry of Kenya: Industry Players’ Perspective
Cyrus Babu Ong`ondo
Ong`Ondo Babu Cyrus, Department of Construction Management, Jomo Kenyatta University, Agriculture & Technology, JKUAT Juja Kenya.
Manuscript received on 10 March 2016 | Revised Manuscript received on 20 March 2016 | Manuscript Published on 30 March 2016 | PP: 22-26 | Volume-5 Issue-10, March 2016 | Retrieval Number: J22730351016/16©BEIESP
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© The Authors. Blue Eyes Intelligence Engineering and Sciences Publication (BEIESP). This is an open access article under the CC-BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
Abstract: Communication plays an important role in integrating people, and taking decisions to make project control process a success. However, what constitutes effective communication is lacking as evidenced by failure of projects during implementation. In the construction industry of Kenya for example, several studies have alluded to poor communication within projects as one of the causes of poor project performance during implementation pointing to a missing link between what constitutes effective communication on one hand and its application in the management of projects on the other hand. This study therefore, sought to investigate communication management in the construction industry of kenya, with emphasis on its adequacy. A mixed-method design was used consisting of analysis of a questionnaire survey and interviews with subject matter experts. Data was collected from active 95No. (NCA1, NCA2 and NCA3) contractors selected by way of stratified random sampling. A similar approach was also used to select 92No.Consultants with a response rate of 54.73% and 46.73% respectively. In addition, 11No.practitioners were interviewed in the current study. The study established six (6No.) issues that need to be given careful attention when managing communication during projects implementation. The issues in order of importance include; Quality of decision making process (RII=0.900), Change approval procedure (RII=0.0.835), Quality & frequency of project meetings (RII=0.825), Update of project plans (RII=0.811), Project vision (RII=0.799) and progress reporting system(RII=0.636). The study concludes by compiling views of the practitioners on what they consider good practice in improving communication management practice. The study recommends the use of the good-practice checklist developed for better communication management in projects.
Keywords: Communication, Management, Construction Industry, Good-Practice Checklist, Kenya.
Scope of the Article: Optical Communication