Application of team role theory to construction design teams

Abstract

Teams are the primary unit of working in the construction industry, and thus the performance of an industry can be improved when team performance is improved. Therefore, managers in the field should be well aware of good team-working practices for successful forming and managing of teams within construction industry and many authors in the field have pointed out this as a necessity. Team composition is a key factor in influencing team performance; when considering the team composition, it is relevant to take into account the different roles which the members play and the way they interact with one another. Team roles of the members can be used as a tool for the team to have effective execution of their work, effective management of their relationships with its environment and also to maintain the team’s strength in meeting social needs of individuals who form the team. The design team being a major and most prominent sub-team will have an impact on project success; the applicability of team role concept in construction design teams will be beneficial to its clients, project managers, team members and, finally, for the project and construction industry as a whole. According to Belbin’s team role theory, when a team is more balanced in terms of the spread of naturally occurring team roles, it tends to be high performing. This study explored the existence of team roles and their effect to team performance in construction design teams. To explore this research problem, three case studies of in-house design teams which were involved in building construction projects with separated procurement arrangement were conducted in Sri Lanka. Team roles of the design team members were assessed using the Belbin Team Role Self Perception Inventory, while semi-structured interviews were conducted with the key design team members as well as team selectors. The findings revealed that individuals are assigned to design teams considering their functional roles rather than team roles. But, team members naturally adopted team roles in a way that it suits their functional role, project requirements and team setting under which they operate, in most of the situations. Team performance was affected by several complex factors. Hence, even though there seems to be an effect from team role balance to team performance, it could not be isolated and figured out. Despite this limitation, this study offers implications particularly to design team selectors such as clients and their project managers on application of team role theory in construction context.