The big issue: construction leadership can often be fragmented because strategy and vision are dreamed up in head office but don’t get passed to site level. Therefore, a micro-culture develops on site which doesn’t reflect that of the main contractor. The people at the apex of the project must able to achieve harmony of vision across all levels of the project and be engaged in the development of the safety protocols, costs, and budgeting right from the inception of a project. Let’s take a look at why this is so important, and why leadership matters in construction.
Different Styles of Leadership in Construction
Construction leadership styles may differ depending on the nature of the construction project, but many of the leadership traits should remain the same regardless of the type of project you work on. According to Tom Wagner in a piece on the website South Central Construction, effective leadership has to be “authentic” and one that builds a level of “trust”, while also inspiring people to follow your lead and “exhibiting a range of styles”. In his research of leadership within the construction sector, Tom determined that the four main types of leaders within the sector included:
- Drivers, who are “decisive, competitive and goal orientated”.
- Analyzers, who are “precise, objective and organized”.
- Relaters, who are “good listeners”.
- And finally influencers, who are both “open and creative”.
In a closer examination of the industry, Tom discovered that 63% of the industry fell into the driver category, while 21% of the industry came under analyzers.
How to Deal With Different Leadership Styles
The construction industry can learn a lot from Tom’s research, particularly when it comes to communication. Looking at construction leaders through the “prism of their behavioral styles” can make you better equipped to deal with them, according to the research. Here are a few tips you should also consider.
- When you work with drivers, be “direct and avoid wasting their time”. Also, be sure to provide “accurate, succinct information” at all times. Be sure to show them “respect” and echo your “personal confidence” and “competence”.
- Analyzers like “ample detail” according to the study and “appreciate an explanation” in a simple to understand format. Direct criticism of their work is something frowned upon.
- Relaters are considered easy to get on with, according to the research, but they may “avoid candid discussion” that they view as confrontational.
- For influencers, you should bear in mind that they want to focus on the overall picture, usually, the leadership attributes of both influencers and drivers go hand in hand, but in construction, it’s rare to find a leader who contains total influential qualities.
How to make sure the right message reaches the right people
According to All Business magazine, there is only one “true leader” within any construction organization. This person is responsible for ensuring a clear vision is expressed to all workers and that everyone has a sense of direction, according to the publication. This process is dependent on the ensuring the right message reaches the right people, which can only be done with effective construction leadership and contractor management.
Furthermore, the publication asserts that although most senior construction executives have cost and “profit responsibilities” to deal with, they don’t deal with health and safety protocols, or the life and deaths of individual contract workers. Instead, their unique responsibility centers around a number of key responsibilities, such as goal setting, or creating a health and safety vision for a contracting firm.
1. Setting Direction
According to All Business, this is the first step in the construction leadership process and particularly important when you want to get your message to the right managers and workers. As a leader within the construction industry, you must understand the value of direction and must “determine the right or most profitable direction of the firm,” according to the publication. It’s also important at this stage to ensure the plan you lay out is not full of holes. For instance, what if you left out some important direction regarding health and safety protocols? You can’t afford this to happen. You should ensure that your message, whatever that may be, is appropriately communicated to the right manager. Therefore, if a manager’s remit is purely financial, or health and safety, the information should be tailored accordingly.
2. Motivate People
Most people believe the best way to motivate people is through money, but in reality, this type of reward-based incentive is short-term and narrowly focused. If we really want to achieve long-term organizational benefits we need to motivate people in different ways. Think back to an event where you were highly motivated. Was it something you had control over? Were you trying to improve, learn more and get better? Was there more to it than just putting extra money in your pocket? Generally, humans are motivated by something more than just a reward. So how can we achieve this when trying to change behavior on construction projects?
- Try to give workers more autonomy. When people are given more control on how they can active their targets we generally see productivity improvements. Of course, if this is different to the ‘normal’ way of doing things it can be uncomfortable, but push the boundaries – you may be pleasantly surprised at the results.
- Create an environment where people can improve. We’re intrinsically motivated when we get better at tasks. That feeling we had when we exceeded what we did before. Can we encourage this mindset? Give people meaningful tasks, not too hard but not too easy. With the right support, you should expect to see ongoing improvements.
- Make sure what people are doing matters. We all want to purpose in life greater than just material rewards. Think about how you are communicating tasks, why are we doing what we’re doing? Why does it matter, and why does it matter that we do it well?
As long as workers are being paid enough for their roles, you can look beyond rewards to achieve the highest levels of motivation. Motivation is one of the most important factors in construction leadership, if you can’t motivate your individual managers and contract workers, it will impact your bottom line. Furthermore, an opinion piece by Jan Hills on the website CIPD argues that it’s incredibly important for organizations to create a company culture that can “maximise employee energy”. This, of course, doesn’t only apply on a physical sense, but also in terms of leadership which can “capture people’s imagination, emotion, and excitement” and “engage their cognitive capacities” and inspire individual workers to “take action”. From that perspective, Jan argues, it’s imperative that you create an environment with a “sense of genuine purpose” that will focus the energy of your workers and “drive maximum productivity.”
3. Promote Teamwork
Teamwork is one of the most commonly understated attributes during any construction project, but it’s a vital component. According to Innovative Management Solutions (IMS), although the outcome of most of your projects will rely on individual construction managers, it also rests heavily on the “cooperation of all workers and team members in a project”. Great construction leadership relies heavily on this approach, and will also require several other attributes to make you, or your project managers, superb leaders, according to IMS. We have summarized these traits below.
- Communicate clearly and “effectively to others”.
- Delegate tasks to people you think are most equipped to deal with them- like picking the correct project managers for example.
- Evaluate progression on a continuous basis.
- Use problem-solving skills, it should be noted that this attribute is very important for your project managers and individual supervisors.
How GoContractor Can Help With the Troops on the Ground
Contract workers are the life and soul of construction companies and are pivotal for the success of an individual project. Therefore, effective construction leadership, worker communication, and training are vital for the progress of your project. GoContractor was built with consistent communication in mind. Our onboarding platform allows workers to conduct their orientation training online before they even enter your site. With GoContractor, workers can self-register, upload documents and take their orientation training in their own time. Forget about endless paperwork and excessive costs of trainers, our platform rids you of worry and provides a simple and easy way to orientate all workers without any hassle. Why not continue to read other articles from our news pages, or request a demo of GoContractor now!
