Managing inter-departmental project delivery to enhance customer satisfaction

The National Department of Public Works and Infrastructure (NDPWI), an agency for infrastructure development in South Africa, provides accommodation and other infrastructure to various public service departments. Each department communicates its infrastructure requirements with the NDPWI. However, there are usually time lags between project briefing and the actual delivery of the infrastructure. Therefore, this article aims to explore the causes of delays and offer solutions to enhance customer satisfaction. The case study method of qualitative research was adopted. Data were collected from the NDPWI regional offices in Bloemfontein, Cape Town and Kimberley, and the professional service department at the head office in Pretoria, among purposively selected participants not below the deputy director level. The Delphi technique was used as an instrument for data collection and complemented during a focus group session. The findings revealed that the major factors contributing to delays included poor planning by the project execution team (PET), ineffective project monitoring and overcentralisation of the decision-making process. The findings, conclusions and recommendations of this research provide useful information for organisational restructuring, the training and continuous retraining of project personnel, especially the project managers. These steps hold the potential for ameliorating the negative effects of delay in the execution of construction projects by the NDPWI.