What are the best practices for leadership in construction teamwork?

In construction it can be difficult to build a safe environment to share ideas without fear - it’s usually a fast-paced, male-dominated, high-pressure environment. And this is a liability, as it creates bigger blind spots. Keep egos under control and encourage everyone to participate and bring value to the discussion by creating a space where ideas, not people, are challenged.

Clarify roles and responsibilities early on. Construction projects are complex and sometimes the lines can be blurry or vary depending on teams, which may create confusion or leave gaps. Empower your team to explore further opportunities, but ensure that the minimum requirements are covered and set by governance.

Stigmergy is the method by which single actors contribute to the creation of something bigger than themselves in a seemingly coordinated way - take an ant colony; no plans, RFIs, liquidated damages, or change orders. While I'm not advocating for a stigmergic approach, what I believe it does show is that through proper empowerment of individuals to respond to the environment while providing clear boundaries and plans, the result can often be more efficient in multiple verticals. In an industry with typically high turnover rates and issues with knowledge retention, empowerment can often be a bigger influence on the bottom line than project profile. Delegate > empower > retain > excel!

There are endless memes that will showcase the reward system in the construction industry, simply being yelled at. Once managers update their leadership skills from a fear driven method to an empowering method, where achievements are recognized and rewarded, the overall company and team moral will shift drastically. Reward does not have to be financial, it can be as basic as peer recognition, or even as simple as a "Good Job" and "Thank you!".

Choosing the right systems and processes (e.g. digital task management, BIM, issue trackers, etc) and providing training to your team can make a big difference in streamlining collaboration, achieving better efficiency while ensuring accountability.