Civil Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
be used to the full, their weaknesses recognised and compensated (e.g.
meetings can be a waste of time if they are not chaired well - choosing
the chair is more important than allowing the senior person present to
assume the role).
All of this comes down to effective communication. Time spent at the
start of a project getting the structure and lines of responsibility agreed
can overcome most of the problems that lead to disputes. The construc-
tion industry is great at creating disputes, but it could be different.
Chapter 1 in a nutshell
The adversarial, low-margin, claim-based culture of the majority
of the UK construction industry breeds disputes.
Disputes waste time that could be spent on wealth-generation.
They divert energy and move the focus from completing a high-
quality project on time and on budget to defending/pursuing a
claim.
Poor communication is at the heart of most disputes. Face-to-
face communication is ten times more effective than the written
word.
People react to conflict differently. Understanding and adapting
to a person's style can help effective communication.
Most people are bad listeners. We prefer to tell our story rather
than listen to theirs.
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