Communication and decision making as a detriment of organisational structure

Communication has been described as the ‘social glue’ that ties members of project teams and other organisational subunits together. Indeed, the pattern of relationships that are planned or emerge during group interaction constitute a group structure. Moreover, communication and group interaction are commonly cited with reference to the quality, effectiveness and satisfaction of group decision-making. Construction project teams are commonly referred to as temporary multiorganisations and for the purpose of this research the ‘key’ design and construction team members (Client, Architect, Project Manager, Contractor, Quantity Surveyor, Services & Structural Engineers) communication profiles are investigated.

This paper discusses preliminary findings derived from a longitudinal investigation of twelve construction projects located in the central-belt of Scotland. Critical incidents (project problems) are used as a unit of data whereby the communication network is exposed following a study of team interaction (as a means to resolving the ‘critical incidents’) during the decision-making process. The twelve projects cover the various procurement routes (Traditional, Design & Build and Management methods) and the extent to which they inform Formal / Informal communication configurations and Decision-Making Schemes are discussed.