Key Elements of Project Management - Case Study Example

KEY ELEMENTS OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT AND THE CHALLENGES THAT PROJECT MANAGERS FACE IN ENSURING THE SUCCESS OF GREEN CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS Name Course Tutor Date of Submission Introduction The building sector has strongly embraced the art of green constructions or sustainable construction in a bid to curb the potential danger of greenhouse gas emissions that are rampant in the construction industry (Zhang, Shen and Wu, 2011). The ascendancy of green construction projects across the world can further be attributed to the rise in awareness of climate change and issues of sustainability due to information sharing and a number of pacts which countries are parties to. Most importantly, it is worth noting that, however new and efficient, the process of project management of green constructions is very different from the management of traditional projects in the construction industry (Zhang, Shen and Wu, 2011). This is because of the challenges and additional skills need that accompanies sustainable construction. There is a plethora of benefits that accrue from green construction revolving around the social, economic, political and cultural factors within an ideal society (Zhang, Shen & Wu, 2011). This paper explores the process of project management in the construction of green buildings elaborating on the challenges that are faced by the project managers and offering a recommendation for solution of the identified challenges. The scope of this paper also covers the knowledge and skills required of project managers in the management of green construction projects. Overview of Green Construction There is a major difference between the contemporary buildings and the traditional buildings built in the past centuries (Zhang, Shen & Wu, 2011). The rising need to protect the environment has completely bestowed a paradigm shift within the construction industry with most construction projects considering sustainability or green solutions (Zhang, Shen & Wu, 2011). The appearance, design and the value of green constructions mitigate to some levels the environmental impacts that are rampant in the industry as a whole. Green construction can be defined simply as the art or practice of engaging environmentally sound and efficient resources in the construction of green or sustainable buildings (Robichaud & Anantatmula, 2011). Robichaud and Anantatmula (2011) further note that green construction incorporate the consideration of environmental impacts at every stage of the building process from design, construction, and operation by the inhabitants of the houses. The major goal of green construction is to create and at the same time operate a healthy built environments that have ecologically sound designs and utilize efficient resources. The green constructions ensure reduced consumption of resources, reuse resources, use recyclable resources, protect nature and the environment, eliminate toxic materials and effects, apply costing of the life cycle and are based on quality (Robichaud & Anantatmula, 2011). The construction of green buildings is costly, however the whole green construction process has attached financial incentives that make it the best option to go with. The ecological benefits of green construction include protection of biodiversity and efficient use of resources such as water, improved air and water quality and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions (Robichaud & Anantatmula, 2011). The economic gains include reduced costs of operation, improved productivity of the housing sector and improved health as well as quality of life. Knowledge and Skills of Project Managers in Relation to Green Construction Projects The project managers who manage green constructions have to have competencies. These competencies revolve around the key nine knowledge areas that are essential in project management. The areas include integration, procurement, time, cost, quality, communication, human resource, risk and scope. The competency of project manager is therefore reliant on the knowledge; acquired during the training process and skills; that are developed through application of the knowledge acquired and from experience in the field. To meet the levels of standards that are set by the accreditation bodies a project manager despite having knowledge in the nine areas identified must have technical awareness of the industry including the projects being constructed. Generally project managers plan, organize, control and supervise the project. Therefore, the project manager must have basic technical skills in the field of green construction to be able to understand how the industry works and what is expected at the end. The project manager should also be skilled in design activities, reading, interpretation and understanding drawings and plans, estimating and tendering, and site mobilization and lay out (Robichaud & Anantatmula, 2011). The manager must also have skills such as good communication skills, social skills, decision-making skills, negotiation skills, team leadership skills, presentation skills and problem solving skills (Hwang & Ng, 2013). The manager must also be conversant with IT systems including the simulation software. The manager must have knowledge in cost, quality, schedule, claims, supply chain and knowledge management of green construction projects (Hwang & Ng, 2013). The manager being the steward of the whole process must have knowledge in ethical management and material resources management. The manager must also be conversant with planning and financial management of green project (Hwang & Ng, 2013). Additionally, the manager should have knowledge in the management of health and safety of the workers as well as general management of the human resources at the site. The manager must also be knowledgeable in the management of construction waste and the whole process of achieving sustainable designs (Hwang &Tan, 2010). The knowledge of supply chain management enables the project managers to make forecasts on the projects needs and the associated costs and then resort to performance assured tendering process as well as procurement. The communication skills enable the project manager to organize meetings with the clients and the workers at the site and thus ordinate activities in the site and off-site (Hwang & Tan, 2010). The decision making and problem solving skills enable the managers to set the best time for the completion of the project and take necessary actions for the management of the whole project. Lastly, the manager must be able to set priorities on how the project shall be undertaken through feasibility study and resource management knowledge (Hwang & Ng, 2013). Generally, the knowledge of project managers in the green construction industry emanates from the training and the experience in the course of manning the construction project (Hwang & Ng, 2013). Essentially, the knowledge and skills should have an alignment with the key goals of green construction so ass to avoid failure of such projects. The manger should utilize the knowledge and skills to optimize the project through such things reviewing the plan and submittal, inspection and testing of the site, detail planning, scheduling, supervision, correspondence, and property management (Hwang & Ng, 2013). Generally, the project manager should ensure that the employees are motivated, the conditions are evaluated and forecasted, and the resources are managed as the green construction is undertaken. Main Problems Project Managers Face in Maintaining Green Construction Projects Green construction project management just like any other construction project involves the use of project managers with the aforementioned skills and knowledge. This therefore means that there are challenges that are faced by the project managers when maintaining green construction projects. The first challenge that is faced by the PMs is the higher costs of green construction practices, technologies and materials (Hwang & Ng, 2013). Unlike the conventional projects, green constructions are more costly to construct, being up to 25% higher in terms of general costs (Hwang & Ng, 2013). Hwang and Ng (2013) further records that the costs are encountered due to the novel techniques applied, the modelling and simulation costs, complex designs and other project based practices that are necessary. The materials used in the green construction involves green materials that are 3-4% higher than conventional or traditional construction materials (Hwang & Ng, 2013). The managers must deliver the required specifications on the tight budget despite the rising demand of the green materials making them more costly. The project managers are faced with the challenge of increasing costs of the green construction prices due to the unstable price of the materials involved. The second major challenge is the technical difficulties that are experienced during the construction process (Hwang & Ng, 2013). Green construction technologies involve complicated procedures and techniques as well as construction processes. Failure to adequately address the complexities in time affects the performance of the project manager and could lead to failure of the whole project (Hwang & Ng, 2013). The technical challenges are more complicated compared to the conventional construction projects due to the alternative green materials that are used. The other eminent challenge is the risk posed by different types of contract (Hwang and Ng, 2013). The implementation of green design and construction requires various contracts for efficient and effective delivery. The contract that is chosen must have all the details that are required of an integrated green design. As the construction progresses, there are changes that occur at various levels that call for integration and incorporation at the later stages resulting to rescheduling and more costs that affects the project managers (Hwang and Ng, 2013). The green construction project managers are also forced to catch up with the slow and lengthy approval process for the use of novel green technologies and the recycled materials that are considered green or sustainable (Hwang & Ng, 2013). The lengthy process can lead to misunderstanding between the key stakeholders as the manager has to balance the time scheduled for the project, including acquisition of the materials and approval of payments for the suppliers, distributors and vendors (Hwang & Ng, 2013). The project managers involved in the whole green construction process lack the proper knowhow of the green materials and technologies involved. Green technologies pose a hindrance to the developers, contractors and clients. When the project manager has have insufficient knowledge or technical know-how on the products, systems, designs and materials, the project is likely to extend the time allocated originally (Hwang and Ng, 2013). Additionally, when the novel technology is the preference of the client, the performance of the manager is affected by the unfamiliarity with the green technologies. At the construction site, the project managers are faced with another challenge of linking and ensuring that there is communication and that the interest of the project team members are integrated (Hwang and Ng, 2013). Sometimes there is failure of understanding when building as well as maintaining the green projects, leading to poor performance of the manager and conflicts in the construction sites (Hwang and Ng, 2013). This then means that the manager has to spend most of their time on conducting random checks on both human resource issues and the processes, which is time consuming. The problems can be categorized into various classes (Hwang and Ng, 2013). The first on is planning related that includes the timing issues, different systems and techniques, lengthy approval processes and difficulty in implementing the projects based on the specifications (Hwang and Ng, 2013). The second category is the project related category that comes in the difficulty in communication among the teams, more time for the green practices, and difficulty in approval of the disbursement of payments to the teams involved. Hwang and Ng, 2013 opine that client related problems include fixed completion dates, strict budgets and unwillingness of the client to stretch their budget. All these categories and more have the capacity to impact the life cycle of the projects. Recommendations and Conclusion To address the challenges identified above, the project managers should leverage on their skills in order to optimize the whole process of green construction. The managers should communicate with the team and engage them in the process of decision making (Hwang & Tan, 2010). This will solve the problem of inter and intra team conflicts. The managers should also undertake frequent refresher courses so that they are aware of the green construction practices (Hwang &Tan, 2010). These courses will enable the managers have some insight on the technological changes as well as novel techniques and materials that are involved in the construction process and are necessary in the green construction industry. The construction and maintenance phase of the green construction process should involve standard work procedures that are communicated at the briefing process prior to the commencement of the projects (Hwang and Ng, 2013). The managers in consultation with the stakeholders should inform the personnel involved of any likely changes and the standards that are expected in the process. The managers should also involve organizational structure so that the delegation is duties is possible to avoid mix up (Hwang & Tan, 2010). The clients should also be willing to stretch their budgets so as to allow room for any changes that come along the way. There are a number of knowledge and skills required of projects managers who deal with green projects as have been seen in the paper. Additionally, as detailed there are challenges or problems that are faced with the project managers in the process of managing green constructions. Based on that this paper has recommended some practices that are worth consideration by the project managers. Bibliography Hwang, B. and Ng, W. (2013). Project management knowledge and skills for green construction: Overcoming challenges. International Journal of Project Management, 31(2013), 272– 284. Hwang, B. and Tan, J. (2010). Green building project management: obstacles and solutions for sustainable development. Sustainable Development, 20(5), 335-349. Robichaud, L. and Anantatmula, V. (2011). Greening Project Management Practices for Sustainable Construction. Journal of Management in Engineering, 27(1), 48-57. Zhang, X., Shen, L. and Wu, Y. (2011). Green strategy for gaining competitive advantage in housing development: a China study. Journal of Cleaner Production, 19(2-3), 157-167. Read More