6 top secrets to becoming an effective executive: useful construction management skills

Having the right construction management skills can help you impress hiring managers in your job search. You need to know these skills. Both technical skills and soft skills can help you in your endeavour to get hired and effectively complete your duties. In this article, I will share with you what I consider to be some of the most valuable skills for construction executives.

Communication

Communication involves:

• Talking to others to convey information effectively
• Asking questions as appropriate
• Giving full attention to what other people are saying
• taking time to understand the points being made

Communication skills can be utilised to interact with clients, outsourced suppliers and subcontractors.

Managing of Personnel Resources

A manager needs to be able to identify the best people for the job. You must be able to motivate your team, direct them as well as develop their skill-set. Your team management abilities will ensure that problem-solving is handled in a collaborative, professional and prompt manner. You must have know-how on:

• Procedures for personnel recruitment
• Training
• Compensation and benefits
• Labor relations and negotiation
• Personnel information systems

Financial management

This entails:

• Creating budget plans
• Making financial forecasts
• Tracking project spending
• Accounting for expenditures.

Good financial management skills will help you use a project’s resources with greater efficiency.

Delegation

As a manager, you will need help from others to complete all your tasks. Delegation includes:

• Assigning duties to team members
• Knowing your team’s strengths and weaknesses
• Assigning duties that suit your team members’ talents
• Adjusting your actions in relation to others’ actions

Understanding of technology

This can help you as a construction executive to identify and use the latest technologies for projects. This knowledge aids in applying:

• Principles
• Techniques
• Equipment
• Design

Industry knowledge

The construction industry is ever-changing and you will need to stay up-to-date with the latest trends. Some of the knowledge that you will need to know as a successful construction executive will include:

• Knowledge of materials
• Latest methods
• Tools involved  
• Construction or repair of houses, buildings and other structures such as highways and roads.

Enhancing and making use of these construction management skills will propel you into a successful career as a construction executive.

Kaufman Search & Consulting works with leading Contractors and top-level talent throughout the country, building teams for tomorrow’s projects one perfect fit at a time. We use extensive know-how and our solid relationships with key decision makers at our client companies to elevate your executive career in construction.

AboutStephanie Kaufman

Career change is a major life decision affecting your professional fulfillment, your family´s livelihood and your employer’s success in the marketplace. Stephanie has had deep understanding of that premise in her decade-long activity as executive search expert supporting construction industry leaders. Her experience pointed to the essential aspects of a perfect professional match such as competence, personality and cultural compatibility. She has developed a portfolio of returning high profile clients and a sensitive and efficient hands-on approach to both sides of the recruitment process. She vouches for investing time in getting to know the clients and candidates on a personal level and diligently guiding them through step by step. All this comes together in a proven strategy that molds to your career and staffing needs, bringing exactly what you need and when you need it.