Profiling Project Management Skills of Construction Industry Workers

Abstract

This paper sought to analyse the level of integration of project management skills in construction activities in Minna, Niger State, Nigeria. Both descriptive and inferential analyses of responses from questionnaires distributed were carried out. The result reveals a relative involvement of professionals in the supervision of construction activities. Not only do these professionals have the minimum level of education to enable work in the industry. However, while 93% of the respondents claimed awareness of the existence of project management skills, about 69% claimed to have acquired the project management skills in addition to their initial degree of study. This notwithstanding, the 91% of the professionals who said they could not deliver the projects at the due date showed inadequate application of these the project management skills so acquired. It was further shown that for better project delivery (especially in government funded projects), respondents felt that proper supervision of construction work in government agencies was very essential in addition to the possession of adequate project management skills needed to bring about this level of supervision. It was therefore concluded that in view of the importance of project management skills in the delivery of construction projects, relevant stakeholders should consider making the acquisition of project management skills a pre-requisite to working in the industry