The Communication Barriers Among Project Teams in Construction Projects

Norbaizura Abu Bakar; Nur Dhia Insyirah Othman; Mohd Hafiz Saberi; Siti Nurhayati Hussin; Farhan Md Dahlan

Norbaizura Abu Bakar
Nur Dhia Insyirah Othman
Mohd Hafiz Saberi
Siti Nurhayati Hussin
Farhan Md Dahlan

Abstract

Many failures and poor project performance reports on building projects have been related to communication issues. The consequences of poor communication are frequently severe and are brought on by elements inherent in construction companies’ management structures. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to explore the critical causes of communication barriers among project teams in construction projects. This study employed a quantitative method by distributing a questionnaire survey to project teams in the Perak area. Questionnaire surveys were distributed to 139 respondents with 60.43% of questionnaire returned rate. Data was collected and analysed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). The evaluation data revealed that the most causes of communication barriers are creating an inharmonious supervisor-subordinate relationships, encouraging casual interaction, usage of formal setting and fear of power when communicating. The result of this study could help current and future industry teams to enhance effective communication in order to improve project performance. Thus, every organisation should develop a communication plan for controlling and managing communication flow on construction sites.

References

Adu-Oppong, A. A., & Agyin-Birikorang, E. (2014). Communication in the workplace: Guidelines for improving effectiveness. Global Journal of Commerce & Management Perspective, 3(5), 208-213.
Alshawi, M., and Ingirige, B. (2003). Web-enabled project management: an emerging paradigm. Automation in construction,12(4), 349-364.
Calvert, R.E., Bailey, G., and Coles, D. (2003). Introduction to Building Management. Butterworth - Heinemann. Oxford; Great Britain
Dainty, A., Moore, D., & Murray, M. (2006). Communication in Construction: Theory and Practice (1st ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203358641
Demkin JA. (2008). The architect’s handbook of professional practice. Hoboken (NJ): John Wiley & Sons.
Dunn, A. K., & Handelsman, J. (2002). Toward an understanding of microbial communities through analysis of communication networks. Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, 81(1), 565-574.
Evans, A., & Suklun, H. (2017). Workplace diversity and intercultural communication: A phenomenological study. Cogent Business & Management,4(1). doi:10.1080/23311975.2017.1408943.
Ferguson, Jan (2003): Building in Practice. Mitchell, London.
Gorse CA, Emmitt S. (2007). Communication behaviour during management and design team meetings: a comparison of group interaction. Cons Manag Econ. 25:11971213.
Gray, J., & Laidlaw, H. (2004). Improving the measurement of communication satisfaction. Management communication quarterly, 17(3), 425-448.
Huczynski, A., & Buchanan, D. (2001). Organizational behaviour: An introductory text (instructor's manual). Financial Times/Prentice Hall.
Keyton, J. (2011). Communication and organizational culture: A key to understanding work experience. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Mahamid, I. (2016). Micro and macro level of dispute causes in residential building projects: Studies of Saudi Arabia. Journal of King Saud University-Engineering Sciences, 28(1), 12–20. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jksues.2014.03.002
Miller, R. (2012). Employee engagement: how social media are changing internal communication. Share This: The Social Media Handbook for PR Professionals, 193-204.
Mohamed, S. & Stewart R. A. (2003). Web- Based Communication. Journal of Automation in Construction. 12(1), 43-53.
Nulty, D. D. (2008). The adequacy of response rates to online and paper surveys: what can be done Assessment & evaluation in higher education, 33(3), 301-314.
Price, J. L. (1997). Handbook of organizational measurement. International Journal of Manpower, 18(4/5/6), 303-558.
Robbins, H., & Finley, M. (2000). The new why teams don't work: What goes wrong and how to make it right. Berrett-Koehler Publishers.
Sim, B. (2018). Harmony through diversity in the Malaysian workforce. Retrieved from https://www.persolkelly.com/news/harmony-through-diversity-in-the-malaysian workforce/43350/.
Teddlie, C. and Yu, F. (2007). Mixed Methods Sampling: A Typology with Examples.
Journal of Mixed Methods Research, 1(1), pp.77-100.
Uher, T.E. & Loosemore, M. (2004). Essentials of Construction Management. Sydney, Australia: UNSW
Valitherm, A. N. A. N. T. H. A. N. (2014). Communication barrier in Malaysia construction sites. International Journal of Education and Research, 2(1), 1-10.
Valkenburg, A C and Dorst, K (2002). The reflective practice of design teams Design Studies, pp. 19.
Webb, P., Bain, C., & Page, A. (2017). Essential epidemiology: an introduction for students and health professionals. Cambridge University Press.
Wolf, M., Sims, J., & Yang, H. (2018, March). Social media? What social media?. In UKAIS (p. 3).
Yoshihara, H., Okabe, Y., & Sawaki, S. (2006). Eigo de Keieisuru Jidai – Nihon Kigyo no Chosen (The age of business management in English - The challenge for Japanese companies). Tokyo Japan: Yuhikaku Publishing Co Ltd.
European Journal of Education Studies, 7(10).