Role of Communication and Coordination in Project Success: Case Study

Communication and coordination are key issues for successful project management. Coordination is specifically a challenging task for industrial projects where a number of interdependent role players are needed to achieve the desired project outcomes. In this context, a two-stage case study of construction phase delay control for an oil and gas industrial project is presented. A process improvement methodology was carried out in the first stage and the root causes for the delays were identified. The investigation results revealed that the scope of one item of work, piping, dominated a large portion of delays. It was found that piping packages were not processed smoothly due to four main causes: incomplete testing, frequent piping modifications, incomplete as-built drawings, and incomplete punch listing. Seventy percent of the delays were caused by incomplete testing activities and incomplete as-built drawings. The improvement study suggested establishing a new unit for piping test package control and coordination. The review process was improved and the dedicated control team was implemented for the second unit, resulting in a substantial drop in the number of delayed test packages (down from 48 to 8%) and punch list items (down from 3,075 to 2,371). The findings of the case study demonstrate the importance of communication and coordination in successful project management for complex projects. The case presented is an example of process improvement use for successful delay management.