Influences Of Construction Project Managers' Soft Competencies On Project Success:An Empirical Study

Project management is as much art as it is science.Soft competencies of project managers are receiving increasing interest as more organizations accept that project performance has an impact on organizational performance.Scholars and practitioners of project management tend to agree that while the technical aspects of project management are important,it is the soft competencies of project managers that are required for success.This study set out to explore the expected evolution of the soft competencies of the project manager required for construction projects.Secondary objectives of the study were to establish if perceptions on the importance of soft competencies and how to improve them for addressing the success differ amongst the respective construction project associates.This dissertation examines the most important soft competencies of construction project managers for project success.Based on the literature of project management research,the researcher has selected relevant items for construction project manager's soft competencies.A thorough literature study was conducted into the soft competencies of project managers especially with respect to the most widely used project management bodies of knowledge.The concept of competency was defined and a number of models of competency were presented.Soft competencies,especially emotional intelligence,relating to project managers have received much attention recently.The research model is tested through an extensive questionnaire survey,which was conducted in the construction industries of China,Pakistan,and UAE.The hypotheses(model)were tested using data collected from 516 valid responses from construction project practitioners,such as construction project managers,portfolio managers,construction firm directors,construction project team members and construction project experts.The empirical results show that the most important soft competencies for construction project managers are "emotional intelligence","transformational leadership","communication","teamwork" and "negotiation skills".These competencies have a strong positive impact on the project success.While for quantifiable success criteria,such as schedules and budgeting,the "social skill" of a construction project manager can play a more critical role.Therefore,the research hypothesis,"The soft competencies of construction project managers are positively correlated with project success",is supported empirically.Structured interviews conducted to validate the survey results highlighted that only soft competencies are expected to take on more importance for project managers.The interviews produced similar expectations to the literature regarding the challenges for construction projects regarding complexity,uncertainty and the rate of change.The design of this research represents a breakthrough in the project management research domain.The two-phase approach takes advantage of both quantitative and qualitative research methods.In Phase 1,new ideas are tested in a pilot survey that is validated in Phase 2 by interview respondents.The questionnaire survey is carried out in the construction industries of China,Pakistan,and UAE.This unique mix-method with multi-stakeholder research design significantly improved the reliability,validity,relevance,practicality,and coherence of the research findings.The findings provide solid evidence of the correlation between the most important soft competencies of construction project managers and the project success.The construction project managers' soft competencies from the perspective of different stakeholders are presented.Furthermore,some of the techniques for improving soft competencies in project managers were also discussed.These findings represent a new chapter in current project management theory and practice.In addition to filling this gap in the literature,the results of this study could also assist the career development of project management professionals,help business leaders to select effective project managers and enable organizations to better allocate human resources.