Project management dashboard over prevailing tools and software: A study on addressing nine knowledge areas

Abstract

Construction projects represent unique and immensely complex array of interdependent activities that must take place to accomplish project goals. Thus, the nature of construction projects reasoned to complications and ambiguities in the construction process demands the need for Project Management (PM) to fruitful completion of projects. Construction PM uses a range of tools and software to assist the accomplishment of PM knowledge areas which define the critical constraints of a project such include the management of time, cost, quality, risk, integration, scope, communication, procurement and human resource. However, the selection of convenient PM tools and software which fulfil critical requisites in construction projects is problematic. Project Management Dashboard (PMD) is one of PM tools, which contains a variety of quality based project tracking and control metrics. Though PMD is widely practiced in other industries, a lacuna existed under the Sri Lankan construction context. Hence, this study intended to assess the fulfilment of nine PM knowledge areas by PMD over prevailing PM tools and software. Thus, a hybrid survey approach, including questionnaire survey and the expert interview survey was conducted among PM professionals due to the fact that positivism in the research philosophy. The questionnaire survey analysis emphasised the ineffectiveness of most commonly used PM tools and software in fulfilling critical PM necessities and affirmed that an individual tool cannot effectively address on crucial PM needs. Subsequently, PMD was developed incorporating the essential elements (i.e. physical and financial progress, approval status, issues, risk, labour and general) based on the expert survey findings. Further, the interview survey confirmed the suitability of PMD in addressing critical PM requirements over conventional tools and software used in the Sri Lankan construction industry obtaining the results above the midpoint of the scale. Eventually, it is recommended to utilise PMD, in order to successfully manage construction projects.