1. Explain how civil engineering project organizations are formed, stating their structure and how efficiency of project execution is ensured in the organization.A project organization is a structure that facilitates the coordination and implementation of project activities. These structures are to create an environment that develops interactions among team members with a minimum amount of disruptions, overlaps and conflict. Project organizations are intended to reduce uncertainty and confusion that typically occurs at the project initiation phase. The structure defines the relationships among members of the project management and relationships with the external environment. An organizational is hence essential for the development of the project. These are usually formed by the project manager and are based on two aspects as explained below.SpecializationMany civil engineering projects usually involve application of knowledge and skills from different fields of expertise. For example the construction of a storied structure will bring together people in the fields of architecture, electrical engineering and quantity surveyors, monitoring and evaluation specialists among others. The organizational structure is made in such a way that each of these fields is well represented. This may be ensured by sub- contracting different companies that specialize in these fields, or contracting a company that caters for all of them.CoordinationThis is required to bring unity to the various elements that make up the project.With the many different specialists involved in civil Engineering projects execution, ensuring coordination among the different parties is a key to the efficiency and success of the project.The project manager must design an organizational structure that ensures that various components are integrated so that their efforts contribute to the overall project goal. In civil engineering projects, a certain degree of collaboration and mutual understanding is required among the various project components to achieve goals. Here the project manager aims at the achievement of harmony of individual efforts towards achievement of group goals.The manager hence carefully selects the project team.In determining and selecting the best project team, the project manager should follow the procedure below. Know the purpose, project, objective and goal. Define key tasks associated with every objective and define organizational units which can serve the places for task performance. Group the key tasks with every objective and define the job in detail Determine the organizational units responsible for mutual operation Finally, make a list of specific characteristics or evaluations associated with the project as for example the level of technology, possible length of lasting and project scope, all possible problems with individuals who might be included in the project among others.After all the above have been put into consideration, the manager selects a suitable team.Project organization structures may take on many forms but they are usually in form of organizational charts.Organizational ChartA properly designed organizational chart shows where each person is placed in the project structure. An organization chart is drawn in pyramid form where individuals located closer to the top of pyramid have more authority and responsible than members located towards the bottom.It is the relative locations of individuals on the organization chart that specifies the working relationships, and the lines connecting the boxes designate formal supervision and lines of communication between individuals.The simplest form of organizational chart has three components: client, consultant and contractor.

In this set-up, the client is the project owner and has exclusive rights over the project. The client can be an individual, cooperate sector, private sector or the government. It is the client who usually hires the consultant, and the consultant is answerable to the client. The client may as well hire the contractor, but in some cases, the consultant will hire the contractor.On the other hand, the consultant is a professional who provides advice in a particular area of expertise and has a wide knowledge of the subject matter. In some cases, consultant is hired to supervise the project on behalf of the client and is expected to act as the eyes and ears of that client. The consultant may work under a consulting firm or maybe self-employed.The contactor is usually a firm that is hired by either the client or consultant to carry out the hands-on execution of the project. The contractor is usually based on the project site.Project organizations can be farther broken down into external and internal structures.The external structure: is the one that describes the relationship between the client, consultant and contractor. This structure is concerned with the communication and interactions of the above mentioned parties.The internal structure: is based on the interactions within each of the individual parties, i.e. clients, consultants, contractors. Internal structures relate to the division of labor, tasks, functions and authorities of the project members. Project managers within the different organizations have to compose a team.

Within each of the above structures is an internal organization set up for the purpose of the project.In the case of the clients, a project manager will be selected, the consultants will also have their own personnel while the contactors usually comprise of the biggest project team.

Project ManagerProject ManagerStaffStaffStaffStaffProject ManagerStaffStaffStaffProject ManagerStaffStaffStaffProject ManagerStaffStaffFigure 1: showing an example of a project organization structure

The consultants team is usually made up of the following members:

Project ManagerA project is the person with the overall responsibility for the successful initiation, planning, design, execution, monitoring, controlling and closure of a project.The prime role of the manager is to ensure that the project produces the required outputs and outcomes, within the time scale and resources available.Firstly, the manager builds a suitable team to help in the execution of the project, continuously assesses team contribution and how the team functions. The manager also communicates plans and progress to those concerned when needed. He identifies and predicts hold ups and difficulties and resolves them. The manager also organizes, plans and distributes resources.Generally the overall efficiency of the project depends on the management.The project engineer is the representative of the manager who is always more available than the manager. This is because the manager may have many different projects running at the same time. The project engineer usually has expertise in the field of the project and is in charge of all the workers, he is answerable to the manager.Assistant/Resident engineer is to work hand-in-hand with the project engineer. This one is always based on the site and interacts more with the workers. This one is sometimes called the clerk of works. He or she is expected to be at par with the project proceedings and is answerable to the project engineer.There are other members like the monitoring and evaluation officer, accountants, sociologist, environmental officers who also work in their various categories to ensure proper project execution.On the other hand, the contractors team is usually made up of the following membersThe manager is usually the company owner and is interested in achieving the goal of the project in time and on budget. The manager usually has his team comprising of the following membersSite supervisor/Clerk of works is the one who works hand-in-hand with the clerk of works of the consultants. The site supervisor is usually the in-charge person on the part of the contractors. He is in charge of all the works, purchases and visits made on site. The site supervisor is responsible for organizing site meetings as well.The foreman is responsible for the casual laborers. He is usually more qualified and experienced than the rest of the causal laborers. He encourages and ensures good behavior of the casual laborers.

HOW EFFICIENCY OF PROJECT EXECUTION IS ENSURED ON A PROJECTEfficiency of project execution can be described as the ability to deliver the project goals on time, on budget and to the quality of performance expected.Efficiency in an organization depends on the management to a great extent. The management can ensure efficiency within the organization by introduction of practices that are able to optimize the organizational resources. This can be done through careful selection of the project team basing on the aims of the project and specialization of each individual on the team.Proper definition of the project objectives also leads to efficiency within an organization. Once every member has understood his or her role to play in the project, and has agreed to the terms and conditions, the work will go on smoothly. It is important to carefully explain the project to the members and what is expected of them.Good communication is an important factor that leads to efficiency within an organization. The manager and his team should establish a common system of communication with every person concerned with the project. Proper communication can save both time and money. This helps in avoiding errors due to miscommunication or lack of clarity.Quality control through weekly reports, frequent site visits, member appraisals among others ensure efficiency within an organization. Here the quality of work produced is compared with what is expected to ensure that it meets the standard of the project. This leads to quality work and efficiency within the organizations.Financial incentives motivate the organization members improving on the input and quality of work produced. These develop a positive work attitude among members and are usually in form of field allowances, accommodation and feeding. When members are given these allowances, they are encouraged to improve on the quality of the work delivered.Sufficient planning for resources leads to efficiency within an organization. A special team is usually in charge of planning for the resources to ensure that works stay within the budget of the organization. This planning is usually done in terms of bills of quantities for the project by a quantity surveyor. Here the exact amount required as well as the exact purpose is stated. In case of any deviations along the way, it is easy to adjust.Similarly, proper coordination of resources is ensured. In a site scenario, this is done through proper site keeping. A person is usually put in charge of the stores and is always aware of what leaves and what enters the stores. This way, thefts and unexpected losses are minimized, ensuring efficiency of the project.Another way of ensuring efficiency is by instilling a team spirit and team work among members. Here the members will appreciate each others strength and tolerate each others weaknesses. Also the people with weaknesses try to work on them for the good of the team. Members are encouraged to put the organization work first.Proper time management is encouraged within the organization to ensure efficiency. On a site, his can be through having a proper site layout. Practices like double handling of materials are discouraged and avoided, walking distances of workers and materials are also reduced to save project time. Proper circulation of work is also ensured such that congestion, which delays work, is avoided.Finally, efficiency within an organization is attained by setting a target time for finishing the work.

2. What is the role of motivation in civil engineering projects and how does it relate to project delivery and quality control?Motivation is a process of arousing and sustaining goal-directed behavior induced by the expectation of satisfying individual needs. Motivation is an internal feeling which can be understood by manager since he is in close contact with the employees. Needs, wants and desires are inter-related and they are the driving force to act. These needs can be understood by the manager and he can frame motivation plans accordingly. We can say that motivation therefore is a continuous process since motivation process is based on needs which are unlimited.Motivation is an important factor which brings employees satisfaction. This can be done by keeping into mind and framing an incentive plan for the benefit of the employees.Positive IncentivesPositive incentives are those incentives which provide a positive assurance for fulfilling the needs and wants. Positive incentives generally have an optimistic attitude behind and they are generally given to satisfy the psychological requirements of employees. For example-promotion, praise, recognition, perks and allowances, job security, suggestion scheme, job enrichment etc. It is positive in nature.Negative IncentivesNegative incentives are those whose purpose is to correct the mistakes or defaults of employees. The purpose is to rectify mistakes in order to get effective results. Negative incentive is generally resorted to when positive incentive does not works and a psychological set back has to be given to employees. It is negative by nature. For example- demotion, transfer, fines, penalties.The roles of motivation in civil engineering projects include; To put human resources into actionEvery concern requires physical, financial and human resources to accomplish the goals. The more motivated the employees are, the more empowered the team is. It is through motivation that the human resources can be utilized by making full use of it. This can be done by building willingness in employees to work. This will help the enterprise in securing best possible utilization of resources. For instance workers are provided with transport facilities to and from the project site in order to reserve the energy for the work to be accomplished that time. To improve level of efficiency of employeesThe level of a subordinate or an employee does not only depend upon his qualifications and abilities. For getting best of his work performance, the gap between ability and willingness has to be filled which helps in improving the level of performance of subordinates. Motivated employees are quality oriented since they do not vandalise or pilfer company equipment due to dissatisfaction. This will result into-i. Increase in productivity,ii. Reducing cost of operationsiii. Increase in profitability and success of the project To achieve organizational goalsThe goals of an enterprise can be achieved only when the following factors take place:-i. There is best possible utilization of resources,ii. There is a co-operative work environment,iii. The employees are goal-directed and they act in a purposive manner,iv. Goals can be achieved if co-ordination and co-operation takes place simultaneously which can be effectively done through motivation.Motivated employees are optimistic and have a challenging attitude towards work thus achieving organizational goals To build friendly relationshipMotivation is an important factor which brings employees satisfaction. This can be done by keeping into mind and framing an incentive plan for the benefit of the employees. This could initiate the following things:i. Effective co-operation which brings stability,ii. Industrial dispute and unrest in employees will reduce,iii. The employees will be adaptable to the changes and there will be no resistance to the change,iv. This will help in providing a smooth and sound concern in which individual interests will coincide with the organizational interests,v. This will result in profit maximization through increased productivity. To increase stability of work forceStability of workforce is very important from the point of view of reputation and goodwill of a concern. The employees can remain loyal to the enterprise only when they have a feeling of participation in the management. The skills and efficiency of employees will always be of advantage to employers as well as employees themselves. This will lead to a good public image in the market which will attract competent and qualified people into a company. As it is said, Old is gold which suffices with the role of motivation here, the older the people, more the experience and their adjustment into a company which can be of benefit to the enterprise.

3.Leadership skills you would require in your day to day activities when executing civil engineering projects.Leadership is the capacity, ability and the will to motivate and direct a group of people to work towards a common cause. While carrying out a civil engineering project, a leader is necessary to guide the team on the schedules of the work they ought to execute. A number of qualities a civil engineering leader would need include the following;VisionA civil engineer must have a clear idea where his or her company and unit are going beyond a given project or even groups of projects in a year i.e. long term planning. Tactical civil engineers need to be clear about this and need to refer frequently to the vision, mission, and values of an engineering company.Open-mindednessBeing open minded is one of the most important skills a civil engineer should have. This helps them listen to the suggestions of the entire working group in this case the workmanship on the site and improved innovativeness at work hence efficiency of the workers.PersuasionA civil engineering leader should have the ability to influence others or cause them to move in particular direction. Actually leadership could be defined as the ability to persuade or influence others to do something they might not have done without the leaders persuasion.The ability of a leader to persuade determines how much people trust you and how good their communication and relationships are this in turn increases the productivity of the engineering team.Mentoring and developmentDeveloping the workmates and the people you lead is an important role of a civil engineer as a leader, encouraging others expands their capabilities and can take on additional assignments; this is part of leadership responsibility. Leaders who feel threatened by the capabilities of others are challenged in this area. Commitment Dedication and commitment is one of the top skills and habits that a civil engineer as a leader should have in order to be able to inspire and encourage others to work.Decision makingA civil engineer as a leader should be able to weigh through information and, comprehend what is relevant, make well considered decisions, and take action based on decision. Making the decisions too slowly or too quickly will make your hinder your leadership effectiveness therefore decisiveness is a great characteristic of a leader.CompetenceCompetence goes beyond words i.e. it is the leaders ability to say something, plan it, and do it in such a way that you know how and they can desire to follow you. IntegrityThis refers to having internal guiding principles that one as an engineer does not compromise. It means treating fellow workmates as you wish you would be treated. Integrity promotes trust and not much is accomplished without trust.Many experts believe that a solid sense of right and wrong and strong guiding principles is the most essential and basic of all leadership skills. CommunicationAs the cheap complaint in nearly every organization of all types whether large or small from any industry segment is lack of appropriate communication. Communication constitutes interpersonal relations between the leader and the followers and the overall interchange of information between workers throughout the company.Team workOnly the leader cannot do it all so a team leader should encourage team work within the team. This is the reason why it is advisable to have a team with different skills. Therefore a leader must know how to nurture and build such a team. Planning Planning involves a civil engineer making certain assumptions about the future and taking actions in the present to positively influence the future. It is a process of strategic focus and it puts into consideration guidance and projection of positivity in the future.