Transcript What do communication skills mean in the Construction

WHAT DO COMMUNICATION
SKILLS MEAN IN THE
CONSTRUCTION DISCIPLINE?
Rosalie Goldsmith
Student Learning Unit
University of Western Sydney
Sid Newton
Faculty of the Built Environment UNSW
Acknowledgements
 Support for this research has been provided
by the Australian Learning and Teaching
Council (ALTC), an initiative of the Australian
Government Department of Education,
Employment and Workplace Relations. The
views expressed here do not necessarily
reflect the views of the ALTC.
Where this question came
from:
 ALTC LTAS project: to define academic
standards in a number of disciplines:
 A discipline scholar for each discipline, and a
project officer
 Architecture/Building and Construction:
discipline scholar Ass Prof Sid Newton
(UNSW)
 Project officer Rosalie Goldsmith
How the project worked
What
With whom
Why
Consultations
Australia-wide
about academic
standards
With accrediting bodies; Heads of
Program; peak industry bodies and
academic committees
Awareness-raising and
encouraging buy-in
1st Round
Workshops
Australia-wide
3 key Stakeholder groups:
faculty/academic staff; industry reps;
students & recent graduates
Discussion and
selection of 5-7 TLOs
per workshop
2nd round
workshops in 3
capital cities
Combined stakeholder groups
Refining selection and
wording of TLOs
Final draft TLOs
circulated
All members of construction discipline
community interest group
Final
consultation/comment
1st round workshops (audiorecorded)
 1. Discussion about what the stakeholders
considered to be threshold learning
outcomes (TLOs) for graduates
 2. pyramid discussion with a prepared set
of 64 TLOs from a range of disciplines
 3. Post-pyramid discussion feedback
 Workshop discussions then transcribed
and analysed
Communication as defined in
the TLOs:
 interpret and negotiate building and
construction information, instructions and
ideas with various project stakeholders
Discipline
Accounting
(communication
& teamwork)
communication as a TLO
Bachelor graduates: justify and communicate
accounting advice and ideas in straightforward
collaborative contexts involving both
accountants and non-accountants.
Architecture
Graduates of Master of Architecture will be
(work habits)
able to: communicate with a variety of
audiences in appropriate ways.
Engineering & ICT Graduates will have the knowledge and skills
(coordination & to: communicate and coordinate proficiently
communication) by listening, speaking, reading and writing
English for professional practice, working as
an effective member or leader of diverse
teams, using basic tools and practices of
formal project management.
Geography
graduates will be able to: communicate
geographical perspectives and knowledge
effectively to specialist and non-specialist
audiences using appropriately selected written,
oral and visual means.
Law
Graduates: a) communicate in ways that are
(communication & effective, appropriate and persuasive for legal and
collaboration)
non-legal audiences, and b) collaborate effectively.
Science
(draft)
graduates will be able to: communicate scientific
results, information, or arguments, to a range of
audiences, and for a range of purposes.
How the Construction discipline
participants defined communication:
 the ability to communicate verbally, in writing,
professionally, with confidence (University A)
 I think it’s mostly written, but also being able to
stand up and talk to people (University E)
 I think in construction it’s primarily a
socialisation of knowledge, and within the
construction industry it’s verbal skills and
professionalism (University F)
 (no definitions from industry or student
workshops)
Differences between the
stakeholder groups:
 Hard to say: as much diversity within as between the
groups
 Many construction discipline academics have had a
background or experience in industry (much less the
case in a discipline such as Engineering)
 We talk about social responsibility, we talk about
leadership, we talk about communications and then
we have to demonstrate that in every course. (university D)
 So when RICS says teaching teamwork and problem
solving, but AIB talks about communication some
other way, we align that.(university C)
Differences continued
 Industry A focused on plan reading:
 I want them to be able to read a drawing for example
and a lot of them can't.
 Obviously there has to be some plan reading skills that
come through at that stage.
 Industry B focused on the broader aspects of
communication:
 . And given the amount of written dialogue that
happens through emails;... both written and verbal
communication skills for me is a pretty important
learning outcome as well; the ability to communicate
with an architect at the same time as a lawyer at the
same time as an accountant, a tradesperson,
As for the students...
 And so communication practices and how to
manage people is of primary importance. (students
A)
 there should be more emphasis on getting
people together, communicating, getting
confidence, just being around people and
feeling comfortable. (students B)
How the participants saw
communication/skills
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As presentation skills:
presenting the capstone project to a client (university)
As talking to people:
talking to subbies [sub-contractors]; talking to a client (university)
– like I know it’s stupid, but you have to teach people how to be
confident: (student)
As negotiation skills:
you need to be able to sit at a table with 5 or 6 people and know
how to facilitate a general discussion and come up with an
outcome; (student)
As reading skills:
I want them to be able to read a drawing for example and a lot of
them can't; (industry)
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As writing skills:
it’s not just being able to write a good report, it’s writing a good report for
our type of clients and organisations that are going to consume it.
(university)
As critical thinking:
that ability to actually process information in a high level way so for me
reading a financial statement...(university)
As command of English:
some of the challenges we have faced, going through our recruitment
process, is around the verbal skills, and the written English skills; (industry)
As team work:
you need to be able to work within a project team, go to site meetings, and
deal with tradies all the way up to financiers from day one . (university)
As generic skills:
but I also do expect them to be able to present themselves, to be able to
communicate, to write well and to present themselves in a professional
manner; (industry)
Shared understanding?
 Not from the looks of things...Why?
 In the construction sector, communication is seen to be
about “the transfer of information between people”: the
skills that project managers need to deal with individuals,
small groups, large groups, organisations...
 Compare this with:
 I think in construction it’s primarily a socialisation of
knowledge, and within the construction industry it’s verbal
skills and professionalism (University F)
 I think we understand that the ability to communicate
effectively is critical for their future success, but even they
don’t think it’s important: the students, I mean. So we
impose it on them. (University E)
How is this to be done?
 That was a point that was made by the
students: the main people they’re
communicating with is the subbies [subcontractors], and that’s a very different kind of
communication from talking to a client, and
yet that’s what they’re having to learn the
process of. So it comes back to: is it reasonable
for us to include that kind of training or that
kind of outcome in our degree program?
(University F)
Who is responsible for teaching
this range of skills and abilities?
?
 Needs further investigation on a
national and a local level
What does this mean for ALL
advisers?
 Be aware of the complexity and multi-faceted
nature of communication skills within the
construction discipline
 Be aware of the already crowded curriculum
in the discipline
 Contextualise as much as possible
 Team teach and/or integrate within the
current units of study
TLOs for the construction discipline:
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Knowledge
integrate and evaluate the fundamental principles and technical knowledge of
building and construction technology, management, economics and law
Judgement
identify and resolve typical building challenges with limited guidance, employing
appropriate problem-solving and decision-making methodologies
Self-Development
critically and creatively reflect on personal behaviours and capabilities in the context
of entry to the profession
Communication
interpret and negotiate building and construction information, instructions and ideas
with various project stakeholders
Innovation
research and develop emerging methods and strategies for the procurement and
delivery management of contemporary construction work
Engagement
experience and demonstrate an integrated understanding of both the theory and
practice of building and construction