New technology has changed the nature of the construction industry, making it easier to design and construct a building. But, the people in charge still need to possess and hone those valuable “soft skills.”
The Star Tribune reports that the Minnesota Construction Association has created new programs that help construction management students develop communication skills.
Construct*ium places students with mentors, employees and colleagues and focuses on competition, collaboration, careers, and course-share. The group hosts quiz bowls, career fairs, and other events.
Once, a young project manager was told by his boss to talk with a colleague to remedy a situation. The young manager then pulled out his smartphone to send a text message, but he was stopped by the company’s president. “The president said, ‘Get in your car and go talk with him,’ ” MCA president Paul Almen recalled. “That understanding of how to have that face-to-face interpersonal communication was missing.”
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