UNIVERSITY OF THE EAST

Graduate School
Manila

GCT 7205: Decision Making in Construction Management

THE ROLE OF PROJECT MANAGER /

DECISION MAKING APPROACH OF
PROJECT MANAGER

By: Engr. Angelica L Figura

 PROJECT MANAGER
Project managers play the lead role in planning, executing, monitoring, controlling, and closing out
projects. They are accountable for the entire project scope, the project team and resources, the
project budget, and the success or failure of the project.
Roles of Project
Manager
 Roles of Project Manager
● Planning and Defining Scope
● Activity Planning and Sequencing
● Resource Planning
● Developing Schedules
● Time & Cost Estimating
● Developing a Budget
● Documentation
● Creating Charts and Schedules
● Managing Risks and Issues
● Monitoring and Reporting Progress
● Team Leadership
● Strategic Influencing
● Business Partnering
● DECISION MAKING
Decision Making
 Decision Making
- Decision making is the process of
making choices by identifying a
decision, gathering information, and
assessing alternative resolutions.

- Iconic 20th-century management guru

Peter F. Drucker
“Whatever a manager does, he does
through making decisions.”

- Decision making is strongly connected

with management roles.
 Project Decision Making Process
Characteristics of a good project team
decision making process

● Focus on goals to be served

● Analyze available data
● Take into consideration project and
organizational constraints
● Manage risk
● Follow a “ reasonable” process
● Respect and develop team members
 How Decisions are Made
Level of Team Involvement

Leader Gathers Group

Together for Consensus

Leader Gathers Group

Together for Input & Decides

Leader Asks Team Members

for Input and Decides

Leader Decides

Decision Making Time

 Decision Types
Information Stability
Fixed Fluid
Information Reliability

Fact- Final Decision Decide on Boundaries

based
Base key decisions on Use this to eliminate options.
information in this category Ensure steps in program plan
will refine information

Decide on Direction Decide on Movement

Base early decisions on this Do something in advance the

Opinion- information, undertake project. Do not finalize any
based studies to confirm with facts decisions at this time
Steps in Decision Making

Step 1: Identify the decision

Always identify the decision you have to
make during an ongoing project. Don’t let
external factors affect it.
Steps in Decision Making

Step 2: Gather relevant

information
Keep relevant information and data handy to
make calculative decisions. This step
involves both internal and external “work.”
Steps in Decision Making

Step 3: Identify the alternatives

There is always one or multiple alternatives that
will help you keep the project going even during
uncalculated risks.
Steps in Decision Making

Step 4: Weigh the evidence

Draw on your information and emotions to
imagine what it would be like if you carried out
each of the alternatives to the end. Evaluate
whether the need identified in Step 1 would be
met or resolved through the use of each
alternative.
Steps in Decision Making

Step 5: Choose among alternatives

Know your options and see what will work the best
among existing alternatives.
Steps in Decision Making

Step 6: Take action

You’re now ready to take some positive action by
beginning to implement the alternative you chose in
Step 5.
Steps in Decision Making

Step 7: Review your decision & its

consequences
Finally, it is time to see the impacts of your decision and what
consequences it can bring for your project.
Decision Making Style
 Decision Making Style

Conceptual Analytical Behavioral

Directive
 Decision Making Style Matrix
Alex wants to assess Analytical
Ambiguity responsibilities
● Committed to
his team about their duties and
at finding
construction company
the best answer in connection Jason is tasked withConceptual
determining the new policy
with their educational background and experiences. ● Achievement oriented
that will be use in their construction company. He
● Enjoys problem solving
He sends out a survey to hisamount
team to ofcollect their ● Creative
pulls the team together for a brainstorming session
● Comfortable with large information
opinions, asks other leaders for their own experiences ●
andComfortable
encourageswith them“What ifs”
to brainstorm features
and data
with their members, and gathers as much online ● Generally
without open—minded
limitation with athey
what would broad
addoutlook
if money
● Innovative
advice (in the form of articles and videos) as he can. ● Humanitarian/conscious
and time weren’t an issue? From of how decision
there, Jasonwill
● Thrives
Once on control
a tentative plan is ready, he collects more affect
lands on others
an ambitious option that they’ll pursue.
● Will take as long
feedback from his team as before
needed to find the
finalizing the best
● Thinks
But, in theflexibility
he leaves future to change course if the
option of the team that will handle the new
composition
● Enjoys
team needs to. up with new ideas
coming
● Enjoyscontract.
awarded variety and new challenges
Directive
Behavioral
● Driven by results Mae needs to choose a new software to be use in
Irene leadsprimarily
a construction company and is made ● Generally supportive; a team player
● Relies on rules and processes project scheduling. She provides her team three
aware of an issue with an unhappy stakeholder. ● Empathetic nature
● Aggressive nature different software options to test, then hosts a session
Irene reviews the past interactions with the ●
where everyone canfor
Looks to others advice
chime in with their experiences,
● Prefers to make decisions alone
stakeholder, references their team’s policies for ●
opinions, and frustrations. Afterbefore
Gets buy in stakeholders making
that, she identifies the
● Intuitive nature
dealing with similar scenarios, decision
software she plans to move forward with and asks her
● Typically reacts quickly andand addresses
doesn’t like tothe
dwell
situation quickly. Afterwards, she sends an email to ● Persuasive
team, nature
“I think we’re going to go with XYZ. What do you
on decisions think?” Again, she listens to their feedback. If there are
her team to update them about the resolution. ● Good communicator
● Strong verbal communicator vocal disapprovers, she’ll
datarevisit
(e.g.her options.people)
Structure ● Informs people once a decision is made
● Relies on implied “reading”

Task/Technical People/Social
Common Flaws that Cause
to make Less-than-Optimal
Decisions
Common Flaws that Cause to make Less-than-
Optimal Decisions

1. Errors in Logic
2. False Assumptions
3. Unreliable Memories
4. Mistaking the Symptoms for the problem
5. Biases

Source: Parth, F. R. (2013). Critical decision-making skills for project managers. Paper presented at PMI® Global Congress 2013—
EMEA, Istanbul, Turkey. Newtown Square, PA: Project Management Institute.
 Common Flaws that Cause to make Less-than-
Optimal Decisions

1. Errors in Logic
- A logical fallacy is an error of reasoning. When someone comes to
a conclusion based on a bad piece of reasoning, he or she commits
a fallacy, an error in logic. The conclusion may or may not be a
good one, but the process of arriving at it is flawed and continued
use of fallacious reasoning will lead to many more bad conclusions
than good ones.

Source: Parth, F. R. (2013). Critical decision-making skills for project managers. Paper presented at PMI® Global Congress 2013—
EMEA, Istanbul, Turkey. Newtown Square, PA: Project Management Institute.
 Common Flaws that Cause to make Less-than-
Optimal Decisions

2. False Assumptions
- The most dangerous assumptions we make are that we, and the
people working with us and providing us information, are always
unbiased and rational. As a rule this is not true, but only by
understanding our own biases and those of the people around us
can we recognize this as an assumption and compensate for it.

Source: Parth, F. R. (2013). Critical decision-making skills for project managers. Paper presented at PMI® Global Congress 2013—
EMEA, Istanbul, Turkey. Newtown Square, PA: Project Management Institute.
 Common Flaws that Cause to make Less-than-
Optimal Decisions

3. Unreliable Memories
- When our brains process data to make a decision, the information
is held in short-term memory. We juggle the information to make
sense of it, prioritizing some of it as relevant and other data as
irrelevant. Unfortunately, the data in short term memory decays very
rapidly.

Source: Parth, F. R. (2013). Critical decision-making skills for project managers. Paper presented at PMI® Global Congress 2013—
EMEA, Istanbul, Turkey. Newtown Square, PA: Project Management Institute.
 Common Flaws that Cause to make Less-than-
Optimal Decisions

4. Mistaking the symptom for the problem

- If you solve the wrong problem you haven't accomplished anything
— no matter how impressive you looked while you were making the
decision. This may be the most difficult part of the decision-making
process, because in real-life most problems are not obvious.

Source: Parth, F. R. (2013). Critical decision-making skills for project managers. Paper presented at PMI® Global Congress 2013—
EMEA, Istanbul, Turkey. Newtown Square, PA: Project Management Institute.
 Common Flaws that Cause to make Less-than-
Optimal Decisions

5. Biases
- There is no person who is truly objective. Each one of us has
biases. Some of them are strong biases; some of them are weak
biases. A rare few are conscious biases that we're aware of; the
majority are unconscious. The unconscious ones are far more
powerful than the ones we are aware of.

Source: Parth, F. R. (2013). Critical decision-making skills for project managers. Paper presented at PMI® Global Congress 2013—
EMEA, Istanbul, Turkey. Newtown Square, PA: Project Management Institute.
 Unavailability of sheet piles with the
specified specs on contract on the
Philippine market

● Market Research
● Review Previously Constructed Projects
on the area

Discuss all possible causes and its

effects to the project

1. Import from abroad the specified

sheet piles on the contract
2. Utilize the sheet piles available in
the Philippine Market
 References
● Decision Making Process in Project Management,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xOsoRnecI8
● What is Project Manager? Project Manager Responsibilities and Role | AIMS UK,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ip40qRkiZpk
● Decision-Making & Its Importance in Problem-Solving,
https://harappa.education/harappa-diaries/what-is-decision-making/
● Decision-making process,
https://www.umassd.edu/fycm/decision-making/process/#:~:text=Decision
%20making%20is%20the%20process,relevant%20information%20and
%20defining%20alternatives.
● Decision Making, https://www.skillsyouneed.com/ips/decision-making.html
● What Is Decision Making in Project Management?,
https://www.proprofsproject.com/blog/decision-making-in-project-management/
 References

● Project Decision-Making: A Process Guide For How To Do It Better By Elizabeth

Harrin https://rebelsguidetopm.com/project-decision-making/
● Parth, F. R. (2013). Critical decision-making skills for project managers. Paper
presented at PMI® Global Congress 2013—EMEA, Istanbul, Turkey. Newtown
Square, PA: Project Management Institute.
● UNDERSTANDING THE 4 STYLES OF DECISION MAKING (FOR YOUR BIG
LIFE DECISIONS) by Career Foresight Coaching, https://careerforesight.co/blog-
feed/4-styles-decision-making
Thank You!