Systematic review of the most relevant competencies for projects managers in the construction industry

Abstract

Construction organisations are now focusing on ensuring that project managers acquire the core competencies they require to be successful in their assignments. An organisation can maximise its probabilities of consistent project success by recruiting, developing, nurturing and retaining skilled project managers. Working closely with a range of other professionals, project managers organise, plan, schedule and control work and are responsible for ensuring that the project is completed within established time and cost constraints. To manage the project professionally and successfully, a project manager must possess the necessary skills and knowledge. An extensive evaluation on the essential and relevant skills of project managers was carried out in order to analyse the most important skills. The past few decades have produced a number of investigations into the correlation between project managers’ competencies and project success. As a result, competencies lists have become too extensive, and the field is in constant
change; therefore, this study updates the discussion and downsizes the number of competencies to fewer, more relevant items. Communication capabilities are a necessity for a project manager to be as effective as possible. The ability to lead the team, solve problems and handle conflicts, while being result-oriented and team-oriented, are a must for project managers. To achieve project goals, a project manager needs a range of additional skills, including organisation, emotional intelligence, technical expertise and interpersonal relationship skills.