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https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/construction-management-skills
Construction project managers use a certain skill set to complete their duties with ease and efficiency. If you’re pursuing this role, having the right construction management skills can help you impress hiring managers when applying for jobs. Knowing the skills that are helpful for this profession can also help you complete construction projects with greater speed and success. In this article, we explain what construction management skills are and list 12 useful skills that you can consider improving.
What are construction management skills?
Construction management skills are the abilities and characteristics that can help you effectively complete your duties as a construction manager. Both technical skills and certain soft skills can help you oversee a construction project and supervise a construction crew. Having these skills can ultimately help you and your crew complete a construction project successfully.
12 construction management skills
Good construction project managers are often flexible, entrepreneurial, excellent communicators and assertive, among other qualities. As a construction project manager, it’s important to not only learn new skills but also to continue developing them. Knowing what skills are helpful for this profession can also help you highlight them on your resume or in a job interview. Here are 12 construction management skills that can be useful:
1. Communication
Construction managers can use their verbal and written communication skills to interact with many stakeholders, such as clients, outsourced suppliers and subcontractors. The successful completion of a project often relies on the collaboration of all involved parties, so your communication skills can help you secure the right paperwork and ensure that everyone understands the project’s timeline.
2. Flexibility
As a construction manager , it’s important for you to be flexible so you can adapt to unforeseeable changes and plan for them accordingly. Understanding your projects and knowing what factors may affect their timelines and overall plans can help you make quick, informed decisions. When you make these project changes, it’s also important to let your entire team understand the necessity of these changes and how you arrived at your decisions.
3. Industry knowledge
It can be important for construction managers to stay up to date on the latest construction materials and techniques. Knowing this information can help you use innovative strategies and procedures to reach your construction goals and help you run a successful and efficient construction project.
4. Risk management
Construction managers can use their risk management skills to plan their projects, develop contingency plans and find quick solutions to problems. For example, if there’s a chance that building supplies may not arrive on time for a project, a construction manager could identify solutions to this problem before the project begins so they can prepare their team ahead of time.
5. Negotiation
Construction managers often have strong negotiation skills that can help them communicate effectively with stakeholders. For example, you may need to negotiate budget allocation, create employee schedules and make order changes. Knowing how to negotiate well can help you make agreements that positively affect your projects and your employees.
6. Delegation
Construction managers usually need help from others to complete all their project tasks, and they often use their delegation skills to assign duties to their team members for support. Knowing how to delegate can help you complete your own tasks on time and ensure that the project continues to move forward with the help of your team. It’s also important to know your team’s strengths and weaknesses so you can pair them with the duties that best suit their talents.
7. Team management
Construction managers can use their team management skills to ensure effective collaboration between team members on a project. Managers can also use these skills to help their teams work toward a common goal. It’s important for construction managers to use their team management abilities to handle issues in a collaborative, professional and prompt manner.
8. Organization
As a construction manager, it’s important for you to have strong organizational skills so you can handle multiple responsibilities at once. Having this skill can help you reduce stress and focus on your most important tasks. Organizational skills can also help you create a work routine to ensure that you complete all of your daily duties.
9. Financial management
Construction managers can use their financial management skills to create a budget plan, make financial forecasts and track project spending for a construction project. They may also use this skill to search for other financing opportunities for a project. Overall, good financial management skills can help you use a project’s resources with greater efficiency.
10. Assertiveness
Construction managers may use their assertiveness to implement changes in projects, such as using new crew plans they believe are in the project’s best interest. Apart from displaying your authority, you can also use your assertiveness to help others understand your reasoning and to engage with them to reach an agreeable solution.
11. Technology
Having a strong understanding of technology can help construction managers identify and use the latest technologies for their projects. The right technology can help you improve your crew’s communication as well as your project’s efficiency and overall quality. Because construction technology continues to develop, it can be important to identify technology that can add value to your projects.
12. Openness to feedback
For construction managers, openness to feedback means that they can be receptive to constructive criticism. Besides being firm and assertive, a good construction manager listens to other people’s views and opinions. In this role, it’s important to be open to accepting corrections from clients and colleagues. This means letting them know that they’re free to share their observations with you. After they’ve provided feedback, you can thank them and assure them you take their feedback seriously.
Instead of waiting for feedback, you can also directly ask for a colleague’s or client’s thoughts on a project. This can show that you’re eager to receive feedback and implement their recommendations.
