Project managers’ communication skills

and stakeholder engagement in

sustainable construction projects
Ahmad Serhan
Asen Draganov

Main field of study – Leadership and Organisation

Degree of Master of Arts (60 credits) with a Major in Leadership and Organisation
Master Thesis with a focus on Leadership and Organisation for Sustainability (OL646E), 15 credits
Spring 2016
Supervisor: Fredrik Rakar
 Abstract

This thesis explores construction project manager’s perception about their stakeholder

engagement with different communication skills during the phases of a project. As the

construction industry is focusing on green building projects in recent years, the job of the project

manager becomes more complex as he/she has to balance the interests of various stakeholders in

order to create sustainable development within his/her project. Therefore this study is exploring

how the project manager as a leader is communicating with the different stakeholders in order to

reach the sustainable goals of his/her project. For that matter primary data was collected via a

questionnaire that was sent to project managers from different countries, that are working with

projects focusing on implementation of sustainability in their projects and project managers that

are not focusing on sustainability in their projects. A comparison between the answers of the

different project managers was made, in order to determine in each phase of the project, if there

is a difference in the stakeholder engagement and use of communication skills, when it comes to

project managers working on construction projects with a focus on sustainable development.

This study provides some indications to answer the questions regarding what communication

skills a project manager should use and what stakeholder he should engage in each phase, in

order to reach the sustainable goals of his project. Based on theories and our experience in the

field we provide an explanation on an occurring pattern of the behavior of the project managers

that can be further explored in future research.

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Table of content

1. Introduction…………………………………………………………………………………………. 1

1.1 The current situation of construction projects…………………………….……………................. 1

1.1.1 Green building as a mean for sustainable construction projects....................................... 2

1.1.2 Green Building and Sustainable construction ……………………..………....................... 3

1.1.3 Sustainable development…………………………………………………………………. 3

1.1.4 Sustainability challenges facing the construction industry …………….…........................ 4

1.2 Project manager’s skills in construction projects…………….………….…………….................... 6

1.3 Importance of communication through identifying the key stakeholders ……………………….. 8

1.4 Problem formulation…………………………………………………………………………...…… 10

1.5 Purpose……………………………………………………………………………………...……… 11

1.6 Research Questions………………………………………………………………………...……….. 11

1.7 Methodology and philosophy of science and inference………………………………………...….. 12

2. Pre-understanding……………………………………………………………………………...…… 13

2.1 Communication’s influence on the sustainability of a project……………………………..………. 13

2.2 Stakeholders in construction projects……………...……….……………………………..……....... 15

2.3 Project manager role in achieving sustainability…………..……………………………...………... 20

2.4 Effective leadership in construction projects ……………………………...……………...………... 24

2.5 Project managers as leaders………………………………………………………………………… 25

2.6 Communication skills………………………………………………………………………………. 26

2.7 Phases of a project………………………………………………………………………………….. 28

3. Methods…………………………………………………………………………………...…...…… 29

3.1 Data creation, collection and survey instrument…………………………………………...……….. 29

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3.2 Data coding, organizing and analysis………………………………………………………...…….. 31

3.3 Data reliability and validity………………………………………………………………...……..... 32

3.3.1 Reliability……………………………………………………………...…………...…….. 32

3.3.2 Validity…………………………………………………………………...………………. 32

4. Data Description………………………………………………………………………...…………… 35

4.1 General Description for the sustainability awareness and the project implementation of 35
sustainability…………………………………………………………………………...……………

4.2 Description for aware and unaware sustainability respondents …………………………………..... 36

4.3 Phases comparison…………………………………………………………………...……………... 42

4.4 Correlation description between stakeholders and communication skills in each phase of the 44
project…………………………………………………………………………………...…………..

4.5 Individual responses capture for sustainability aware project manager and implementing 47
sustainability in their project in each phase…………………………………………...………….....

5. Data Analysis……………………………………………………………………………...……......... 49

5.1 Phases comparison analysis……………………………………………………………...………..... 49

5.2 Correlation analysis between stakeholders and communication skills in each phase of the 55
project…………………………………………………………………………………...…………..

5.3 Analysis for the individual response capturing for the 13 project managers who are aware and 59
implementing sustainability in their projects………………………………………...……………...

6. Conclusion ……………………………………………………………………………...…………… 63

6.1 Results discussion……………………………………………………………………...…………… 63

6.2 Summary of key findings…………………………………………………………...……………... 65

6.3 Further research……………………………………………………………………...…………...... 67

References……………………………………………………………………………….……………... 69

Appendix………………………………………………………………………………….…………... 74
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List of figures

Figure 1: Some of the 60 countries that either has or developing green building assessment system.. 2

Figure 2: Stakeholders’ three categories……………………………………………………………… 16

Figure 3: Communication skills framework………………………………………………………….. 27

List of tables

Table 1: General description for all the collected sample…………………………………………. 35

Table 2: Description for the project managers with high sustainability awareness……………….. 36

Table 3: Description for the project managers with low sustainability awareness………………... 37

Table 4: Detailed description for project managers with high sustainability awareness in term of 41
stakeholders involvement…………………………………………………………………………..

Table 5: Detailed description for project managers with high sustainability awareness in term of 41
the communication skills…………………………………………………………………………...

Table 6: Significant and insignificant correlation between the stakeholders involvement and the 46
communication skills used in each phase…………………………………………………………..

Table 7: Individual highest responses for sustainability aware project managers implementing 48
sustainability in their projects……………………………………………………………………...

Table 8: Interesting differences between the responses of the PM with high sustainability 50
awareness in term of stakeholders…………………………………………………………………

Table 9: Interesting differences between the responses of the PM with high sustainability 50
awareness in term of communication skills………………………………………………………..

Table 10: Individual responses capturing for the 13 PMs who are aware and implementing 59
sustainability in their projects in term of stakeholders……………………………………………..

Table 11: Individual responses capturing for the 13 PMs who are aware and implementing 61
sustainability in their projects in term of communication skills…………………………………...
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1. Introduction

This section introduces the topic of sustainability in the construction industry and the

project manager’s role in achieving its goals. The construction industry is focusing on green

building in recent years, due to increased awareness about the benefits of sustainable

development from the perspective of various stakeholders. Additionally this section is

highlighting the role of a project manager in addressing the challenges of sustainable

construction project, through effective communication with the various stakeholders. Following

this, a problem, purpose and research question are presented.

1.1 The current situation of construction projects

In ancient Rome, architects defined the direction of architecture as building commodity,

firmness and delight which is equivalent to usefulness, stability and beauty, but nowadays we

must add a fourth direction or dimension which is harmony, which means to create balance

between buildings and the building environment (Charles J. Kibert, 2012). For the last two

decades there has been a significant effort in integrating sustainability to the building

environment, the resulting sustainable construction movement has gained stability and power.

This movement nowadays is international in scope with about 60 national green building

councils (fig. 1) that promote, develop, supervise and evaluate the performance of the

construction organizations against the environmental, economic and social requirements (Charles

J. Kibert, 2012).
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Figure 1. Some of the 60 countries that either has or developing green building assessment system

Charles J. Kibert, 2012. (p. 1)

Moreover, some localities currently are providing grants for matching funds to encourage green

building, but on the other side grant programs focus on a measurable results, such as energy

saving and LEED certification (Rebecca S., 2007).

1.1.1 Green building as a mean for sustainable construction projects

Due to the increased awareness about sustainability among stakeholders, green building

certification (ex. LEED certifications) and eco-labels are becoming a necessity in construction

projects, because they provide a core information about the quality and the performance of the

project in relation to sustainability (Fuerst F et al., 2014). Using sustainable concepts and

materials can help the construction companies in terms of having more freedom in the future to

protect their buildings from future restrictions that might occur. Green buildings incorporate

energy and water efficient technologies that are not available in traditional buildings. These
 3

technologies create a healthier and more comfortable environment, as they utilize renewable

energy, reduce waste and decrease heating and cooling expenses (Fuerst F et al., 2014).

1.1.2 Green Building and Sustainable construction

Green building stands for the quality and the attributes to which buildings are constructed

using the conventions and techniques of sustainable construction. It also reflects a healthy

construction that designates a resource-efficient aspect via ecological concepts (Charles J.

Kibert, 2012). On the other hand the term sustainable construction is dealing with environmental,

economical and social issues of the construction project within the building environment. In

general it is about constructing a healthier building with a healthier environment, which takes

into consideration an efficient resource plan and environmental design (Charles J. Kibert, 2012).

1.1.3 Sustainable development

The UN Brundtland Commission (1987) introduced a definition for sustainability that is

widely spread and very often used. It defines sustainable development as meeting the

needs of the present generation, without compromising those of future generations and

without jeopardizing the natural ecological systems, which effects life on earth.

Sustainable development is still a very general concept and that is interpreted in different

ways (Hopwood, Mellor, & O'Brien, 2005). In regard to sustainability in business, many

different approaches can be found. Elkington (1997) simplified the definition in the

context of any business, by introducing the triple bottom line concept (3BL). The concept

consists of three pillars, defining sustainability in accordance with organisations’

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economic prosperity, environmental quality and social justice. Furthermore, the 3BL

states that there is a need to create balance between these three pillars (Elkington, 1997).

In the context of construction industry we are going to examine the sustainability

challenges that are affecting the working environment.

1.1.4 Sustainability challenges facing the construction industry

 Social challenges

Sustainability is an active factor in the social level having the capacity to provide access

to good education, creating goodwill, improving community consultation and promoting interest

in various fields (Said I. et al., 2010). The impact of the rising cost, which results from

sustainability integration in construction, should be taken into consideration as it affects the

construction markets towards more expensive building. Which also leads to clients segregation

in terms of the fact that sustainable building ca be for rich people only. In the same context the

satisfaction of the end users cannot be negotiated, because it is important for the attainment of

social sustainability (Said I. et al., 2010). Construction buildings are likewise part of our living

environment, contributing to our living situations, social prosperity and health. This is why it is

an important challenge to explore environmentally and economically with sound design and

advanced mechanisms to guarantee that the construction industry is socially sustainable, healthy

and affordable (Majdalani Z. et al., 2005). Thus the industry faces pressure to increase the

sustainability of its work processes, which is to implement sound modifications and changes in

the industry’s understanding of the societal and customer needs of society and practice changes

in its management (Wilson I., Rezgui Y., 2013).

 Economical challenges
 5

The guiding path for any responsible business should be to be profitable. Programs that

work in the name of CSR and sustainability and ignore profits, lead to business failure, job losses

etc. (Werther and Chandler 2011). The main question for Said I. et al. (2010), is how to sustain

the construction industry as an economical driver, as long as construction is important to the

economical growth of every country (Raynsford, 1999; Seaden & Manseau, 2001). In general to

maintain an economical growth is a big challenge for construction projects.

 Environmental challenges

Global warming is seen as a very important challenge for the construction industry that

concerns the environment. It is significantly affecting the consumption of energy in term of

heating, ventilating and air conditioning (Ortiz O. et al., 2009). Moreover, land use, acidification,

crystallization, stratospheric ozone depletion, biological resources and human toxicity effects are

common in the construction industry. The main effects of climate change are emissions of

greenhouse gases (Ortiz O. et al., 2009). Long term effects from the greenhouse gases are

considered to be one of the main reasons for the environmental problems and the severely

competitive construction firms may find it tough to change their work process, in order to

address that (Said I. et al., 2010). The construction industry also produce a gigantic amount of

waste that pollute the environment. Reports by the Environmental Protection Department in

Hong Kong shows that in 2006 the construction waste reached 29,884 tons per day (Robin C. &

Poon C., 2009). This is a huge amount of waste that requires a separate sustainable project that

will help its management. But what comes first to mind when a new construction idea pops up is

the area it will consume in addition to the natural resources (Majdalani Z. et al., 2005). Buildings

need cement and other building materials, some of which are extracted from quarries that need to

be transported over long distances, which in return exerts pressure on the roads (Majdalani Z. et
 6

al., 2005). In general construction leads to less green spaces and to more consumption of natural

resources.

These challenges have a great impact on the success of construction projects. Therefore, the

construction organizations need to assign very capable project managers that can address these

challenges and lead the project to success using their technical, human and conceptual skills.

1.2 Project manager’s skills in construction industry

Project managers (PMs) have the goals of the project they are leading as their own. They

posses certain skills and expertise that allows them to direct the project team towards a shared

purpose within the organization. Change and complexity in dynamic environments are some of

the everyday challenges they are facing. Furthermore, project managers are perceived to be

leading diverse teams with little direct control over the team members (Cleland and Ireland,

2002).

In this section we are examining the role of project managers as managers. Moreover, we will

examine the project manager's role from leadership perspective and the importance of motivating

the individuals in the project team and creating an effective working environment in order the

project team to meet its goals. In the context of project management, good leaders need to

address the relationships within teams, communicate their values, and at the same time pay

suitable importance to processes (Turner, 2006).

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The skills of a good project manager are essential for managing the unexpected obstacles a team

can face on a daily basis. A good project manager encounters obstacles and removes them from

the path of his/her followers (Remarkable Leadership, 2007), but the project manager can

encounter obstacles when trying to help his/her team. One of these common problems that a PM

encounters when directing their teams is ineffective communication (PMI’s Pulse of the

Profession, 2013).

In construction projects, managers should be armed with different skills to establish successful

communication that indicates what types of leaders he/she is. The survival of any project

depends on the ability of a project manager to communicate with the team and with all

stakeholders included (Zulch B, 2014). Moreover, Zulch B. (2014) states that effective projects

require three levels of communications: vertical communication or hierarchical communication,

horizontal communication between colleagues and diagonal communication with the project

stakeholders. Thus a leader or a project manager should adopt a leadership style that influence

project success through effective and efficient communication with stakeholders. Project

managers need to be flexible throughout the project development phases which require different

leadership communication skills.

However, when a project manager works with sustainability, his/her role becomes even more

complex, because in relation to the triple bottom line (3BL) the social, environmental and

financial aspects of a business need to be taken into consideration, so maximum economical

value can be achieved (Elkington,1994). The same rule applies in the construction field, as

sustainability adds another dimension to the already complex role of project manager, who has to

balance the interests of various stakeholders, as well as find a way to realize the actual
 8

construction of the building on time and in the frame of the initial budget, while considering

various factors.

The different roles of a project manager have one thing in common and that is the fact that a

project manager has to communicate with the different parties involved in the project, in order to

reach the goals of the organization. Therefore it is important to describe why communication is

important in a project.

1.3 Importance of communication through identifying the key stakeholders

In the context of the construction industry, the quality of communication plays a big role in the

success of construction projects (Nielsen & Erdogan, 2007). This is supported by the fact that

poor communication is identified by the project managers, as one of the most common project

risks in construction (Ceric, 2014). Furthermore, poor communication in construction can cause

lower performance and a higher turnover of staff (Dainty, Moore, & Murray, 2006). In the

construction projects where the expenses are already higher than expected and the time is

limited, communication can be neglected, as it can be seen as time consuming and as an

unnecessary expense. However, communication difficulties during the projects can increase

unnecessary expenditure and affect the time progress and quality of the outcome (Anumba,

Baron, & Duke, 1997).

Communication is often described as crucial because it is the job of the project manager. This is

supported by the fact that 80 percent of the manager’s time is spent on interpersonal
 9

communication (Klauss and Bass, 1982). Furthermore, it is discussed the importance of inter-

organizational differences. That is explained through that communication is most important in

organizations and organizational segments that must deal with uncertainty, that are complex and

that have a technology that does not permit easy reutilization. Complexity and uncertainty

increases the need for communication. It is essentially the communication process of a PM with

different stakeholders that effects the performance of the project. That is why it is essential for a

PM to know which stakeholders to involve in his communication process during the different

stages of a project.

Nowadays stakeholder engagement is quickly becoming a part of construction projects practices

in order to deliver better project results. For example stakeholder identification is a critical

component of the initial scoping phase and should occur before an engagement plan is

formulated and consultations begin. As each stakeholder usually has their own interest in the

project which may cause different priorities, conflicts and dramatically increase the complexity

of the situation (Karlsen et.al, 2008). If a project manager learns how to manage the different

stakeholder engagement processes it can help all stakeholders to reach the goal of the project that

can be to increase quality of life, while decreasing negative environmental impacts and

increasing the economical sustainability of the project. Stakeholder engagement should therefore

be taken as a core element of any “sustainable development” plan. Furthermore, the success of

a construction projects relies on meeting the needs and expectations of stakeholders (Cleland,

1995). The ability of a project manager to manage relationships with stakeholders can help to

deal with changing stakeholder needs. Furthermore, this ability will allow a PM to respond more

efficiently to the difficulties that may arise or issues that need to be resolved. Therefore a project
 10

is more likely to be successful in the long term, if it takes into consideration the needs of all

stakeholders.

In order a project manager to be flexible with his/her communication with different stakeholders,

throughout the phases of a project, he needs to possess certain skills that are going to help to

convey the purpose/message/goal of the project.

Communications skills are essential for addressing the sustainable aspect of a construction

project, because it is more complex. Therefore communication is essential for solving the

sustainable challenges of a project. From the above mentioned it becomes central to discuss

influence of communication in the sustainability of a project.

1.4 Problem formulation

We found that the construction industry is turning more and more towards green building

and adopting sustainable solutions in their work processes. This turning over is due to the

increased awareness about the potential benefits from sustainable solutions in the long term

(Fuerst F et al., 2014). Here comes the role of project manager in the construction project as a

leader and coordinator to promote sustainable thinking within the building environment. In every

project communication is incorporated throughout all stages in each process, as the job of a

project manager is considered communicating (Klauss and Bass, 1982). Furthermore, we found

communication as a key factor that affects the perception of sustainability among different

stakeholders. Therefore in order to achieve the sustainable goals of a project, the project manager

needs to successfully communicate the goals to the key stakeholders. But in order to do that

he/she needs to possess skills on three levels of communication (Zulch B., 2014) that can
 11

alter the perception of sustainability of the involved parties in relation to the project. Moreover,

we believe that the communication skills that a project manager uses should be flexible

depending on the stakeholder.

From the literature we found plenty of information about the communication role of the project

manager in the construction industry and for the relation between leaders and communication.

But in terms of defining how project managers use communication to achieve the goals of a

sustainable construction projects among different stakeholders, we found a gap in the practical

information that explores this issue. Based on the aforementioned, the relation between the

communication skills of a project manager with key stakeholders in sustainable construction

projects and stakeholder engagement during the phases of a construction project has been

identified as a research gap. Therefore we are analyzing this research gap further through a

survey with project managers working on construction projects.

1.5 Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore the essential communication skills that project

managers use with key stakeholders to successfully incorporate sustainability within construction

projects during the project phases.

1.6 Research Question

 How are project managers engaging stakeholders and using communication skills to

incorporate sustainability in a construction project?

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1.7 Methodology, philosophy of science and research design

In line with our social constructivist perspective we have conducted a survey using a

descriptive and explorative inference, to describe the influence of communication skills of a

project manager on the sustainability of a construction project and to explore how

communication skills need to be adapted to the requirements/needs of the different stakeholders,

throughout the phases of a project.

In line with our previous experience and observation within the field of communication in

projects and construction projects, the aim and purpose of this research has been created based

on our previous working experience in projects from the view of a project manager or just as a

member of a project. Thus an inductive approach has been applied to guide the research in the

paper.

According to 6 & Bellamy, the aim and purpose of a inductive research approach is to develop a

statement from a position in which we have no real idea of what might turn out to be relevant,

plausible or helpful to a subject (6 & Bellamy, 2012), which in this case will be to explain which

are the communication skills in a sustainable construction project that are central to its success.

We base our research design on a case study, as well as a quantitative data from our survey. Thus

the analysis has been conducted based on primary data created through a systematic analysis of

the response of project managers in construction industry, based on their experience with

communicating sustainability in projects. A quantitative survey has been selected, due to our

descriptive and explorative inference, which we are using to investigate the relation between

communications skills and the sustainability of a project.

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2. Pre-understanding

In this section we are presenting theories that are supporting the purpose of this study and

are contributing to the analysis of our data. Furthermore, we are examining who are the

stakeholders that the project manager is trying to engage in the different phases of a construction

project and what communication skills he/she is using to accomplish that. Also, we are

presenting theories on the effect of communication on the sustainability of a project, stakeholder

engagement theories, leadership theories that are further defining the role of a project manager in

construction projects and explanation on the phases of a project.

2.1 Communication’s influence on the sustainability of a project

Good project managers are trained to have good oral and written communications skills

in order to set clear directions and achieve unity and positive attitude in the team. Sustainability

is an important aspect of our lives. That is why more project managers are setting sustainability

as a goal of their projects. They contribute to that by integrating sustainability into their

corporate communication, marketing, annual reports and their actions (Silvius, 2015). The

sustainable development of a team that can last and learn how to deal with obstacles on their own

is also dependent on communication. Effective project management communication can lead to

both personal and professional development. Team leaders will be influenced by the coaching

and counseling skills of the team leader and when the team leader is a positive role model. These

insights can help employees improve their own communication skills. Strong team

communication skills can also help team members learn how to manage conflict on their own.
 14

According to Grensing Pophal (2011), we have a tendency to avoid conflict, and by learning how

to respond to conflict in positive ways, both employees and companies can benefit.

Nowadays stakeholder engagement is quickly becoming a part of construction projects practices

in order to deliver better project results. For example stakeholder identification is a critical

component of the initial scoping phase and should occur before an engagement plan is

formulated and consultations begin. As each stakeholder usually has their own interest in the

project which may cause different priorities, conflicts and dramatically increase the complexity

of the situation (Karlsen et.al, 2008). If a project manager learns how to manage the different

stakeholder engagement processes it can help all stakeholders to reach the goal of the project that

can be to increase quality of life, while decreasing negative environmental impacts and

increasing the economical sustainability of the project. Stakeholder engagement should therefore

be taken as a core element of any “sustainable development” plan. Furthermore, the success of

a construction projects relies on meeting the needs and expectations of stakeholders (Cleland,

1995). The ability of a project manager to manage relationships with stakeholders can help to

deal with changing stakeholder needs. Furthermore, this ability will allow a PM to respond more

efficiently to the difficulties that may arise or issues that need to be resolved. Therefore a project

is more likely to be successful in the long term, if it takes into consideration the needs of all

stakeholders.

In order the idea of sustainability to be accepted by all stakeholders it needs to be communicated

how it will contribute to the interests of the company (Deloitte & Touche, 1992). After all

sustainability is not just something nice to do for the people and the environment, but also needs

to be aligned with the economic purpose of the business. According to the Triple Bottom Line,

the social, environmental and financial aspects of a business need to be taken into consideration,
 15

so maximum economical value can be achieved (Elkington, 1994). Only through effective and

thorough communication can these aspects be addressed properly and play a role in achieving a

sustainable solution for the business. Therefore in the context of sustainability it is essential to

successfully communicate the goal of a project, because a sustainable project has to be accepted

by all stakeholders as profitable in a financial sense, so communication is even more essential

when it comes to sustainable projects.

2.2 Stakeholders in construction projects

According to Werther and Chandler (2011), stakeholders have been identified as key

elements of an organization’s environment and can affect and are also affected by the

achievement of the organization’s objectives. To illustrate that they divided the stakeholders into

three categories: organizational (employees, project managers, shareholders), economical

(suppliers, clients, end users, competitors) and societal (government, regulators) see fig.(Werther

& Chandler, 2011). In the construction industry the project manager needs to communicate

effectively in order to reach the goals of the project. However, he or she has to consider different

aspects and approaches when communicating with the key stakeholders. In this section, we will

identify the organizational, economical and societal stakeholders of a construction organization,

that can benefit the most from effective communication with the project manager and we will

give examples, by describing their characteristics and what the project manager has to consider

when communicating with them.

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Figure 2. Flow of communication within different stakeholders

 Communication to team (Within the organization/ Organizational stakeholders)

The communication skills of a project manager are critical for ensuring the success of the team

effort, whether the team is charged with coming up with a new product or service, making
 17

improvements, or planning an event. Strong team communication skills can help build

relationships, ensure the creation of new ideas (Contemporary Project Management, 2011).Team

members can only benefit through coaching and counseling.

Teams come in many different configurations and are tasked with performing different types of

objectives. A project manager may encounter different type of competent subordinates, but in

order to ensure an effective team performance from them, he or she has to know them very well

(Cox et al., 1991). A project manager has to know how to manage cultural differences. The

knowledge of the different cultural backgrounds of the project manager’s followers can ensure

an advantage when directing the team. After all a good leader knows his/her followers strengths

and weaknesses, so he or she can get the most of their competencies in a project.

According to Caproni (2011), good project managers enhance communication across cultures not

by stereotyping, but by paying attention to potential cultural differences in communication,

which can contribute to the development of a sustainable team. That way they show respect,

avoid misunderstandings and build common ground. Caproni (2011) also argues that men and

women have different communication styles, like for example men are more likely to express

themselves directly and women are more likely to do it indirectly.

 Communication to clients (Economical stakeholders)

Studies on communication in the construction industry are usually focused on the briefing of the

goals of the project and construction processes. During these processes, builders often experience

changes in information that can create misunderstanding and distort the time frame (Higgin and
 18

Jessop, 1965). On the other hand building clients and users sometimes are presented unclear

visualization techniques (Barrett and Stanley, 1999) that can cause confusion and building clients

and architects rely on implicit cost information that quantity surveyors gave them (Bowen and

Edwards, 1996).

The aim of communication is to ensure that the receiver reacts in the way the sender expects

(Feldberg, 1975). E-mail and web-based communication through the internet are the most

common way for fast and easy exchange of information, but they have limited opportunities to

influence receivers' responses. That is why the constant use of technologies for communication,

may become a threat to receivers who are unable to respond immediately due to lack of

knowledge, time and manpower to complete work.

Clowes (2000) argues, that lack of information is a significant factor, which contributes to poor

management of maintenance activities. Furthermore, in building maintenance projects, a lack of

knowledge sharing and poor communication between different parties can cause problems, such

as allocating the right problem to the right contractor and simultaneous handling of data (Ali et

al., 2002). Having these factors in mind, communication to clients is central, in order to

understand and set clear goals of a project, that will meet the expectations of clients.

 Communication to suppliers (Economical stakeholders)

Construction projects are dependent on the quality and price of the materials that are provided by

outside suppliers. For example if the wood, nails, bricks, concrete etc. are not according to the

necessary specifications of the building, it can lead to quality control problems. Furthermore, if
 19

the materials from outside suppliers are delivered late, are in short supply or of poor quality, then

the price of the project may rise from the original prediction, the project will be delayed and it

may lead to failure.

Depending on the complexity of the project, managing contractor and supplier relationships can

take a lot of the project manager’s time. It is something that a good project manager needs to

learn how to do, because it involves a sophisticated skill set like negotiating, managing conflicts

and other interpersonal skills.

Usually the buying firm engage in supplier development efforts to improve the performance or

capabilities of its supplier (Krause et al., 1998), which are important to examine because of their

impact on the buying firm’s performance and competitive strategy (Krause et al., 2000, Wagner

2006a).

Some of the supplier development activities include supplier evaluation and feedback, supplier

training, sharing and transfer of employees from one firm to another and other related activities

(Monczka et al., 1993, Wagner 2006b). It is important to note, that these activities incorporate

various forms of communication. The explicit part of communication is easily codified and

exchanged, while the tacit one is complex and more difficult to convey (Daft and Lengel, 1984;

Fulk and Boyd, 1991; Prahinski and Benton, 2004; Sako, 2004).
 20

 Communication to the government (Societal stakeholder)

Project managers that are working in heavily regulated environments like the construction

industry, have to deal with government regulators and departments. These can include all or

some levels of government from municipal, provincial, federal to international.

2.3 Project managers roles in achieving sustainability

As we already discussed the PM in sustainable construction projects, has a very complex

role, because in relation to the 3BL (Elkington, 1994), he has to balance the interests of various

stakeholders, which adds extra responsibilities to his role. Therefore, we are examining the

project manager’s role in construction projects using the 3BL to examine his/her responsibilities

from the environmental, social and economical perspective of a sustainable project.

a- Project manager’s role in achieving environmental sustainability

Sustainability indicators in environmental dimension need to be improved and used in order

to target environmental and energy considerations. Among the environmental challenges

considered in the construction industry the operation phase is the most significant. This is

because of the higher environmental loads emitted into the atmosphere, due to the high-energy

requirement for HVAC, domestic hot water and lighting (Said I. et al., 2010). Thus the project

manager should contribute during the operation phase of any construction building. This is

mostly achieved by evaluating properly the energy requirements for HVAC depending on

climatic conditions and the behavior patterns of citizens. Moreover, the project manager should

be applying construction codes and other environmental policies which improve sustainability in
 21

the building sector in this specific phase of construction (Ortiz O. et al., 2009). There is a need

for new actions to be carried out to handle the illogical usage of natural resources by the

construction activities. Precautionary measures should be taken into consideration in the

operation processes, so that future generations will have rational amount of natural resources

(Said I. et al., 2010). According to Majdalani Z. et al., (2005), project manager collaboration

with academic institutions, research and development initiatives are important, as long as it may

utilize technological innovative tools to find better solutions for several environmental problems.

It is helpful when project managers revise the conditions of the rating systems of their projects,

because it is significant to provide conformity with good rating (Delnavaz M., 2012). However,

it is admitted that green building should be considered as a process more than a product, because

of the life cycle that will be perfect in setting out clear sustainable objectives for the project

itself. Project manager’s practices such as coordination, building commissioning, documentation,

etc are considered to be the focus of Green Globs and this is why project managers should have a

core role in keeping the harmony between the process and practices (Delnavaz M., 2012).Taking

into consideration the awareness of the stakeholders toward sustainability, the green building

market is growing nowadays. In accordance the role of constructors with focus on the impact of

their construction management practices is brought into light. In addition, the Innovation and

Design was identified and considered as a potential opportunity for constructors to become

preferred and “value-added”. Thus there is a requirement from the project managers of

construction projects, to define their role in achieving the objectives of a project and to adjust

their construction practices to fit with the environmental challenges. It is considered that when

equipped with this knowledge, constructors can contribute to the success of the LEED®-NC

projects and position themselves favorably in this rapidly growing construction market (Syal M.
 22

et al., 2011). Referring to Delnavaz M. (2012), project management should take into

consideration the life cycle of a sustainable building and their impact during the design and the

the creation of a healthier and more energy efficient product. The project manager needs to focus

on creating a well-integrated solution during the whole lifecycle, from planning till operation

with new renewable materials and innovative technologies that are aligned with the environment.

For that reason an integrated approach is important in the green building process, through

implementing an integrated design and operators, along with the need for the stakeholders of the

construction project to collaborate in designing the project (Delnavaz M., 2012).

b- Project manager’s role in achieving social sustainability

It is essential for project managers to apply social sustainability assessment framework in

their working processes and strategies within urban construction projects. It should accomplish

different purposes that alter with the type of the project, social and cultural context (Colantonio

A., Dixon T., 2009). Furthermore, Colantonio and Dixon (2009), advise to integrate social

responsible investment policies in the building environment, urban regeneration and to develop

monitoring system that add a valuable scheme for determining the significant dimensions of

sustainability in an effective way. Another important issue that is considered by Delnavaz M.

(2012), is the potential pollution that results from the construction activities, which concerns the

society, especially those who are not considered as a direct stakeholder like the neighborhood for

example ( noise, vibration and vaporous discharge are the most significant issues the

neighborhood experiences). For minimizing this potential pollution, the risks should be identified

and the action should be taken (Pitt, Tucker, Riley, & Longden, 2009). The main contractor and

project manager should assure, that the pollution from construction activities is minimized by

defining certain strategies that takes the society into consideration (Delnavaz M., 2012).
 23

c- Project manager’s role in achieving economical sustainability

The project manager’s main objective within the economical dimension of a certain

business, is to increase its profit. In line with the sustainable implementations, it should also

minimize the cost. This can happen when the environmental and economical sustainability issues

are considered during the project design phase. In the same can, the satisfaction of the customers

or the economical stakeholders are hard to be adjusted, because it is important for the

achievement of social sustainability (Said I. et al., 2010). From another view companies,

individuals and organizations run business for the sake of making profit. Correspondingly there

is a broad interest for the cost indications of sustainable construction and the urgency to balance

economic and environmental factors in their practices. Main problems include the costs for

owners and developers of managing more complex planning and building control systems, that

directly raise the cost of the design and construction stages, the cost for industry to take up to

new building technologies and for users for obtaining or renting buildings constructed by higher

standards (Majdalani Z. et al., 2005). In addition to that, green building in the construction

industry refers to the energy saving and operation of engineering cost management and therefore,

can be integrated into the economic benefits of green buildings. This is where Majdalani Z. et al.

(2005) highlight the life cycle cost model and suggests to be used by project managers, in order

to improve this benefit. Introducing the life cycle cost model into project management, enables

the ability to manage the stresses of construction cost. To conclude in building projects

investment decision phase, should integrate sustainable development concepts into the economic

dimension, which is infiltrated by management decision-making process (Yan Z., 2015).

 24

All these responsibilities can be very taxing in terms of time and money for the PM and the

organization. That is why organizations are trying to hire experienced PMs that have developed

their skills over time and know how to lead by example in order to get the most out of their team.

2.4 Effective leadership in construction projects

Leaders are needed in different projects to give directions, inspire their followers and

create teamwork in order to address these challenges (Adair, 2002). In a construction project, the

project manager has a distinctive role as a leader, since he has the responsibility to drive the

whole project team towards its goals and objectives with the use of limited resources supplied

(Toor and Ofori, 2008).

According to Sheard and Kakabadse (2004), the leadership roles of a leader vary along with

Tuckman’s (1965) stages of the team development process: forming-storming-norming-

performing-adjourning. Construction project teams also follow this basic linear sequence of the

team development stages (forming-storming-norming, performing-adjourning) most of the time,

despite some specific situations where this sequence could be deviated (Cornick and Mather,

1999; Senaratne and Hapuarachchi, 2009).

These explanations can be related to situational leadership theory. As said by Northouse (2007),

situational leadership which was developed by Hersey and Blanchard (1969) focuses on

leadership in situations where different situations demand different kinds of leadership. The

situational leadership theory suggests that even though there could be a specific leadership role

which is required per each stage based on team behaviors, it has a possibility of deviating due to

various situational factors.

 25

Since construction work requires team efforts, leadership should have great impact on the

performance of construction work (Odusami et al., 2003). As stated by Cornick and Mather

(1999), motivating team members to perform to the best of their ability and inspiring them to co-

operate, is a major key to success in the management of a construction project. They further

explain that, with the rise of "project management" as a required service in construction, this task

falls to the appointed project manager, who is required to be the leader.

2.5 Project managers as leaders

Leadership is considered as a social influence controlled through communication to deal

with a certain situation to achieve goals (Galvin et al., 2014). Moreover, Galvin et al. (2014)

stated that project managers in different fields require a specific leadership style in order to

execute their project effectively and successfully. On the other hand each leader uses certain

management’s techniques to execute the project management process. “Effective Leaders are

differentiated from other leaders through the exercise of a relatively small range of skill or

competence areas” – (Dulewicz & Higgs, 2005, pg. 106).

In general, the project manager can be practical and effective through exercising analytical

thinking skills, fitting to different type of projects and environments, and being elastic to a

provocative environment that is confronting project managers to produce significant results.

Despite the type of industry, leadership styles and skills determine the person, the leader and the

success and effectiveness this leader will have in their projects (Galvin et al., 2014).
 26

2.6 Communication skills

Zulch B. (2014) stated that effective projects require three levels of communications:

vertical communication or hierarchical communication, horizontal communication between

colleagues and diagonal communication with the project stakeholders.

According to Barrett (2006b), these skills expand from core strategy development, effective

writing and speaking to using these skills in more complex situations. Furthermore, as a project

develops, the project manager will have to improve his/her core communication skills, in order to

become more effective in communication with the different stakeholders. Barrett (2006b)

emphasizes that as manager advances to higher levels in the organization; the communication

becomes more complex and more demanding. However, the framework is not meant to suggest a

hierarchy, which is why it is presented as spiral (see fig. 3).

These skills are explained as follow:

 Core communication - the core skills that the project manager should have at the core. All

effective communication depends on the core skill at the centre of the spiral and they are

the individual skills of the leader. Examples for core communications skills include

strategic writing and speaking. Good project managers need to know how to structure and

write documents and how to correspond with the stakeholders using email, telephone or

in person. Depending on that they will make good and clear proposals or reports and we

will be seen as leaders based on their ability to make oral presentations.

 Managerial communication skills or the competencies that are build based on the core

skills and more involved in managing and interacting with others. If a project manager is

capable in applying these communication skills in a project, he will be able to better

interact with individuals and manage groups. An example for effective managerial
 27

communication is the ability of a project manager to listen. This skill is essential for

managers, because they need to pay attention to what others are saying

 Corporate communication skills that is more complex and deals with the internal and

external stakeholders. Communication becomes even more complex when managers

move into position where they have to communicate with internal and external

stakeholders. These skills might be best explained as the ability of a project manager to

be a leader. Effective communication depends on leadership’s style for leading the team

and external stakeholders. Project managers’ leading shapes them as the face of the

project to the public (Barrett, 2006a:5).

Figure 3. Leadership communication framework

Barrett, 2006a:5
 28

As we already discussed Project managers needs to be flexible throughout the project

development with their use of different communication skills (Zulch B., 2014). Which means

that he needs to know exactly at which phase of the project he needs to use the most effective

communication skills for the situation and to know which stakeholder to engage.

2.7 Phases of a project

Projects are characterized by a set of process that also includes sub-processes, which need

time and results in deliverables and often some tasks need to be done before others. Moreover,

different resources are needed for each task. These processes are classified and arranged

depending on its task description and deliverables into phases (Cobb, A. T. 2012). Cobb (2012)

categorized the project phases into five stages as shown below:

1-Project Initiation: the phase in which a project’s key stakeholders first meet to specify the

blueprint of a project.

2-Project Launch: the phase in which the real work on the project is start.

3-Project Planning: the phase in which very precise and complicated planning is done to achieve

a wide range of project specifics, resulting in the generation of a project schedule and plan.

4-Project Execution: the phases in which tasks are assigned to team members and most of the

project’s work is done. Including monitoring and controlling.

5-Project Closing: the phase in which the final outcome or product is delivered to the client.
 29

3. Methods

In this chapter we are giving an overview of the specific methods that we used in the

study to gather the necessary data that will address the purpose of this research. In this chapter

we are describing the in details the methods that we used and will provide an overview of the

nature of the data that was collected.

3.1 Data creation and collection

The population frame for the study consists of project managers who are working in the

construction industry from different countries (Sweden, Africa, UAE, KSA, Lebanon, Qatar,

Canada, and UK). We developed a questionnaire for them, which aimed to examine what

communication skills they are using with what stakeholders, during each of the 5 phases of the

project. Project managers in the study were asked about their awareness regarding sustainability

and if their projects are implementing sustainability or not. Depending on the awareness

regarding sustainability and the implementation of sustainability in projects, project managers

are expected to show us what are the stakeholders they engage and how do they use their

communication skills during the five phases of the construction project. According to Hair et al.

(2006), at least from 1 to 10 respondents are required for a sample study. However, we received

26 responses from project managers on our survey, which is considered sufficient. Before

sampling we divided the responses into homogeneous groups (high awareness PM group and low

awareness PM group) or in other words stratified sampling is used.

The primary data was collected through questionnaire survey and distributed online via emails to

project managers. Project managers were notified in the emails that their answers are kept
 30

anonymous. The main purpose of the survey is to know what are the stakeholders project

managers engage and what are the communication skills the project managers use during the five

phases of the construction project. Also, we wanted to compare the results between project

managers who are aware about sustainability and implementing sustainability in their projects

and those who are aware and not implementing sustainability. The questionnaire is divided into 6

sections. A 6-point Likert scale is used in each question. Responses ranged from 0-2 were

considered low (awareness, implementation, engagement or use) and others ranged from 3-6

were considered high (awareness, implementation, involvement or use). Regarding the variables,

the stakeholders’ definitions were adopted from Werther and Chandler (2011), the

communication skills from Zulch (2014) and the phases of the project from Cobb (2012). The

first section of the survey is examining the level of sustainability awareness for project managers

in construction projects. Also, it examines the level of implementation of sustainability in the

current projects they are directing. Sections from 2 till 6 explore the level of involvement (high

or low involvement) of the stakeholders (organizational, economical and societal) and the

communication skills used (high or low use) in each phase of the construction project (phase 1:

Project Initiation, phase 2: Project Launch, phase 3: Project Planning, phase 4: Project Execution

and phase 5: Project Closing).

In the survey we gave a brief definition for many concepts (i.e. Sustainability, organizational

stakeholder, economical stakeholder, societal stakeholder, core communication, managerial

communication and corporate communication) in order to share the same understanding and to

make sure that all project managers have a similar and a common background. Moreover, we

provide a brief definition for the phases of the project in the survey.
 31

3.2 Data coding, organizing and analysis

Data coding is done in order to decide whether the gathered information can be

categorized in a way that is relevant to the research question (6 & Bellamy, 2012). For our

database this means we will collect all information that is relevant to Project managers that are

aware about sustainability in their projects and will divide them in two groups. The first group

will be project managers that are implementing sustainability in their projects and we will

compare them with the other group that is project managers that are not implementing

sustainability. We will look at project managers’ communication skills with different

stakeholders throughout the five phases of a project and we will see if there is difference. It is

important that we standardize data in a way that makes results comparable. On our 6-point

Likert scale the answers that are ranging between 0-2 will be considered with low value to the

relation of our research question and the questions between 3-5 will be with high value to our

research question and thus will be the ones that we will focus on.

Data organization deals with how data is managed to make it more accessible and easier to

analyze (6 & Bellamy, 2012). The information that we gathered from our survey will be stored in

our own data matrix in excel format. In later stages of the thesis we will tabulate results to

facilitate analysis and interpretation.

Data analysis refers to the manipulation of data to answer the research question (6 & Bellamy,

2012). Our quantitative data will be analyzed using SPSS for the correlation analysis between the
 32

communication skills and the stakeholders. Also, excel data analysis tools will be used for the

comparison between the different groups of PMs, in order to create an overview on the

differences in the communication processes of a PMs focusing on implementation of

sustainability and PMs that are not focusing on the implementation of sustainability in their

projects.

3.3 Data reliability and validity

3.3.1 Reliability

According to 6 and Bellamy (2012), reliability is related to how we measure what we are

interested in. Thus, a reliable system would be that one that every time it is used on the same

data, it provides the same measure. As a result, in the above paragraphs, we have made concrete

all of the process of data collection and analysis to make this research reproducible and reliable.

3.3.2 Validity

Validity is considered the degree to which our statements approximate to truth (6 and

Bellamy, 2012). In order to measure if we are collecting what is relevant to our study, the

validity of our primary data can be analyzed on four different levels along the research:

 Construct validity: deals with the question if measurements correspond to their

theoretical concepts (6 & Bellamy, 2012). For example, to make sure each of the

performance items are latent indicators of the underlying concept performance, we will

first run a factor analysis.

 33

 Measurement validity: refers to the extent that these measurements allow us to attribute

values (6 & Bellamy, 2012). Since our data comes from trustable sources and we use

recognized statistical techniques, we don’t consider this as an issue.

 Internal validity: address the extent to which we can show that something we claim is

really true (6 & Bellamy, 2012). The size of our sample is 26 respondents, which clearly

is not big enough to make a specific conclusion based on our results. However, our study

is explorative and as such, we observe the general perception of PMs on how they operate

in their entire project. This is something normal and shouldn’t make a big difference, as

the PMs are trying to follow a pattern that is working the best for them in most cases.

This will give us a good ground to compare the results and using theories, to come up

with a good interpretation of the reasons behind the behavior of our respondents, even

though we are limited by a smaller sample. Nevertheless we wish to stress that we hold a

critical attitude towards these sources at all times.

 External validity: is concerned with the fact whether findings also hold true in other

settings and contexts (6 & Bellamy, 2012). While our goal is to demonstrate the effect of

communication skills and stakeholder engagement of PMs on sustainable development in

general, in practice we will be limited by the companies in certain countries and the

different project they operate. To ensure validity all over the research, we chose to

retrieve information from companies in different locations across the world (Sweden,

Africa, UAE, KSA, Lebanon, Qatar, Canada, UK) working in the construction industry.

By choosing different sources we also assure that our data will not be affected by

particular views of the researchers. Because we are aware that our research involves the
 34

use of the perception of PMs on how they usually operate, we look at them with a high

level of criticism, to assure that they are valid and reliable before being used by us.
 35

1. Data Description

In this chapter we are describing the data that we collected from our questionnaire and we

divide the results in groups based on the level of awareness and focus on implementation of

sustainability in the PMs’ projects. Furthermore, we are using SPSS to check the level of

correlation between the communication skills and the stakeholders in each of the 5 phases of

the construction projects and whether the correlation is significant or not. Finally we are

doing individual check-up on the most picked answers from the respondents that are focusing

on implementing sustainability in their projects.

4.1 General description for the sustainability awareness and the project implementation of

sustainability (table 1 & 2)

The total number of respondents or project managers who answered the survey was 26. 23 have

high awareness regarding sustainability (answers varied from 3-5) and only 3 respondents

answered that they have a low awareness (answers varied from 0-2).

Table 1. General description for all the collected sample.

Regarding the 23 sustainability aware project managers (who are our target group), 13

respondents of them were implementing sustainability highly in their projects (answers varied
 36

from 3-5) and the rest 10 respondents have low or zero implementation of sustainability in their

projects (answers varied from 0-2).

Table 2. Description for the project managers with high sustainability awareness.

4.2 Description for aware and unaware sustainability respondents

 Description of respondents that are unaware of the concept of sustainability (3)

(table 3)

In our survey we got only 3 respondents in total that are not aware about sustainability and not

implementing it in their projects. The majority of this group said that they are highly involving

all the stakeholders in the 5 phases of the project. Similarly, the majority said that they are using

highly all the communication skills during the 5 phases.

 37

Tables 3 . Detailed description for the project managers with low sustainability awareness in term of the

stakeholders involvement and the communication skills they use.

 Description for the 23 respondents that are aware of the concept of sustainability

(tables 4 & 5)

Sections from 2 till 6 of the survey is studying the stakeholders’ involvement level and

communication skills use through the 5 phases of the project. First we took the only sustainable

aware project managers’ answers, then we separated the stakeholders’ involvement from the

communication skills and listed them in tables showing the difference based on if the project

managers are implementing sustainability or if they are not.

From table 4:

During sustainable projects Organizational stakeholders are highly involved through the 5 phases

of the project. While for un-sustainable projects, Organizational stakeholders are highly involved
 38

during phase 2, 3, 4 and 5. The Economical stakeholders are highly involved through the 5

phases of the project. While for un-sustainable projects, Economical stakeholders are highly

involved during phase 1, 2, 3 and 5.

And the Societal stakeholder are highly involved during phase 1 and 5 of the project. While for

un-sustainable projects, societal stakeholders are highly involved during phase 1, 2 and 5.

From table 5

In sustainable projects Core communication skills are highly used during the 5 phase of the

project. While in un-sustainable projects, Core communication skills are highly used during

phases 1, 2, 3 and 5 of the project. In both sustainable and unsustainable projects, Managerial

communication skills are highly used during the 5 phases of the project. And the Corporate

communication skills are highly used during the 5 phases of the project. While for un-sustainable

projects, they are used during phases 1, 2 and 5 only.

 Comparison between the 13 project managers that are extensively implementing

sustainability in their projects and the 10 project managers that are not implementing

sustainability to a high degree

The 13 project managers, which are working on projects with sustainability as their target, are

involving stakeholders from all the three categories of throughout all 5 phases of a project that

are the organizational, economical and societal stakeholders.

The majority of the 13 respondents that are extensively implementing sustainability into their

project, answered that the Organizational stakeholders are involved in their communication

throughout all 5 phases. However, the majority of the 10 project managers that don’t have
 39

sustainability as the focus of their project, answered that the they are not communicating that

much with the Organizational stakeholders during the Initiation phase that is phase 1, while in

the other 4 phases the organizational stakeholders are involved to a high degree in

communication with the project managers.

The majority of the 13 respondents that are extensively implementing sustainability into their

project answered that the Economical stakeholders are involved in their communication

throughout all 5 phases. However, the majority of the 10 project managers that don’t have

sustainability as the focus of their project, answered that the they are not communicating that

much with the Economical stakeholders during the Execution phase that is phase 4 of the project,

while in the other 4 phases the economical stakeholders are involved to a high degree in

communication with the project managers.

The majority of the 13 respondents that are extensively implementing sustainability into their

project, answered that the Societal stakeholders are not that much involved in their

communication throughout the Launching phase, Planning phase and Execution phase, that are

the phases 2, 3 and 4 respectively, of a project. Still according to the 13 respondents that have

sustainability as their focus in their projects, during the Initiation phase and Project closing

phase, that are the phases 1 and 5 respectively, the Societal stakeholders are involved to a high

degree in the communication of a project manager. However, the majority of the 10 project

managers that don’t have sustainability as the focus of their project, answered that the they are

not communicating that much with the Societal stakeholders during the Launching phase and

Execution phase, that are the phases 3 and 4 respectively, of a project. Nonetheless the 10
 40

respondents answered that they are communicating extensively with the Societal stakeholders

during the Initiation phase, Planning phase and Project closing phase, that are the phases 1, 2 and

5 respectively, of a project.

Regarding the communication skills that the project managers are implementing during the 5

phases of a project, the 13 respondents that are extensively implementing sustainability into their

project, answered that they are implementing all 3 communication skills that are Core,

Managerial and Corporate communication skills, throughout the 5 phases of a project. On the

other hand, the majority of the 10 respondents that don’t have sustainability as the focus of their

project, answered that they are not using that much core communication skills during the

Execution phase, while in the other 4 phases they are extensively using Core communication

skills to interact with the different stakeholders during the project.

When it comes to the Managerial communication skills, the majority of both groups have

answered that they consider them vital for their projects and that they use them during all 5

phases of the project.

Finally the Corporate communication skills are not considered integral by the 10 respondents in

the Planning phase and Execution phase, which are the phases 3 and 4 respectively, of a project.

Nonetheless the 10 respondents answered that they are using Corporate communication skills

during the Initiation phase, Planning phase and Project closing phase, which are the phases 1, 2

and 5 respectively, of a project.

 41

Table 4. Detailed description only for the project managers with high sustainability awareness with high and low

implementation of sustainability in their projects in term of stakeholders involvement.

Table 5. Detailed description only for the project managers with high sustainability awareness with high and low

implementation of sustainability in their projects in term of the communication skilled used.

 42

4.3 Phases comparison between the PMs that are implementing sustainability and the PMs

not aware about the concept of sustainability

In this section we make a comparison between the project managers that are aware of the concept

of sustainability and are implementing extensively sustainability in their projects (13) and the

project managers that are not aware about sustainability and are not focusing at all on

implementing it in their projects (3). The comparison is made based on the respondents answers

for their behavior in regards to communication during the different phases of a project. That is

why we divide the results in the different phases of a construction project.

Phase 1 - In this phase the majority of the respondents from both groups are extensively using

Core, managerial and corporate communication skills while communicating with stakeholders

from all 3 categories.

Phase 2 - In this phase the majority of the respondents from both groups have answered that they

are using extensively all 3 communication skills, while interacting with stakeholders from all 3

categories.

Phase 3 - In this phase the majority of the respondents from both groups have answered that they

are communicating extensively with the Organizational and Economical stakeholders, while the

3 respondents that are not aware about sustainability and are not trying to implement it are also
 43

communicating with the Societal stakeholders and the 13 respondents that are aware about the

concept of sustainability and are focusing on implementing it into their projects, are not

communicating that much with the Societal stakeholders. When it comes to communication

skills, both groups are extensively using all 3 communication skills to interact with the

stakeholders during this phase.

Phase 4 - Exactly like in phase 3, the majority of the respondents from both groups, have

answered that they are communicating extensively with the Organizational and Economical

stakeholders, while the 3 respondents that are not aware about sustainability and are not trying to

implement it are also communicating with the Societal stakeholders and the 13 respondents that

are aware about the concept of sustainability and are focusing on implementing it into their

projects are not communicating that much with the Societal stakeholders. When it comes to

communication skills, both groups are extensively using all 3 communication skills to interact

with the stakeholders during this phase.

Phase 5 - In this phase the majority of the respondents from both groups are extensively using

Core, Managerial and Corporate communication skills while communicating with stakeholders

from all 3 categories. However, around 45% of the 13 respondents that are aware of the concept

of sustainability and are focusing on implementing it into their projects, have answered that they

are not involving the Economical stakeholders that much in their communication during this

phase.
 44

4.4 Correlation description between stakeholders and communication skills in each phase

of the project (table 6)

In this section we used SPSS in order to check if there is a correlation between the each

of the stakeholders and each of the communication skills in each phase of the project.

The table below contains a summary for all the correlations we found during the SPSS

correlation analysis, noting that the marked yellow cells represent the significant results only.

Moreover, the strength of the correlation is determined as follow:

·Correlation between 0.00-.19 “very weak”

·Correlation between 0.20-.39 “weak”

·Correlation between 0.40-.59 “moderate”

·Correlation between 0.60-.79 “strong”

·Correlation between 0.80-1.0 “very strong”

·Correlation combined with negatively means that there exists an opposite relationship between

the 2 factors.

In phase 1 we found that all the insignificant correlations between the stakeholders and the

communication skills are negatively weak, very weak and weak. On the other hand, we found

moderate significant correlations between the economical stakeholder and both the managerial

and corporate communication skills.

In phase 2 we also found that all the insignificant correlations between the stakeholders and the

communication skills are negatively weak, very weak and weak. On the other hand, we found a

moderate significant correlations between the organizational stakeholder and both the core and

the managerial communication skills. And a strong significant correlation between the

economical stakeholder and the corporate communication skill also exist.

 45

In phase 3 we found that all the insignificant correlations between the stakeholders and the

communication skills are negatively weak, very weak and weak. On the other hand, we found a

moderate significant correlation between the organizational stakeholder and the managerial

communication skill.

In phase 4 we found that all the insignificant correlations between the stakeholders and the

communication skills are negatively weak, very weak and weak. On the other hand, we found a

moderate significant correlation between the organizational stakeholder and the managerial

communication skill. And another moderate significant correlation between the economical

stakeholder and the core communication skill also exist.

Finally in phase 5 we found that all the insignificant correlations between the stakeholders and

the communication skills are negatively weak, very weak and weak. On the other hand, we found

a moderate significant correlations between; the economical stakeholder and the managerial

communication skill and between the societal stakeholder and the corporate communication skill.

In addition to that we found 2 strong significant correlations; the first between the organizational

stakeholder and the core communication skill and the second between the economical

stakeholder and the managerial communication skill.

In general all the insignificant results have negatively weak, very weak or weak correlations.

While the significant results, have a moderate or a strong correlations.

 46

All Correlations (note: Significant correlations are marked in yellow)

Core
Managerial Corporate Communication
Communication
Communication Skill Skill
Skill
Organizational
Weak Very Weak Weak
Stakeholder
Phase Economical
Weak Moderate Moderate
1 Stakeholder
Societal
Very Weak Weak Negatively Weak
Stakeholder
Organizational
Moderate Moderate Weak
Stakeholder
Phase Economical
Weak Weak Strong
2 Stakeholder
Societal
Very Weak Negatively Weak Weak
Stakeholder
Organizational
Weak Moderate Negatively Weak
Stakeholder
Phase Economical
Very Weak Negatively Very Weak Very Weak
3 Stakeholder
Societal
Very Weak Very Weak Weak
Stakeholder
Organizational
Weak Moderate Negatively Weak
Stakeholder
Phase Economical
Moderate Very Weak Weak
4 Stakeholder
Societal
Very Weak Very Weak Very Weak
Stakeholder
Organizational
Strong Weak Very Weak
Stakeholder
Phase Economical
Very Weak Moderate Weak
5 Stakeholder
Societal Negatively Very
Strong Moderate
Stakeholder Weak
Table 6. Significant and insignificant correlations between the stakeholders involvement and the communication

skills used in each phase.

 47

4.5 Individual responses capture for sustainability aware project manager and

implementing sustainability in their project in each phase (table 7)

In this section we have only 13 respondents who are highly aware about sustainability

and implementing it highly in their projects. We explored the data collected from the 13 PMs

that are focusing on implementing sustainability in their projects and captured only the highest

score for the stakeholders and for the communication skills and we recorded it (table below).

In phase 1 the majority of respondents said that Organizational and Societal stakeholders are

highly involved in this phase 69% and 62% respectively. In addition to that there is a high use of

the Core, Managerial and Corporate communication skills with 69%, 69% and 77% respectively.

In phase 2 the majority of respondents said that the Organizational and Economical stakeholders

are highly involved in this phase 85% and 69% respectively. In addition to that there is a high

use of the Core and Managerial communication skills with 69% and 77% respectively.

In phase 3 the majority of respondents said that Organizational and Economical stakeholders are

highly involved in this phase 100% and 77% respectively. In addition to that there is a high use

of the Core and Managerial communication skills with 69% and 62% respectively.

In phase 4 the majority of respondents said that Organizational and Economical stakeholders are

highly involved in this phase 85% and 54% respectively. In addition to that there is a high use of

the Managerial and Corporate communication skills with 62% and 69% respectively.

In phase 5 the majority of respondents said that Organizational, Economical and Societal

stakeholders are highly involved in this phase 62%, 54% and 54% respectively. In addition to

that there is a high use of the Core and Corporate communication skills with 54% and 85%

respectively.
 48

Table 7. Individual highest responses capture for sustainability aware project manager and implementing

sustainability in their project in each phase

 49

2. Data Analysis

In this chapter we will draw a comparison between the responses of the PMs that are

focusing on implementing sustainability in their projects and the ones that don’t consider

sustainability as integral part of their projects. We are creating an overview on the differences in

the use of communication skills and stakeholder engagement in each of the 5 phases of a project,

from the perspective of a PM based on our respondents’ perception of their own behavior during

projects, the theories that we covered in this study and our own experience in this field on the

matter of communication processes. Furthermore, based on our results from the correlation

analysis, we are create our own interpretation on what are the essential communication skills that

a PM working with sustainable project in the construction industry has to focus and what are the

stakeholders that the PM needs to focus on engaging the most in his communication during the

project. Also we are further narrowing down the communication skills and stakeholders that the

PM working with sustainability need to focus on, by analyzing the highest given answers in our

survey from the 13 PMs that are working on projects with sustainability at their core.

5.1 Phases comparison analysis between the project managers implementing extensively

sustainability in their projects and the project managers not focusing on sustainability

in their projects (tables 8 & 9)

 50

Table 8. Interesting difference between the responses of PM with high sustainability awareness in term of

stakeholders.

Table 9. Interesting difference between the responses of PM with high sustainability awareness in term of

communication skills.
 51

Phase 1 (Initiation phase)- In unsustainable project this might not come as a surprise as the

project manager has to work with a formed team that still has not a clear idea on the

specifications of the project, as an agreement between the organization and the clients is yet to be

formed. Furthermore, the PM is not focused on communicating with Organizational stakeholders

from the beginning, because in this phase they are involved in doing the paperwork and defining

the outlines of the project and check the prices of the materials with the suppliers according to

the requests of the client. The reason why PMs working with sustainable projects, might be more

involved with the Organizational stakeholders during the initiation phase, is because he has to

make sure that his/her team know how they can ensure that the project will be sustainable and

that might need some extra coaching and counseling from the PM. Strong team communication

skills can help build relationships, ensure the creation of new ideas (Contemporary Project

Management, 2011). Team members can only benefit through coaching and counseling. For that

reason he has to make sure, that his/her team shares the same mission and vision for the

objectives of the project, as the client in terms of sustainable development. Furthermore, teams

with different culture and experience might have different concepts and perception of

sustainability, which means that the PM will need extra knowledge on the background of his/her

team members and that could require 1 on 1 meetings and team building activities, in order to get

to know them better and ensure an effective team performance from them (Cox et al., 1991).

Phase 2 (Launching phase) – This shouldn’t come as a surprise, as the role of a PM is to lead a

team and direct the project to successfully reaching its goals. This will require an extra attention

to the details from the PM, as he has to make sure that the project is off to a good start by
 52

establishing the goals of the project and its limitations, while making sure that his/her team is

producing ideas. At this point the outline of the project is clear and now the team needs to start

coming up with ideas for the development of the project and it is normal for the PM to

communicate with his/her team (Organizational stakeholder) and the government (Societal

stakeholder) to ensure that the project will cover all the safety and environment regulations.

Furthermore, the PM should be aware about the construction codes and should be applying them,

including other environmental policies that improve the sustainable aspect of a project in the

building sector (Ortiz O. et al., 2009).

Phase 3 (Planning phase)- In sustainable construction projects, the influence of the PM as a

leader is very important because he/she is shaping the face of the organization in front of the

Societal stakeholders. The PM needs to ensure the long term survival of the organization and to

keep its reputation, by representing it in a way that it creates a trustworthy image to the general

public and for that Corporate communication skills are needed. It is essential for project manager

to apply social sustainability assessment framework in their processes and strategies within urban

construction projects, so they can accomplish the goals of the project, that can alter with the type

of the project, social and cultural context (Colantonio A., Dixon T., 2009). The PMs that are

working on projects with less focus on sustainability, are likely that they are not focusing on

using Corporate communication skills, because the PM is more focused on creating a detailed

execution plan for the project team which involves the establishment of a detailed schedule on

who is doing what and when. This part of the project is very important, because the PM is

making sure that everyone knows their tasks and how to execute them, otherwise the project will

be off to a start with many potential risks that will be hard to compensate for them at a later
 53

stage. In this context it is only natural that every PM has to be focused on using Core and

Managerial communication skills at this stage for their communication with the Organizational

and Economical stakeholders. Societal stakeholders are not that important for the PMs at this

stage, because they have already communicated with the government, regarding how the project

will be executed according to the laws and regulations dealing with the environmental and

societal factors of the project.

Phase 4 (Execution phase) -.According to Bal M. et al., (2013), project stakeholders who are

directly affected by the execution phase of sustainable construction projects should be actively

involved in this phase. During execution the Organizational and the Economical stakeholders

play a direct role. Project manager should always involve the Organizational stakeholders and

keep them always up to date in order to be ready for backups in case of emergency and to solve

any expected risk. On the other hand the PM should also keep the Economical stakeholders

involved in this phase. For example, it is very crucial to involve the suppliers of the project in

order to make sure that the market is not going to let the project down in term of material crises

or prices fluctuations. In sustainable projects it is even more important to communicate with the

suppliers on a regular basis, as the sustainable materials might have specific characteristics that

have to be met in the project and misunderstanding in the delivery of the supplier can drastically

increase the cost and extend the deadline of the project. Bal M. et al. (2013) also state that the

successful engagement of stakeholders in sustainable construction projects require actively

giving and getting support and working together to establish solutions for estimated obstacles.

This give and take process between the project manager and the stakeholders are considered as a

communication process that depends on different communication skills to enhance transparency,

 54

performance, build reputation and earn competitive advantage in the market. Thus Core,

Managerial and Corporate communication skills should be expressively and actively used by the

project managers in order to approach a common objective and vision with all the stakeholders

Phase 5 (Project closing phase) – It is critical for the stakeholders to successfully achieve the

completion and the handing over of the project basically for economical purposes and in order to

avoid any expected conflict that may result due to discrepancies in their objectives, which could

lead the project to fail and lose their credibility in the market. The presence of all the

stakeholders in sustainable project is crucial in this phase as it assures, that the stakeholders’

goals are successfully achieved under the sustainability umbrella where all of them share a

common mission and vision (Bal M. et al., 2013). Managing communication with all

stakeholders in this phase helps to promote the awareness of the project and make it ready to

manage stakeholders’ growing requirements and problems that need to be terminated. All

communication skills are required during the handing over of the project, in order to make sure

that the project met the expectations of all stakeholders. Core communication skills are very

important to provide the best way of reporting and describing the strategies that had been

followed throughout the project phases. Managerial communication skills are also very

important, because they provide a way of sharing experiences about managing the project so it

can serve as a learning experience for the project manager and the other stakeholders. And for

the Corporate communication skills we can say that project managers should reflect their

leadership style so they can represent the company in a way that helps building up reputation and

supports a lifetime investment in case of project success.

 55

5.2 Correlation analysis between stakeholders and communication skills in each phase of

the project

Phase 1 (Initiation) – we found a moderate significant correlations between the Economical

stakeholder and both the Managerial and Corporate communication skills. In this phase the PM

is using Managerial communication skills to listen and pay attention to what the clients are

saying in order to start evaluating with them what are the boundaries of the project.

Communication in the construction industry is usually focused on the briefing of the goals of the

project and construction processes and in this case the PM needs to know exactly what are the

requirements of the clients, because during these processes builders often experience changes in

information that can create misunderstanding and distort the time frame of the project (Higgin

and Jessop, 1965). The PM needs to interact with the clients in order to understand their needs

and goals also in terms of sustainable development and later decide how to manage his/her team

and make sure that his/her team have the necessary knowledge, to ensure that the project will be

sustainable. When it comes to Corporate communication skills, the communication of the PM

with the clients is dependent on the ability of the PM to use his/her leadership style to represent

the face of the company in a way that will ensure the clients will trust them with their investment

in the project. The PM as a leader needs to influence the clients through communication, to deal

with the situation to achieve the goals (Galvin et al., 2014). Furthermore, the PM in these fields

requires a specific leadership style in order to execute his project effectively and successfully. In

this case the PM needs to convince the clients to invest as much as it is necessary for the success

of the project.
 56

Phase 2 (Launching) – we found a moderate significant correlations between the Organizational

stakeholder and both the Core and the Managerial communication skills. In addition to a strong

significant correlation between the Economical stakeholder and the Corporate communication

skill that exist. In this phase the PM already gathered his/her team and he or she needs to ensure

that they will be productive when it comes to generating ideas. The ability of the PM to

communicate the goals of the project and establish its limitations, through strategic speaking

with the team, depends on the strength of his/her Core communication skills. As we already

discussed, strong team communication skills can help build relationships, which in return can

ensure the creation of new ideas (Contemporary Project Management, 2011). For that purpose

the PM might need to switch to a transformational leadership style to inspire his/her team in the

process of developing ideas for the sustainability of the project. Furthermore, the PM’s team

members can only benefit through individual coaching and counseling for which the Managerial

communication skills are suitable. The PM need to pay attention to what his/her followers are

saying in order to try to help them develop their ideas. When it comes to the suppliers and

investors the PM the Corporate communication skills of a PM are effective in terms of his/her

ability to negotiate with the external stakeholders about the investments in the project and

expected expenses that will occur based on what the project will require.

Phase 3 (Planning) – we found a moderate significant correlations between the Organizational

stakeholder and the Managerial communication skill. In this phase it is important for the PM to

use his/her Managerial communication skills when interacting with his/her team. A lot of

detailed planning for the execution of the project is done at this phase and that involves the

development of a schedule with the tasks of everyone and the timeframe of each task. A
 57

sustainable project is a very complex one, so there always should be expected that confusion

might occur. It is very important, because the PM has to make sure that everyone knows their

tasks and how to execute them, otherwise the project will be off to a start with many potential

risks that will be hard to fix at a later stage and will cost a lot of resources.

Phase 4 (Execution) – we found a moderate significant correlations between the Organizational

stakeholder and the Managerial communication skill. In addition we found another moderate

significant correlation between the Economical stakeholder and the Core communication skill

that exist. In this phase the PM is using his/her Managerial communication skills to monitor how

the tasks are executed and eventually provide support using his/her leadership style, that will

help to assist the different needs of his/her team members. When it comes to the suppliers, the

PM should use his/her extensively his/her Core communication skills to correspond with the

suppliers, through emails or over the phone. The PM needs to do that in order to ensure that he

is going to receive the exact materials at the right time, otherwise fatal complications might

occur. A sustainable project is a complex one, as we already said, and that means that the PM

needs to pay extra attention to the deliveries to ensure that the materials will cover the exact

specifications required for the sustainability of the project and that he will receive them at the

negotiated price and on time. If the PM is not careful in these situations it might lead to

unexpected occurrence of expenses and the extension of the deadline, which ultimately may lead

to the failure of the project.

Phase 5 (Project closing) – we found a moderate significant correlations between the Economical

stakeholder and the Managerial communication skill and between the Societal stakeholder and
 58

the corporate communication skill. In addition to that, we found strong significant correlation

between the Organizational stakeholder and the Core communication skill and strong significant

correlation between the Economical stakeholder and the Managerial communication skill. The

PM needs to use Core communication skills in this phase, when interacting with his/her

followers, in order to evaluate together what the whole team has achieved in terms of reaching

the goals of the project. It is a process of evaluating what everyone has done well and what can

be further improved. When communicating with the clients, the PM is using Managerial

communication skills to listen to their response of the project completion and see if the clients

are satisfied with the final outcome or if they have requests for further improvement. The PM

needs to make sure, that the clients will be happy with the success of the project and willing to

invest again. Finally when it comes to the government, the PM needs to use Managerial and

Corporate communication skills to ensure that the project will meet all the requirements in terms

of eligibility criteria for the environment and safety. The PM needs to make sure to reflect

his/her leadership style in order to represent the face of the company in a way that helps building

up reputation and reliability in the eyes of the society.

In general, all the insignificant results have a negatively weak, very weak or weak correlation

and the other results are significant moderate or strong correlations.

From the correlation analysis, we can see that the Core communication skills have a significant

moderate to strong correlation in every phase, which essentially proves the importance of these

communication skills throughout the whole construction project, especially the ones that have

sustainable development as their focus.

 59

5.3 Analysis for the individual response capturing for the 13 project managers who are

aware and implementing sustainability in their projects (tables 10 &11)

This section mainly analyses from the perspective of a project manager, what are the

stakeholders he perceives as the most important to be involved during each phase. Also which

communication skill is essential and extensively used during the phases.

Total respondents= 13 Phase 1 Phase 2 Phase 3 Phase 4 Phase 5

Organizational 9 11 13 11 8
Economical 6 9 10 7 7
Stakeholders
Societal 8 4 4 5 7

Table 10. Individual response capturing for the 13 project managers who are aware and implementing

sustainability in their projects for the stakeholders.

In phase 1 (Initiation), the client meet the construction company representative in order to set the

broad outline of the project according to the sustainable construction laws which is normally set

by the government, the municipality and the green building organizations. Using other

terminologies the client or the investor is the Economical stakeholder, the construction company

is the Organizational stakeholder while the laws and regulations issued by the above mentioned

authorities represent the societal stakeholder. From the table above, the majority said

Organizational (9 out of 13) and Societal (8 out of 13) are highly involved during this phase.

While we can see that 6 out of 13 said that the Economical stakeholder is also highly involved.

The odd in these responses is that the PM thinks that the client does not need to be involved

highly during this phase and what they think is important, is to focus on bringing the

construction company and the authorities to communicate, so that the project can boost smoothly

following the blueprint for sustainable projects.

 60

After setting up the project borders and blueprint, phase 2 (Launching) starts in which we can see

less involvement from the societal stakeholder and more involvement from the other two

stakeholders in the communication process of the PM. It is now time for the company to start

working on the contracts and the offers with the investors and the suppliers. This is clearly

shown in the responses of the project managers. The majority of them think that the

organizational (11 out of 13) and the economical stakeholder (9 out of 13) are highly involved

during phase 2, while the minority of them think that the societal stakeholder is highly involved.

During phase 3 (Planning phase) the construction company starts the real internal and external

work; scheduling, drawing, preparing purchasing orders based on client specification, resourcing

and many other tasks. This phase requires a high involvement from the company or the

organizational stakeholder in cooperation with the economical stakeholder, as they both will

reduce the risks that the project might face in the future. In our survey all the 13 aware project

managers who are implementing sustainability, believe that the organizational stakeholder is

highly involved and 10 of them think that also the economical stakeholder is highly involved.

In phase 4 (Execution), there is almost a similar perception for the level of involvement of the

stakeholders. The project managers think that the organization and the economical stakeholders

are highly involved during this phase, accompanied with the minority who think that there is a

high involvement for the societal stakeholder. In other words, the company starts the real

execution on site with the follow up of the client in term of inspections and regular meetings and

the continued coordination with the suppliers in order to create a safe construction environment

with the least possible risks.

 61

During phase 5 (Project closing) the handing over of the project starts. That means all the project

stakeholders who participated in the completion of the project should be available to finalize

their tasks and make all the testing and commissioning to confirm for the client that the project is

performing efficiently according to specification, codes and green building regulations. And this

is translated in the project managers’ responses.

Total respondents= 13 Phase 1 Phase 2 Phase 3 Phase 4 Phase 5

Core 9 9 9 5 7
Communication Skills managerial 9 5 6 8 5
Corporate 10 10 8 9 11
Table 11. Individual response capturing for the 13 project managers who are aware and implementing

sustainability in their projects for the communication skills.

When it comes to the communication skills, the project managers perceives all the

communication skills to be used intensively during most of the construction projects that are

implementing sustainability.

From the table we can see that in phase 1 the majority of project managers think using all the

communication skills is essential. This is due to the fact that involving different stakeholders

needs a wide variation of communication skills in order to approach a common goal and

objective between them.

In phase 2 and 3 we can observe that the PMs think that the Managerial communication skills are

not that important. In this phase the top management of the organization, the governmental laws

and the green building organizations come together to set the borders of the project. In addition

to that, scheduling, designing and planning work is done that should be coordinated and

approved by the client. This requires communication skills that help to represent the organization
 62

in a good light and build up trust in the process. Thus Core and Corporate communication skills

are considered necessary.

In phase 4 only 5 project managers out of 13, think that Core communication skills are important

to use. In the Execution phase the project is in its critical phase and most of the tasks are running

together in order to reach the objectives and the due date. This tension turns the project leaders

into more task oriented project managers that are following the design and the schedule. Thus

maximum coordination and collaboration between the project teams, consultants, suppliers and

others is needed. That is why the PMs are focusing on using the Managerial communication

skills to achieve goals and corporate communication skills to keep the legitimacy of the process

of work.

In phase 5 we can see that the Managerial communication skills are not the focus of the PMs.

The reason for that is because the main purpose is to create a convenient atmosphere to bring all

the stakeholders together to handover their tasks. This process of handing over requires

persuading skills to approve the completion of work and to ensure the continuity of maintenance

in the long term. The Economical and Societal stakeholders in this phase see the PM as a

representor of the company, because all the certificates and the paperwork is stamped and

authorized under the organization umbrella. That is why it is fundamental for the PMs to use

corporate communication skill to assure the presence of the company they represent..
 63

6. Conclusion

6.1 Results discussion

This study aimed to explore the essential communication skills that project managers use

with key stakeholders to successfully incorporate sustainability within construction projects

during the project phases. We did that by examining Barret’s (2006) framework on the essential

communication skills, Cobb’s (2012) 5 stages of a project and combined these two elements with

Werther and Chandler’s (2011) theory about the Organizational, Economical and Societal

categories of stakeholders. After that we put these theories in the context of construction projects

in order to test them.

The research question that we formulated, aims to answer how the communication skills are used

by project managers to engage the stakeholders in order to incorporate sustainability in the

construction projects. In order to answer it we studied 26 project managers’ perception on their

use of these communication skills with the different stakeholders during all phases of a project,

based on their past experience of working with sustainable or not sustainable construction

projects. We developed a questionnaire for them, which aimed to examine what communication

skills they are using with what stakeholders, during each of the 5 phases of the project. The

results were divided into three groups: PMs that are aware about the concept of sustainability and

are focusing on implementing it in their projects, PMs that are not aware about the concept of

sustainability and are not focusing on implementing it in their projects and PMs that are not

aware about the concept of sustainability. After that a comparison was made between the PMs

that are aware and focusing on implementing sustainability in their projects and the ones that are

aware but are not focusing on the implementation of sustainability, in order to find if there is
 64

change in the communication process of the PMs, based on their level of implementation of

sustainability. The differences in the answers indicated that the PMs focusing on the

implementation of sustainability are using more communication skills and are involving more

stakeholders in their communication processes, because sustainable projects are more complex.

Our findings provide some indications to answer the aforementioned question. To our knowledge

this study is the first to investigate patterns between PM’s use of communication skills with

stakeholder engagement in the construction industry. With the increasing expectations of

construction organizations’ engagement with sustainable solutions it is relevant to have

understanding of the PMs’ perception and awareness of how they are implementing

sustainability in their projects. As we know that the primary task of a PM is communication, we

wanted to examine how the PM is communicating with the different stakeholders in order to

successfully reach the sustainable objectives of a construction project. Our findings indicated

that the PM needs to engage with all stakeholders during each phase of the project and he needs

to juggle with his/her use of different communication skills in order to meet the expectations of

each stakeholder. This phenomenon can be related to Hersey and Blanchard’s (1969) situational

leadership theory (SLT). As explained by Northouse (2007), situational leadership focuses on

leadership in situations where different situations demand different kinds of leadership. Due to

the fact that the PM needs to use different communication skills based on his/her communication

with different stakeholders, he needs also to be able to switch between different leadership styles

based on what communication skills he is using. The SLT also suggests that even though there

could be a specific leadership role which is required for each stage, based on the situation there

is a possibility in the change of leadership style due to situational factors which in this case are
 65

the demands of the different stakeholders. The complexity of a sustainable project, brings up the

need for a PM to engage more stakeholders in his/her communication processes during each

phase in order to ensure that the project will reach its sustainable goals. For that reason the PM

needs to switch more often to different communication skills and respectively different

leadership styles. What we can’t say for certain are what are these leadership styles, but

nevertheless we know they are using more than one leadership style based on the situational

factors.

6.2 Summary of key findings

Based on our experience of working as project managers in construction projects and the

use of communication during projects in general and the theory that we used in this study, we

outlined what we considered as key findings that support the purpose of this paper and divided

them based on the 5 phases of a construction project as follow:

Phase 1:

In sustainable projects the project manager needs to focus on involving the

Organizational stakeholders to ensure that all the team members share the same mission and

vision of the client and can go along with codes and regulation. Furthermore, there is a need to

focus on involving the Economical stakeholder through Managerial and Corporate

communication skill. This is in order to approach a common understanding for the construction

environment, so it will be easier to set up sustainable borders for the project. Also Corporate

communication skills can enhance trust and give more credibility for the PM as a part of the

construction organization, so he can convince the clients to invest in them. What the PM needs to

focus on is involving the Organizational and Societal stakeholders in his communication process,
 66

as he needs to ensure that his team is prepared to reach the sustainable objectives of the project

and he needs to make sure to know what are the laws and regulations that the project needs to

cover.

Phase 2:

It is very essential in sustainable projects the PM to focus on communicating with the

Organizational stakeholders through strategic speaking with the team. Moreover, the PM will

have to build relationship with the project team, in order to stimulate the creation of new ideas

for the sustainable development of the projects. This will need some personal coaching and face

to face meetings with the team. Also it is important to focus on the Economical stakeholders, as

the PM has to establish contact with the investors and the suppliers. Furthermore, the PM needs

corporate communication skills to build trust between the organization and the external

stakeholders, in order to get the resources he needs for the project.

Phase 3:

In sustainable projects it is important to use the Corporate communication skills, because

there is a bigger concern on the green building codes and regulations during this phase.

However, it is essential in this phase for the PM to interact with the project team and focus on a

sustainable planning for all the project tasks. This will ensure the project’s success and will

reduce any potential risk.

Phase 4:

In sustainable projects there is a need to focus on the internal team performance through

providing assistance and monitoring the running tasks. Moreover, coordination and collaboration

with the supplier should be taken into consideration regularly to avoid unwanted circumstances

that could lead to the over-expenses and the delay of the project. This is supported by the PMs’
 67

need to focus on using Managerial communication skills to observe how the tasks are performed

and provide assistance when there is a complication in the work process.

Phase 5:

All communication skills should be utilized by the PM so he can engage all the

stakeholders, in order to make sure the common objectives are reached, which in this case is

meeting the requirement from specification till sustainable green building codes and the need to

make sure the reputation of the company is up to expectations. In particular the PM needs to

focus on using Core communication skills, in order to bring together all stakeholders to complete

their tasks.

In general because a sustainable project is more complex, the PM needs to engage more

stakeholders in his/her communication processes during each phase, in order to ensure that the

project will reach its sustainable goals and for that he needs to switch more often to different

communication skills.

6.3 Further research

We found indication in our data about the need of using different leadership styles based

on situations that usually appear in sustainable projects. This is something interesting that we can

investigate further, in order to find what leadership styles the PM is using based on his/her use of

communication skills with the different stakeholders during each phase of the project.
 68

Furthermore, we investigated the perception of 26 PMs from different countries across the world

(Sweden, Africa, UAE, KSA, Lebanon, Qatar, Canada, UK). But with a bigger sample and

multiple respondents from the same country, we can also investigate if there is a difference in the

use of communication skills and the stakeholder engagement, based on the cultural differences in

different countries.
 69

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Appendix

 Data Tree

This tree includes all the data we collected from the questionnaire. It shows the total

number of project manager who responded. Moreover it gives detailed information about how

they answered for the general questions of the survey and the questions related to the

communication skills and the stakeholder engagement throughout the 5 phases of the project.

Total No. of PMs respondents

26
High awareness about sustainability
23
High implementation of sustainability in Low implementation of sustainability in
projects projects
13 10
Stakeholder Communication
Communication skill Stakeholder involvement
involvement skill
High Low High Low High Low High Low
9 4 3 7
8 5 6 4
10 3 9 1
11 2 10 0
10 3 9 1
12 1 10 0

Stakeholder Communication
Communication skill Stakeholder involvement
involvement skill
High Low High Low High Low High Low
 75

11 2 10 0
10 3 7 3
6 7 7 3
10 3 9 1
13 0 10 0
12 1 8 2

Stakeholder Communication
Communication skill Stakeholder involvement
involvement skill
High Low High Low High Low High Low
11 2 9 1
10 3 10 0
5 8 1 9
10 3 8 2
11 2 9 1
12 1 3 7

Stakeholder Communication
Communication skill Stakeholder involvement
involvement skill
High Low High Low High Low High Low
11 2 9 1
10 3 4 6
5 8 3 7
13 0 4 6
13 0 10 0
12 1 4 6

Stakeholder Communication
Communication skill Stakeholder involvement
involvement skill
 76

High Low High Low High Low High Low

11 3 6 4
7 6 7 3
9 4 9 1
12 1 6 4
12 1 10 0
12 1 10 0

Total No. of PMs respondents

26
Low awareness about sustainability
3
High implementation of sustainability Low implementation of sustainability
in projects in projects
0 3
Stakeholder Stakeholder Communicatio
Communication skill
involvement involvement n skill
High Low High Low High Low High Low
Organizati
0 0 3 0
onal
Pha Economica
se 1 0 0 3 0
l
Societal 0 0 3 0
Core 0 0 3 0
Managerial 0 0 3 0
Corporate 0 0 3 0

Stakeholder Stakeholder Communicatio

Pha Communication skill
involvement involvement n skill
se 2
High Low High Low High Low High Low
 77

Organizati
0 0 2 1
onal
Economica
0 0 2 1
l
Societal 0 0 2 1
Core 0 0 3 0
Managerial 0 0 2 1
Corporate 0 0 3 0

Stakeholder Stakeholder Communicatio

Communication skill
involvement involvement n skill
High Low High Low High Low High Low
Organizati
0 0 3 0
onal
Pha Economica
se 3 0 0 2 1
l
Societal 0 0 2 1
Core 0 0 2 1
Managerial 0 0 3 0
Corporate 0 0 3 0

Stakeholder Stakeholder Communicatio

Communication skill
involvement involvement n skill
High Low High Low High Low High Low
Organizati
0 0 3 0
onal
Pha Economica
se 4 0 0 2 1
l
Societal 0 0 3 0
Core 0 0 3 0
Managerial 0 0 3 0
Corporate 0 0 3 0

Pha Stakeholder Communication skill Stakeholder Communicatio

 78

se 5 involvement involvement n skill

High Low High Low High Low High Low
Organizati
0 0 3 0
onal
Economica
0 0 2 1
l
Societal 0 0 3 0
Core 0 0 3 0
Managerial 0 0 3 0
Corporate 0 0 3 0
Project managers' communication through
construction project phases
The aim of the survey is to test project managers' perception of their flexibility with different
stakeholders through the phases of construction projects via communication skills. For this
purpose we are asking the same questions at each phase of the project in case sustainability is
implemented in the project or not.
Sustainable construction projects are projects that integrate sustainable vision and mission and
takes into consideration the triple bottom line framework, regarding the responsibilities of an
organization, that are the environment, the society and the economy while keeping a balance
between the three dimensions. In construction, sustainability is more equivalent to Green
building projects that are certified by international environmental organizations (ex. LEED).

1. From 0-5 rate your awareness about sustainability in relation to the above mentioned
definition.
Mark only one oval.

0 1 2 3 4 5

Not aware Aware

2. From 0-5 rate your project implementation of sustainability

Mark only one oval.

0 1 2 3 4 5

Not implemented Implemented

Initiation Phase
Is the phase in which a project’s key stakeholders first come together to define the broad
outlines of a project.

Stakeholders involvement

From 0-5 rate how much the following stakeholders are involved during this phase.

3. Organizational stakeholders (stakeholders that exist within the organization. Examples of

organizational stakeholders include shareholders, employees and managers).
Mark only one oval.

0 1 2 3 4 5

Not involved Fully involved

1/8
 4. Economical stakeholders (examples include consumers, creditors, and competitors. The
interactions that these stakeholders have with the firm are driven primarily by economic
concerns).
Mark only one oval.

0 1 2 3 4 5

Not involved Fully involved

5. Societal stakeholders (stakeholders that constitute the broader business and social
environment in which the firm operates. Examples of societal stakeholders include
government agencies and regulators, communities and the environment itself. These
societal stakeholders are essential for the organization in terms of providing the legitimacy
necessary for its survival over the medium to long term).
Mark only one oval.

0 1 2 3 4 5

Not involved Fully involved

Project managers skills

In this section we would like to know which communication skills are mostly used in this phase.

6. Core communications skills (strategy thinking, speaking, writing and etc.).

Mark only one oval.

0 1 2 3 4 5

No use Full use

7. Managerial communication skills (listening/hearing, team management and

development, leading meetings and etc.).
Mark only one oval.

0 1 2 3 4 5

No use Intensive use

8. Corporate communication skills (involvement as a leader/are you a leader, internal

leadership style, external leadership style, possibility of representing the company face
and etc.).
Mark only one oval.

0 1 2 3 4 5

No use Intensive use

2/8
Launching Phase
Is the phase in which actual work on the project is begun.

Stakeholders involvement

From 0-5 rate how much the following stakeholders are involved during this phase.

9. Organizational stakeholders (stakeholders that exist within the organization. Examples of

organizational stakeholders include shareholders, employees and managers).
Mark only one oval.

0 1 2 3 4 5

Not involved Fully involved

10. Economical stakeholders (examples include consumers, creditors and competitors. The
interactions that these stakeholders have with the firm are driven primarily by economical
concerns).
Mark only one oval.

0 1 2 3 4 5

Not involved Fully involved

11. Societal stakeholders (stakeholders that constitute the broader business and social
environment in which the firm operates. Examples of societal stakeholders include
government agencies and regulators, communities and the environment itself. These
societal stakeholders are essential for the organization in terms of providing the legitimacy
necessary for its survival over the medium to long term).
Mark only one oval.

0 1 2 3 4 5

Not involved Fully involved

Project managers skills

In this section we would like to know which communication skills are mostly used in this phase.

12. Core communications skills (strategy thinking, speaking, writing and etc.).
Mark only one oval.

0 1 2 3 4 5

No use Intensive use

3/8
13. Managerial communication skills (listening/hearing, team management and
development, leading meetings and etc.).
Mark only one oval.

0 1 2 3 4 5

No use Intensive use

14. Corporate communication skills (involvement as a leader/are you a leader, internal

leadership style, external leadership style, possibility of representing the company face
and etc.).
Mark only one oval.

0 1 2 3 4 5

No use Intensive use

Planning Phase
Is the phase in which more detailed planning is done to establish a wide range of
project specifics, ending with the creation of a project schedule and plan.

Stakeholders involvement

From 0-5 rate how much the following stakeholders are involved during this phase.

15. Organizational stakeholders (stakeholders that exist within the organization. Examples of
organizational stakeholders include shareholders, employees and managers).
Mark only one oval.

0 1 2 3 4 5

Not involved Fully involved

16. Economical stakeholders (examples include consumers, creditors, and competitors. The
interactions that these stakeholders have with the firm are driven primarily by economical
concerns).
Mark only one oval.

0 1 2 3 4 5

Not involved Fully involved

4/8
17. Societal stakeholders (stakeholders that constitute the broader business and social environment in
which the firm operates. Examples of societal stakeholders include government agencies and
regulators, communities and the environment itself. These societal stakeholders are essential for the
organization in terms of providing the legitimacy necessary for its survival over the medium to long
term).
Mark only one oval.

0 1 2 3 4 5

Not involved Fully involved

Project managers skills

In this section we would like to know which communication skills are mostly used in this initiation phase.

18. Core communications skills (strategy thinking, speaking, writing and etc.).
Mark only one oval.

0 1 2 3 4 5

No use Intensive use

19. Managerial communication skills (listening/hearing, team management and development,

leading meetings and etc.).
Mark only one oval.

0 1 2 3 4 5

No use Intensive use

20. Corporate communication skills (involvement as a leader/are you a leader, internal leadership style,
external leadership style, possibility of representing the company face and etc.).
Mark only one oval.

0 1 2 3 4 5

No use Intensive use

Execution Phase
Is the phase in which tasks are delegated to team members and most of the project’s work is done.
Including monitoring and controlling.

Stakeholders involvement
5/8
From 0-5 rate how much the following stakeholders are involved during this phase.

21. Organizational stakeholders (stakeholders that exist within the organization. Examples of
organizational stakeholders include shareholders, employees, and managers).
Mark only one oval.

0 1 2 3 4 5

Not involved Fully involved

22. Economical stakeholders (examples include consumers, creditors, and competitors. The
interactions that these stakeholders have with the firm are driven primarily by economical
concerns).
Mark only one oval.

0 1 2 3 4 5

Not involved Fully involved

23. Societal stakeholders (stakeholders that constitute the broader business and social
environment in which the firm operates. Examples of societal stakeholders include
government agencies and regulators, communities and the environment itself. These
societal stakeholders are essential for the organization in terms of providing the legitimacy
necessary for its survival over the medium to long term).
Mark only one oval.

0 1 2 3 4 5

Not involved Fully involved

Project managers skills

In this section we would like to know which communication skills are mostly used in this phase.

24. Core communications skills (strategy thinking, speaking, writing and etc.).
Mark only one oval.

0 1 2 3 4 5

No use Intensive use

25. Managerial communication skills (listening/hearing, team management and

development, leading meetings and etc.).
Mark only one oval.

0 1 2 3 4 5

No use Intensive use

6/8
26. Corporate communication skills (involvement as a leader/are you a leader, internal
leadership style, external leadership style, possibility of representing the company face
and etc.).
Mark only one oval.

0 1 2 3 4 5

No use Intensive use

Project Closing Phase

Is the phase in which final products, services and other project outcomes are delivered to the
client?

Stakeholders involvement

From 0-5 rate how much the following stakeholders are involved during this phase.

27. Organizational stakeholders (stakeholders that exist within the organization. Examples of
organizational stakeholders include shareholders, employees, and managers).
Mark only one oval.

0 1 2 3 4 5

Not involved Fully involved

28. Economical stakeholders (examples include consumers, creditors, and competitors. The
interactions that these stakeholders have with the firm are driven primarily by economical
concerns).
Mark only one oval.

0 1 2 3 4 5

Not involved Fully involved

29. Societal stakeholders (stakeholders that constitute the broader business and social
environment in which the firm operates. Examples of societal stakeholders include
government agencies and regulators, communities, and the environment itself. These
societal stakeholders are essential for the organization in terms of providing the legitimacy
necessary for its survival over the medium to long term).
Mark only one oval.

0 1 2 3 4 5

Not involved Fully involved

7/8
Project managers skills

In this section we would like to know which communication skills are mostly used in this phase.

30. Core communications skills (strategy thinking, speaking, writing and etc.).
Mark only one oval.

0 1 2 3 4 5

No use Intensive use

31. Managerial communication skills (listening/hearing, team management and development,

leading meetings and etc.).
Mark only one oval.

0 1 2 3 4 5

No use Intensive use

32. Corporate communication skills (involvement as a leader/are you a leader, internal leadership style,
external leadership style, possibility of representing the company face and etc.).
Mark only one oval.

0 1 2 3 4 5

No use Intensive use

8/8