Javanmardi, A; Abbasian-Hosseini, S A; Liu, M and Hsiang, S M (2020) Improving effectiveness of constraints removal in construction planning meetings: Information-theoretic approach. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 146(4): 04020015, ISSN 0733-9364
Abstract
Timely identification and removal of constraints is critical for improving workflow reliability. Construction project managers need to spend a significant amount of working time in various types of planning meetings to discuss, analyze, and remove constraints. However, the amount of uncertainty associated with each constraint, mutual information shared among constraints, and any information gained by addressing those constraints are not necessarily known with any great accuracy or precision. This research used a bridge construction project as a case study to collect empirical data on detailed weekly meeting minutes over 18 weeks and the planned and actual starting and finish times of 475 activities. An information-theoretic approach was used to develop a framework to measure the amount of uncertainty and information sharing among constraint discussions. A Chow-Liu tree was then developed to help project managers optimize the sequence of topics discussed so that meeting time may be spent more productively. Results from this particular study indicate that weekly planning meetings need to strategically address issues of equipment availability, design and working method clarification, and prerequisite work readiness since removing those constraints could improve workflow reliability by 5.6%, 4.9%, and 3.6%, respectively. The contribution to the body of knowledge of this research was the development of a framework to utilize an information theoretic-based approach to measure information exchange, uncertainty, and sharing in construction planning meetings. The method can be applied to other construction projects, and the findings can help project managers plan and run meetings more effectively.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Index terms: | information exchange, accuracy, manager, workflow, body of knowledge, bridge construction, construction project, case study, project manager, construction planning, effectiveness, information sharing |
| Subjects: | performance management, data exchange, management, professional development, infrastructure engineering, production management, data collection methods, profession, practitioner, construction planning, data science, knowledge management |
| Topics: | Roles and Professions, Engineering Principles, Information Management, Research Practice, Project Management, Business Strategy, Site Management, Quality Management, Digital Applications |
| Descriptive scope: | 3 PCE |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here