6.7 lnlormation and Communication Management
For information and communication management. Management Information System (MIS) is used as an important tool for systemized approach to furnish
information. It comprises a system that collects. stores. sorts and analyzes data to generate and communicate information. It may be a combination of manual and computerized systems.
At the construction stage of a project. there are many agencies involved like client. architect. engineer, project manager, various consultants. material
suppliers, construction agencies and sub-contractors. Each agency is divided into top level management taking policy decisions, middle level management
monitoring the project and lower level management involved in day to day operations of the project.
Each level of management requires information of varying details. at different periodicities and in different formats. Project progress information flows from lower level to the top level management and policy decisions flow from top level to the lower level management.
MIS integrates the work and information flow within each agency and flow of information between different agencies.
In construction stage of the projects. the information ~ay be in the form of data reflecting status of project ~n terms of actual execution time for each activity. cost Incurred, resources used. quality control. material management. bills. organization management and other ad~inistrative aspects like disputes that may come up.
This data should beanalyzed to understand the overall progress achieved and to update schedules of the project.
Basic objectives of MIS of a construction project may be summarized as:
a) Providing benchmark against which to measure or compare progress and costs. like time network schedules. cost estimates.
material and labour schedules. specifications. working drawings.
b) Providing an organized and efficient means of mea suring. collecting. verifying and reflecting the progress and status of operations on the project with respect to progress. cost. resource s and quality.
c) Providing an organized . accurate and efficient means of con verting the data from operations into information.
d) Reporti ng the correct and necessary information in the required format and at the required level of detail to managers at all levels and to the supervisors.
e) Identifying and isolating the most important and critical information at various stages to be communicated to the managers and supervisors for taking decisions.
f) Communicating the information to the managers and supervisors in time so that decisions may be taken at the right time . Total MIS configuration of the construction project may bedivided into the following modules:
a) Planning and scheduling module.
b) Cost control and accounting module.
c) Trend and forecast module.
d) Project administrative and financial module.
e) Historical and documentation module.
All modules should be interlinked in flow of information and generation of reports. For large public projects. suitable mechanism may be
established for communication of relevant information to public at large.
