An Investigation into the Perceived Quality of Communications in Dispersed Construction Project Teams

Construction project teams are increasingly operating in dispersed arrangements in which communications predominantly take place via information communication technology (ICT) with a dose of face-to-face interactions. However, a review of literature reflects a scarcity of research on how shifting to dispersed teams affects the perceived quality of communications in construction project teams. The present study attempts to address such a gap in the body of knowledge. To this end, 12 major indicators of quality of communications were identified through a review of literature. This was followed by conducting 17 semi-structured interviews with experts in the industry to customize the indicators for the construction context. Based on the identified indicators, a questionnaire survey was designed for elucidating the perceptions of construction practitioners about changes in quality of communications in dispersed teams in comparison to fully collocated ones. Drawing upon the data collated from 285 duly completed questionnaires, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was deployed to define the major areas of change in quality of communications in dispersed teams as perceived by the respondents. The findings showed that shifting towards dispersed working results in a change in perceived quality of communications in ten areas mainly reduction in completeness and reliability of communications. The present study contributes to the field by providing a list of indicators for assessing the quality of communications for construction project teams. Additionally, the findings provide an illuminating insight into the primary changes in perceived quality of communications in disperse team arrangements.