Critical communications variables

Effective communications are essential to the successful completion of engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) projects. Research from the Construction Industry Institute (CII) confirms this hypothesis. However, this finding would be of little benefit without a means for measuring a project's communications effectiveness. This paper documents the efforts of a CII research team in identifying and measuring critical communications variables during the execution phases of EPC projects. It confirms the common recognition of communication problems, provides insight into communications theory, and outlines procedures used by the research team throughout the study. Critical communications variables identified in the process are consolidated into six manageable categories establishing the basis for a communications improvement program. These categories in relative order of importance are accuracy, procedures, barriers, understanding, timeliness, and completeness. The paper concludes by acknowledging that this is the first step in solving project communications problems. To gain maximum benefit from this research, the categories and variables identified must be incorporated into an assessment tool and applied as part of a communications improvement program.