Collaboration and communication among project team members are essential for web based project monitoring system to generate real time reports. Up to date information can overcome potential problems that will affect project target. Although Public Works Department of Malaysia (PWD) web based project monitoring system (which is known as SKALA system) can generate real time project reporting but it still depends on the real time input. This study will focus on how SKALA system can become an effective project collaboration and communication platform. Hence it will automatically provide accurate real time input for SKALA system. The research methodology will comprise literature reviews, data collection and analysis. Data collection will be based on interviews with experts and surveys conducted from sampling of project team members in PWD Headquarter, States and Districts. Finally, the expected finding is to identify a model of collaboration tool for SKALA system enhancement. This will assist PWD to manage and monitor all its projects in a timely manner in order to take prompt action.
It has been established that collaboration and communication among project team are vital in project implementation. On the other hand, it is also essential for web based project monitoring system in achieving real time reporting. Since Public Works Department of Malaysia (PWD) has to manage and monitor thousands of projects at any point of time, it must require an effective web based project monitoring system. Effective project monitoring will lead to prompt action by PWD in accomplishing the projects target. This study will focus on the collaboration and communication platform for PWD web based project monitoring system.
Although system integration and collaboration are not new research topic, it was believed to be the key for enabling technologies that drives the construction industry in improving productivity and efficiency (Shen et al., 2010). Recent literatures are more focus on computer-aided design collaboration while very little attention was directed to address the potential use of collaboration technology in project stakeholder communication (Chung et al., 2009).
Background
PWD is a government department that has been tasked with constructing and maintaining public infrastructure in Malaysia. It was formed in 1872 as the technical advisor to the Government. PWD also implement projects and maintains public infrastructure in Malaysia such as federal and state roads, airports, government buildings, maritime and ports. PWD's vision is to become a world class service provider and centre of excellence in asset management, project management and engineering services for the development of nation's infrastructure through creative and innovative human capital and state of the art technology.
Based on Strategy Map, PWD has to leverage on ICT to enhance its project delivery system. In managing projects, PWD is involved in the planning, designing, procurement, implementing and monitoring aspects of the projects. In any project implementation, PWD has to balance the time, resources, cost and quality factors of the project in order to achieve the projects as per PWD objectives and its clients' needs.
During 9th Malaysian Plan, based on SKALA projects' records, PWD has been trusted by the Malaysian Government to implement 5450 projects with the total cost of RM40 billion in which 1200 projects are still in the construction stage at the moment.
Since PWD is committed to deliver its project to the client as stated in its core business objectives in term of time, cost and quality, it needs comprehensive monitoring tools to help the organisation to control its project effectively and efficiently. The reports produced are very critical for fast decision and policies making to overcome the problems occurred during projects implementation. Currently, PWD is using a number of systems or applications to execute or monitor its projects. The systems or applications are based on variety of software ranging from commercial software such as Microsoft Project or Primavera to in-house development application.
SKALA is an official online project monitoring web page for PWD Malaysia and was first developed in-house by PWD Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Branch in 1985. It was developed and customised to cater the needs of PWD's main core business which is project management. SKALA data input is based on the workflow of PWD business processes which is governed by PWD's certified ISO 9001 Quality Management System. In other words, the users' understanding of PWD's business processes are handled by its Standard Quality Management System while SKALA only automates all critical processes such as project planning documentation, design quality plan, construction quality plan and standard PWD's contract administration forms.
SKALA has been used by all PWD project team members throughout project life cycle (Figure 1) starting from receiving project from the clients until handing over the projects.
Figure 1: PWD's Various Stages of Project Life Cycle and Project Team Members
The main function of SKALA system is to generate real time project status for all PWD personnel as well as its clients. The on-line reports generated by SKALA include details of project information as well as project performance such as project progress in term of time and cost.
SKALA users comprises of PWD's top managements and other personnel in project teams such as Program Managers, Head of Project Team, Head of Design Team, Procurement Officers and Project Site Team Members. At present, SKALA has more than 2000 registered users including PWD's personnel and its clients.
Problem Statement
Shen et al. (2010) indicated that one of the major problems on system integration and collaboration in the construction industry is "difficult to access accurate data, information and knowledge in a timely manner in every phase of the construction project lifecycle". The statement is supported by Guo et al. (2010) which had concluded that application of Life Cycle Management has not been successful because it is still lacks of an effective communication and collaboration information platform.
At present, some of the status reporting in SKALA is not up to date due to lack of real time input from project team members. For example, additional scope changes by the client is submitted at later time into SKALA system. Although SKALA can generate real time project reporting and statistics but it still depends on data input from the project team members. In other words, the 'real time' report will depend on the `real time' input. This synchronization issue will reflect on current project status due to the delay of data input. Figure 2 shows the relationship between real time data input and reporting in SKALA.
Figure 2: Relationship between real time data and real time reporting in SKALA
Since any problem need to be address rapidly, the project manager should depends on the system that can provide timely indication of project problems, whether they are real or potential Cheung et al (2004). To get real time data input, SKALA system must become a reliable collaboration tool to improve the collaboration and communication among the project team members.
The aim of the Study
The aim of this study is to propose a model of collaboration tool for SKALA system that will assist PWD to manage and monitor all its projects in a timely manner.
The objectives of the study are set as followed:
To investigate the project collaboration and communication requirement in project life cycle
To identify the shortcoming of project collaboration and communication tool in SKALA system
To suggest a systematic tool for SKALA enhancement regarding project collaboration and communication.
Scope of the Study
The scope of this study will only cover internal communication activities and collaboration in project management among PWD project team members. The PWD project team members include Program Manager, Head of Project Team, Head of Design Team, Procurement Offices and Project Site Teams in PWD Headquarter, States and Districts.
Summary of Chapter
This Chapter is the overview of the study which includes the introduction of the topic, the problem statement, the purpose, objectives as well as the scope of the study.
Chapter 2
LITERATURE REVIEW
Introduction
This section will present the related research and information on project team members' collaboration and communication in web based project monitoring system.
Although project management is essentially about managing a project from its conception to its completion through its project life cycle, the emphasis is on the communication and information management via web based project management (Polit and Catalunya, 2005). According to PMBOK (2004), "project monitoring should be performed so that potential problems can be identified in a timely manner and corrective action can be taken".
Since the problems need to be address rapidly, Cheung et al. (2004) suggested that the project manager should count on web based monitoring system that can provide timely indication of project problems, whether they are real or potential.
Shen et al. (2010) stated that although systems integration and collaboration are not new research topic, but it was believed to be the key for enabling technologies that drives the construction industry in improving productivity and efficiency.
Chung et al. (2009) also stated that recent literatures are more focus on computer-aided design collaboration and communication while very little attention was directed to address the potential use of collaboration technology in project stakeholder communication.
Project Team Members' Collaboration and Communication
According to Patterson (2001), project collaboration is conducted between various types of team members to achieve specific project goal. Dow and Taylor (2008) also mentioned that "collaboration involves two or more people in carry out any tasks or processes and it involves work done among peers regardless of their roles". Generally, executives will have an interest in multiple projects, project manager would normally be focusing on a particular project and individual team members may be working on one or more projects at the same time (Patterson, 2001).
Figure 3: Project collaboration is conducted between various types of team members (Patterson, 2001).
There are some relationship between project team members' collaboration and communication. Chen et al. (2007) mentioned that due to improper management and control, communications in project teams often contribute to numerous project failures.
Figure 4: Cross Functional Teams and communication in Construction (Chen et al., 2007)
As explained by Patterson (2001), a project collaboration tool is mainly used for "updating project status, requesting and reviewing individual progress submissions, and tracking and managing changes, issues, and action items". It is also become part of sharing project information among the project team members.
Nevertheless, communicating with team members in a structured way helps a project manager optimise team performance and improve collaboration. Individual team members depend heavily on the information in a timely manner for any action that need to be taken. According to Patterson (2001), the team members need to be regularly informed of important factors such as project scope and milestones as well as project events in order to achieve its project objectives.
Effective communication activities for project team members.
Effective communication within project team members in a structured way will help to optimise project team performance and improve collaboration. According to Dow and Taylor (2008), project communication should comprise of three elements which are:
Communicating project information in a timely manner
Generating the right level of information for the customer
Collecting, distributing and storing project information.
Tania (2006) explained that effective communication among team members ensures that each team member will:
understands their responsibilities,
get coordinated in order to work together efficiently
informed about the status of the project
aware of important decisions that may impact project completion
Dow and Taylor (2008) highlighted that effective project communication should only provide important information to the team members with the right format, at the right time, and the right impact.
Krishna (2006) insisted that there must be a communication plan in every project so that every stakeholder will be informed of any progress of the project. According to Westland (2007), "the communications plan identifies the types of information to be distributed to stakeholders, the methods of distributing the information, the frequency of distribution, and responsibilities of each person in the project team for distributing the information". Kotze et al. (2005) emphasized that the communication plan in project implementation should consists of:
Who
The lines of communication sender and receiver responsibility and authority
What
The scope and format of communication
How
The methods for example: e-mail, document, telephone, meeting, presentation
When
Communication frequency or schedule
Feedback
To confirm message received, accepted and understood
Filing
To retrieve, store, archive and disaster recovery
Collaboration tools.
Andres (2008) stated that collaboration tools can be related to three major types of communication challenges which are "information management, conferencing, and project management". In project management, according to PMBOK (2004), "project monitoring should be performed so that potential problems can be identified in a timely manner and corrective action can be taken".
According to Patterson (2001), a project collaboration tools is mainly used "for updating project status, requesting and reviewing individual progress submissions, and tracking and managing changes, issues, and action items". Collaboration tools should also be based on the communication plan to ensure that an effective communication strategy is built into the project delivery process (Caltrons, 2007). Patterson (2001) stated that project collaboration tools are needed to fulfil the following criteria:
Provide easy access to project information
Offer an easy-to-use interface
Minimise information overload
Provide for timely schedule updating
Deal (2009) stated that currently collaboration tools can:
facilitate real-time text, voice, and video communication;
assist project management activities like task management, calendaring, workflow and time tracking
Klinc (2010) claimed that "most of the collaboration tools today enable one-time and just-in-case communication, but lack of stronger, systematic and structured support for just-in-time connections".
According to Erdogan et al. (2009), there are few steps in implementing collaboration environment process which are identification of the need for a new system, feasibility analysis, user requirements, technical system design, optimum alternatives and fine tuning.
Communication and Collaboration Models.
Zietsman (2009) presented on his paper that communication methods in the construction supply chain is important to establish a collaboration model. Figure 5 show an example of the communication in small construction supply chain.
Figure 5: Example of communication methods in construction supply chain (Zietsman, 2009)
Study by Jadid (2009) indicated that control of the information flow is critical among the project stakeholder throughout the phases of construction projects as shown in Figure 6.
Figure 6: Task management and communication (Jadid, 2009)
The communication web-based system model by Jadid (2009) has three main functions which are:
i. Create Tasks
Tasks created for a group or individuals and it include task subject, any notes, relevant start and completion dates, the priority level, and workflow status.
ii. Task management
It provides a complete control over task such as authorizing who can view each task, assigning tasks to group members, and modifying or marking tasks as completed.
iii. Task to-do lists
The system provides a to-do list tasks for the user or the team members.
Guo et al. (2010) have developed a theoretical model for virtual prototyping-based communication and collaboration information platform based on Life Cycle Management as shown in Figure 6. However the model is still in earlier stage and need further investigation.
Figure 7: Model of VP-based communication and collaboration information platform (Guo et al., 2010)
The model (Guo et al., 2010) can be divided into two main modules which are:
Main model module
It is used to build the digital mock-up of the project which consists of static information from the project life-cycle phases such as planning, design, construction etc.
Process simulation module
It focuses on the dynamic information of projects such as the construction process and methods or space analysis.
Comprehensive study by Golparvar et al. (2009) as shown in Figure 8 explained that there are intergrated models in information environment perspective that can be used to monitor projects.
Figure 8: 4D simulation model for visualization of construction progress monitoring (Golparvar et al., 2009)
The model shows the construction performance through superimposed images of four-dimensional (4D) simulation model over time-lapsed photographs. However, study by Kang et al. (2007) found that at present, web-based technology can not support the large delivery of 4D construction visualization models over the Internet.
According to Al-Maadeed et al. (2010), time tracking system will provide an automated and centralized ways of tracking and monitoring progress for the projects. Effective web based project monitoring system must have a structured issue tracking system. Study by Janak (2009) showed that issue tracking system really needs a proper request workflow and can produce report in real time. Figure 9 show one of the example in developing workflow (ticketing system) request for issue tracking system.
Figure 9: Example in developing workflow (ticketing system) request for issue tracking system (Janak, 2009)
Summary of Chapter.
Chapter 3
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Introduction
The research methodology is the establishment of the framework in order to carry out this study. To achieve the objectives of this study, research methodology will be conducted into three phases as shown in Figure 6.
Figure 6 Schematic of research methodology
Phase 1
Based on the topic and problem statement identification, the study will focus on aim and objectives. References to literature review were made to obtain the latest knowledge or concept of any research conducted especially related to objectives of this topic.
Phase 2
During this phase, interviews and surveys will be conducted in order to:
study and clarify the requirement of project team members' collaboration and effective communication
identify the factors which affect the shortcoming in SKALA system for project collaboration tools
received the feedback from the project team members for SKALA enhancement with regards to collaboration tools
The method of data collection for item (i) will be based on interviews with related experts from PWD's certified project managers and the custodian of PWD Quality Management System. Based on the clarification of the requirements, surveys will be conducted for item (ii) and (iii). The surveys respondent will comprise samples of PWD project teams members (Head of Project Team, Head of Design Team, Procurement Offices and Project Site Teams) in PWD headquarter, States and Districts.
Phase 3
During this final phase, analysis will be conducted based on data collection and a proposed model will be established. The proposal model will be verified by PWD's certified project managers, the custodian of PWD Quality Management System and Head of PWD ICT Branch. The expected findings based on this study will:
establish the practices and features of project team collaboration and communication
produce standard method for effective communication activities among PWD project team members' collaboration in SKALA
propose a model of optimised collaboration tool for SKALA system that will assist PWD to manage and monitor all its projects in a timely manner
Summary of Chapter
