Strategies for tactful time management for quantity surveyors

Abstract

More than ever before, today’s global competition is driven by time. Many issues constituted problems for construction professionals, among them central issue is the time frame. Especially Quantity Surveyor’s day to day work involves management of activities and achievement of the short-term goals of the project. Therefore this study focuses on tactful time management for Quantity Surveying professionals practicing worldwide. Literature synthesis and preliminary survey were undertaken to establish the research problem of this study that emphasised lack of awareness and training among Quantity Surveyors on time management. Survey method was adopted whereby initially a preliminary survey was conducted among 10 Quantity Surveyors who are having vast experience in the field of study. Further questionnaires were distributed among 90 Quantity Surveyors and semi-structured interviews were conducted with 7 experts having specialised knowledge and experience in Quantity Surveying, Time management, Human Resource Management and Project Planning. The research findings acknowledged Quantity Surveyor’s roles and duties in a typical organization followed by critical activities that consume more time among the other duties such as preparation of final accounts and agreements and procurement and coordination of stakeholders etc. while dominant causes were lack of experience in Quantity Surveying practices and type and requirements of clients. The survey findings also offered possible techniques to maximise time management such as effective team work and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and identified barriers that could arise in implementing them. MANOVA test was carried out with the aid of SPSS tool, which verified the influence of type of sector, type of organisation, country of practise and managerial position employed on each factor. Further NVIVO software package was used to produce cognitive map to visualise the overall picture of study. Ultimately the solutions that emerged from the research findings were used to formulate guidelines to assist Quantity Surveyors achieving tactful time management in professional career - the aim of this research.