The influence of the psychological characteristics of the team members on construction project performance

The dynamic of confrontation and conflict that prevails between project team members and organizations in the construction industry can provoke some devastating consequences on project performance (Loosemore, M. 1998). Furthermore, the fragmentation of projects into different phases impacts on the professional relationships between team members and organizations involved (Singh, A. and Johnson, M., 1998). This context invites an investigation into the different factors that condition the execution of a project and the impacts, (human, organizational, institutional, governmental, technological, and others) on the relational dynamics of project team. According to Trompenaars (1996), people and teams are as important as other aspects (technical and organizational) in project success. This study investigates the psychological features of the main players from the different organizations involved in the project, and seeks to understand the influence they have on the performance of multidisciplinary teams. The methodological approach was to undertake in-depth case studies of the teams associated with four recently completed construction projects in Quebec. All the projects involved public clients. The case studies gathered information about the performance of the projects and also the psychological characteristics of the team members. Standard analysis tools were used to draw conclusions on the strengths and weaknesses of the teams and the propensity for these to impact on project performance. The findings of the study show that all the teams had significant weaknesses that could lead to problems with project performance. In some of the cases, the analysis shows that there was a link between project failure and team characteristics. The study concludes by proposing that there is a value to construction clients in evaluating project team characteristics before projects commence. It is argued that weaknesses can be identified and appropriate action taken to avoid potential problems in the execution of the projec