Soft Skills for Teams in Public Linear Infrastructure: The Development of a Decision Support Tool
Despite the plethora of digital and technological advances made in the construction industry over the past three decades, at its core, the sector remains human-centric. Consequently, this research investigates the core soft skills employed on public linear infrastructure (PLI) projects (during the c...
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MDPI AG
2025-04-01
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| Series: | Buildings |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2075-5309/15/7/1197 |
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| author | Hollie K. Davies John J. Posillico David J. Edwards |
| author_facet | Hollie K. Davies John J. Posillico David J. Edwards |
| author_sort | Hollie K. Davies |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Despite the plethora of digital and technological advances made in the construction industry over the past three decades, at its core, the sector remains human-centric. Consequently, this research investigates the core soft skills employed on public linear infrastructure (PLI) projects (during the construction phase) that are digitally enabled and concludes with the development of a decision support tool for PLI project team management. A mixed philosophical stance is implemented using interpretivism, postpositivism and grounded theory together with abductive reasoning to examine subject matter experts’ perceptions of the phenomena under investigation. Textual analysis is then utilised to formulate a decision support tool as a theoretical construct. The research findings demonstrate that communication, leadership and creativity/curiosity are the three main soft skills required of PLI projects. Furthermore, the key elements of a decision support tool—namely, trackable and measurable data, clear objectives and success criteria, and an easy-to-understand visual format—were identified. Such knowledge provides a strong base for building an emotionally intelligent project team. This research constitutes the first attempt to understand the essential soft skills required on PLI projects and, premised upon this, generate a decision support tool for project management in teams that helps to augment project performance through workforce investment via a learning organisation. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-144947ff4a3a4718888bfe773306e9ee |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2075-5309 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-04-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Buildings |
| spelling | doaj-art-144947ff4a3a4718888bfe773306e9ee2025-08-20T02:17:00ZengMDPI AGBuildings2075-53092025-04-01157119710.3390/buildings15071197Soft Skills for Teams in Public Linear Infrastructure: The Development of a Decision Support ToolHollie K. Davies0John J. Posillico1David J. Edwards2School of the Built Environment, Millennium Point, Birmingham City University, Birmingham B4 7XG, UKSchool of the Built Environment, Millennium Point, Birmingham City University, Birmingham B4 7XG, UKSchool of the Built Environment, Millennium Point, Birmingham City University, Birmingham B4 7XG, UKDespite the plethora of digital and technological advances made in the construction industry over the past three decades, at its core, the sector remains human-centric. Consequently, this research investigates the core soft skills employed on public linear infrastructure (PLI) projects (during the construction phase) that are digitally enabled and concludes with the development of a decision support tool for PLI project team management. A mixed philosophical stance is implemented using interpretivism, postpositivism and grounded theory together with abductive reasoning to examine subject matter experts’ perceptions of the phenomena under investigation. Textual analysis is then utilised to formulate a decision support tool as a theoretical construct. The research findings demonstrate that communication, leadership and creativity/curiosity are the three main soft skills required of PLI projects. Furthermore, the key elements of a decision support tool—namely, trackable and measurable data, clear objectives and success criteria, and an easy-to-understand visual format—were identified. Such knowledge provides a strong base for building an emotionally intelligent project team. This research constitutes the first attempt to understand the essential soft skills required on PLI projects and, premised upon this, generate a decision support tool for project management in teams that helps to augment project performance through workforce investment via a learning organisation.https://www.mdpi.com/2075-5309/15/7/1197soft skillspublic linear infrastructurebuilt environmentdecision support toolIndustry 5.0 |
| spellingShingle | Hollie K. Davies John J. Posillico David J. Edwards Soft Skills for Teams in Public Linear Infrastructure: The Development of a Decision Support Tool Buildings soft skills public linear infrastructure built environment decision support tool Industry 5.0 |
| title | Soft Skills for Teams in Public Linear Infrastructure: The Development of a Decision Support Tool |
| title_full | Soft Skills for Teams in Public Linear Infrastructure: The Development of a Decision Support Tool |
| title_fullStr | Soft Skills for Teams in Public Linear Infrastructure: The Development of a Decision Support Tool |
| title_full_unstemmed | Soft Skills for Teams in Public Linear Infrastructure: The Development of a Decision Support Tool |
| title_short | Soft Skills for Teams in Public Linear Infrastructure: The Development of a Decision Support Tool |
| title_sort | soft skills for teams in public linear infrastructure the development of a decision support tool |
| topic | soft skills public linear infrastructure built environment decision support tool Industry 5.0 |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2075-5309/15/7/1197 |
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