Assessment of Communication Channels in Use by Professionals on Construction Projects in Abuja, Nigeria.

Abstract

Poor communication management has been traced to be a major reason for project failure. This research assessed the communication channels in use by professionals in construction projects in Abuja, with a view to proposing strategies for improving communication management on projects. The main objectives were to identify communication channels in use by professionals on projects and propose strategies to improve communication management on projects. The quantitative research method (questionnaire) was adopted for the study. Results and findings indicated that the most important communication channels in use by professionals on construction projects are face to face/oral conversations, general meetings, written letters and memos, team discussion, formal written documents and maintenance training with RII values of 0.95,0.92,0.89,0.87 and 0.85 respectively. Based on these findings it was concluded that the strategies outlined in this paper are relevant in improving communication management on projects. It was recommended that the use of the most effective communication channels is needed to minimize potential dispute and misunderstanding on the construction site and also, designing an appropriate communication channel for effective project execution should be considered by the project managers.