SOFT SKILLS IN CONSTRUCTION: A DIFFERENCE OF OPINION BETWEEN INDUSTRY AND ACEDEMIA
INTRODUCTION
Every function of the construction industry is being influenced by technological advancement and more activities in a construction project are now aided by a software. Emerging technologies like Building Information Modelling (BIM), Cloud Computing, Mobile Computing and others have enabled the industry to not only improve tremendously in terms of productivity, but also in terms of quality through better coordination among multiple project participants, Training, Visualization and clash detection (Ahmad et al. 1995). Moreover, it is the adoption of these technologies and the relative skills of contractors in these that
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Utilizing BIM enabled integrated project delivery presents many challenges for the project management team because BIM enable many new channels for effective communication and collaboration and the choice of the right tool at the right time becomes difficult even for people with a knowledge of the benefits of BIM (Rekola et al. 2010).Moreover, integration is about managing people and getting them to work together to achieve something more than the sum of parts. To do this, the project manager requires leadership, motivation and teambuilding. It may also involve trust building among project participants and conflict resolution (Fewings, Peter 2012. Construction Project Management: An Integrated Approach (2nd Edition). All the above mentioned skills can be classified as soft skills of the project manager. Hence, in order to succeed in today’s dynamic industry, any individual wishing to enter the industry, should not only possess core technical skills, but also a diverse set of soft skills.(Ahn and Kwon 2010) .
“The competencies are classified as hard and soft skills. Soft skills generally refer to a person’s emotional quotient. The cluster of personality traits, social graces, communication, language, personal habits, friendliness, managing people, leadership, etc. that characterize relationships with other people. Soft skills are different
According to AICPA website, core competency framework has developed to help accounting students to identify and strengthen their skills. There are three categories: Functional competencies, Personal Competencies and Business Perspective Competencies. Before I started reading this online source of the framework, I did not expect that being accountant has to possess “soft skills” because I thought the only technical skill were enough. Now I learn that in order to be competitive and successful in accounting field, we all need some soft skills, such as written and oral communication skill, problem-solving, the ability to work well with partners and other people, integrity and honesty.
In his paper, the author explains us how the technology advancement is taking place, how 2D modelling started initially, how it led to 3D modelling and now how building information modelling techniques are being linked to 3D modelling. BIM is not just about modelling, but it also includes project planning, design and construction. He clearly explains what BIM is in the form of a flow chart. Where he says that B in BIM stands for Residential, commercial, healthcare, institutional, sports and entertainment, I in BIM stands for Spatial, element, systems, quantities, schedule, operations and M in BIM stands for site, architectural, structural, MEP systems, sustainability and management. This all phases of the program are a continuous chain where programming, design, pre construction, construction, operations, and demolition are done. This research also supports that the concept of building information modelling is not only useful for the building’s geometric modelling, but also it can assist in the management of construction projects. In this research, the author has collected information from 35 construction projects that have already utilized BIM. The most common result that was observed was the cost reduction. For some people, BIM is a software application, where as for others, it is a process for designing and documenting
The aim of this Literature Review is to gain an understanding of what Building Information Modelling (BIM) is, what SMEs are, establish the importance of BIM, why BIM should be implemented and to explore the key issues associated with the adoption and implementation of BIM by SMEs in a live construction environment.
It is also estimated that lack of interoperability between AEC software costs the industry another $15.8 Billion across the board in years prior to adoption of interoperable software solutions. Funds that could be used to make more efficient and sustainable projects, invested in expanding practices, purchasing new technologies and employee training, are being wasted with inefficient processes. Increasing project complexity and clients demanding more to be done with less as well as the need for teams to work remotely but remain connected are factors pushing the construction industry to discover new opportunities for increasing efficiency and productivity.
This method fails to provide a clear view of the actual ongoing work at the project site since it is done manually. Moreover, poor judgement of an activity progress by the project managers can result in improper allocation of resources which may affect the cost and/or schedule of the project [1]. Another reason is that even with the presence of building modeling package, the difficult interaction between a scheduling software and BIM is resulting in it not being exploited to its full potential [3].
Building information modeling is a coordinated set of processes which is supported by technology for digital representation of physical and functional characteristics of places. It is a process that relies on information rich models to help owners and Architectural/Engineering/Construction (AEC) service providers to more efficiently plan, design, construct and manage building and infrastructure projects. Building information modeling is now becoming more popular and transforming the global AEC industry. The usage of BIM now is on high rise because it provides greater
Competencies are the set of skills that a leader or follower need to have to meet the demands necessary to perform their role within an organization (Boyatzis, 2011). Competencies can be broken down into two groups’ hard skills and soft skills (Marques, 2012). Hard skills include the set of technical and specific requirements that can be measured and analyzed to create a set of concrete measureable goals (Marques, 2012). An example of hard skills are how many calls a customer service representative can take in an eight hour time frame (Marques, 2012). Soft skills are how employees relate to others (Marques, 2012). Soft skills are more difficult to learn (Marques, 2012). Examples of soft skills
The future of our industry lies in how best we can integrate and communicate all our work with various stakeholders to manage a project efficiently. This has given rise to an area called construction informatics where a significant amount of research is being done. The area deals with a range of subjects from integration to interoperability and from knowledge mining to strategic management. This area came into existence from two fields. The first was the use of computers to design and carry out time and cost calculations. The other was for computers to categorize and store essential information. Currently, integration, interoperability, innovation along with strategic management of Information and Communication Technologies are the key areas of research of construction informatics (Isikdag 2009).
Project Integration Management – management of all processes to ensure proper coordination of the project.
Apart from that, the mode of communication between the construction professionals also changed due to introduction of BIM in the construction industry. This is because, the building product model is used as a tool to communicate with other professionals about costing where this situation will reduced the QS time spend in communicating with architects, engineers, contractors and client. By using this building product model, people will get a clearer view in what the QS explained about. Next, with the introduction of BIM, the progress of works in all stages will be reduced. This is due to the sophisticated software where any correction on the drawing will be automatically updated on the building model and there is no need for other profession to revise
Over time, businesses are adopting the integrated project delivery and project partnering in place of traditional delivery methods. Adopting integrated project delivery methods are advantageous since they help reduce costs, do away with waste as well as improving productivity hence positive project outcomes (Burcin &Karen, 2010). IPD works in a way such as all team members integrate with each other. For instance, the owner, construction manager, architect, engineers, subcontractors, and even technical vendors work together. IPD is an effective tool because it involves all team members who work collaboratively to ensure the success of the project. In the construction industry, IPD goes hand in hand with BIM. The alignment of the software BIM is leading the path for collaboration and the merging of all facets of project delivery – architectural, engineering, mechanical, construction, costing, programming, and life cycle management. The ability to unite all facets of the design and construction into a shared model is beneficial from numerous
For us professionals involved in a project, BIM therefore enables a virtual information model to be handed from the design team to the main contractor and subcontractors and then on to the owner/operator with each professional adding discipline-specific data to the single shared model. One of the benefits of this approach is that there is a reduction in the loss of information that traditionally occurred when a new team takes
Secondly, a soft skill also deals with teamwork because if you do not have team work you will not be able to work with others. Employers like to have somebody that will work well with others and help them. If you are a leader in everything that you do you can be a mentor for someone. Teamwork is the best thing you can ever do because you can achieve goals. Being a team player and getting the job done can help you get promoted with a special position that you want.
In today’s ever growing competitive market the products are getting user friendly, which means products are getting smarter and do the majority of work. Smarter products are complicated, and so is the process to develop them, Project Management is a crucial tool for streamlining complicated processes. As it applies today and in the future, to be successful in the careers mastering technical knowledge will be insufficient, if it is not backed by leadership and management skills. My primary motivation to pursue Project Management Education is to develop business skills, which will help me lead and implement my technical ideas and if required motivate and direct a team towards a common goal.
Traits categorized as soft skills are crucial to your job search and career. Being the best at whatever you do accounts for nil if you have a social problem that exclude you from working with others. The most significant skills for workers and employers cannot be learned or evaluated on paper (Jenkins, 2014).