Perceptions of Construction Professionals Concerning Important Skills of Effective Project Leaders

The purpose of this study was to identify the most important skill of an effective project leader as perceived by the significant actors in the construction industry. A total of 120 questionnaires drawn from six construction-related professionals, comprising architecture, building, civil engineering, mechanical and electrical engineering, estate surveying, and quantity surveying were collected and used for the study. These professionals were employed in clients’ organizations (N=40), consultancy firms (N=48), and contracting firms (N=32). Frequency counts of the responses were computed, from which the mean item score for each skill was calculated to obtain the relative importance index. The relative importance indices were then ranked from the highest to the lowest for the clients, the consultants, the contractors, and the weighted average. The results showed that the most important skill is decision making for the client and for the three groups combined. The consultants agreed that leadership and motivation is the most important skill for the project leader. This is followed by decision making. The contractors ranked communication as the most important skill of an effective project leader. In the overall analysis, there is no significant difference in the perceptions of the three significant actors regarding the ranking of the skills. The implications of these findings for practice and research are analyzed and discussed, herein.