Total Quality Management In Construction Essay Research — страница 3

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to 70% of office workers? time is spent in manipulating written information) of work, and their final form should be worthy of spending some time to get words right. The use of white space and graphical elements such as charts and figures enhances the readability of any written piece. Given the vast amount of time spent on reading and creating memos, letters, proposals, and the like, the byword on written communication should be more is better, and the less is permanent (memos sent electronically, faxes, hand notes on the bottom of the letters, rather than typed, recorded reply) the better. VII. Verbal. Verbal communication takes place in many different settings, and the form of the communication will vary. One sort of vocabulary may be used to address shareholders and a

different idiom may be used altogether when chatting with construction workers. The skills principally lacking in verbal communication are public speaking and small group interactions. Public speaking scares people to death. This fear may be overcome by training(organizing and practice), videotaping the presentation (to review latter), and practice(on small group to build confidence). Small group interactions are essential to buildup comfort and ease among the group. It will provide a sense of team work and it is vital to have small talk among the team. VIII. Nonverbal. Humans infer a great deal of information from nonverbal clues. This non verbal clues includes body language as well as things as dress for success. Psychologists believe that nonverbal clues lead to “gut

feels” about how to interact with another person. Despite the similarities of nonverbal communication, there are cultural differences, and is probably most important to understand these, rather than reading individuals body language. It is easy to fall into the trap of overanalyzing nonverbal clues and infusing them with meaning, when, for example, someone may be hard of hearing or near/far-sighted rather than being inattentive (or too attentive). 4.Continuous Evaluation Feedback is essential to continuous improvement. How else would we know if our goals are being reached?. These feedback mechanisms may be simple oral or written reports, information systems, or complex automated statistical analyses integrated with our expert systems. The key is to receive the information in

time to allow initiating corrective action. For example, in construction feedback from engineers, subcontractors and so forth can help us as managers to find new ways to reduce cost and schedule. Feedback may also help architects to find the best way to construct a building and therefore effecting the design. We also should understand and separate assessable causes from chance causes. Assessable causes have distinct reasons for there existence, while chance causes are those causes that we have no control over. 5.Continuous Improvement Unlike innovation, which require great resources, and no small amount of serendipity, continuous improvement is easier to manage and utilize everyone?s talent. Japanese companies have used this idea for some time, and call this approach kaizen. This

idea fits hand in hand with team building approach. Kaizen and innovation are compared in figure 5 below. Figure 5. Improvement versus Innovation Continuous Improvement Innovation Effect long term and long lasting but undramatic. Shot term, but dramatic. PaceTime frame Small steps.Continuous and incremental. Big steps.Intermittent and nonincremental. Change InvolvementApproach Gradual and constant.Everybody.Collectivism, group efforts, systems approach. Abrupt and volatile.Select few “champions.”Rugged individualism, individual ideas and efforts. Mode Maintenance and improvement. Scrap and rebuild. Spark Conventional know-how and state of the art. Technological breakthroughs, new inventions, new theories. Practical requirements. Requires little investment but great effort to

maintain it. Requires large investment but little effort to maintain it. Effort orientationEvaluation criteria People.Process and efforts for better results. Technology.Result for profit. Advantage Works well in slow-growth economy. Better suited to fast-growth economy. To reduce cost and time and increase productivity, in any industry, the focus must be projected on the process that produces the product. Improving the process in construction, for example, reduced or may eliminate costly change orders and therefore reduced complexity and time. Through inspection and analysis of the process, everyone shares a common learning experience and the accumulated knowledge and understanding of the process become the basis for improving it. Precepts of Quality Improvement ?. Quality