No abstract

The importance of a collaborative environment to achieve success in projects has been widely discussed in the literature and different mechanisms have been developed and introduced to support a collaborative approach to construction projects, i.e. new forms of agreement, new office arrangements, financial incentives, a shared risk and reward approach, the development of shared goals, etc. However, the literature related to these mechanisms is predominantly prescriptive, with little evidence and justification on why some of these mechanisms might be important to support collaboration. In this paper, we focus on discussing the development of shared goals as a means to support collaboration. We collected findings from two case studies in which an explicit process for goal setting and tracking was used to emphasize a collaborative environment. The technique used in these projects are not new and have been documented elsewhere. However, the benefits of these kind of techniques to support collaboration have not been fully explored in the lean construction community. Thus, the intent of this paper is to report some of the benefits that a goal setting exercise brought to two construction projects while having a theoretical discussion to explain why such process can be beneficial and should also be considered -along with other mechanisms -as an important element to support collaboration.

Decisions are the foundation for creating value in a project. Particularly in the early design phases, decisions form and restrict the value creation processes throughout the project's life cycle Therefore, project teams should pay attention to the decision-making process, and design it to secure maximum value creation and clear documentation. This paper shows and analyses the decision-making process in the design phase of four different projects based on four characteristics: (1) decision-making method, (2) structure of the decision-making process, (3) governance process, and (4) documentation process. Our findings demonstrate that all four characteristics are essential and need to be considered when designing the decision-making process. Furthermore, the results demonstrate that making decisions collaboratively will lead to value adding opportunities. Consequently, this paper explains how the decision-making process affects the value creation process and gives insights on how to design it in an effective manner.

Decision-makers on construction projects are faced with complex, multidimensional challenges that require grounded, thoughtful decisions be made to further the project. This paper discusses a breadth of strategies for training construction teams to implement the Choosing By Advantages (CBA) decision-making method. These strategies are analyzed based on coaches' experiences and observations in terms of short and long-term learning outcomes. The unique circumstances of every construction project requires that lean coaches draw from a variety of teaching techniques to tailor the learning process to the specific needs of trainees. For example, while some trainees can quickly learn the basics of CBA theory, they often struggle to implement CBA in a practical context if not provided with proper support. Coaching proves efficacious in enabling construction teams to both make and carry-out decisions, however, a long period of training (12-16 weeks) is often necessary for thorough implementation and expertise in CBA.

The purpose of methods and tools is to serve the project team and add value within the project delivery. Therefore, the implemented production system should support the interaction of the project team, enabling team members to develop a common understanding, and to reach the required quality and production performance when carrying out their daily activities. This research concludes that the Last Planner ® System (LPS) aligns to the Toyota Production System (TPS) and its recognized management theory, which is a vehicle to integrate the minds + hands philosophy within projects from early design phase till handover. Our findings show that adopting the LPS as a production system helps to align and integrate the project participants. Takt is a work structuring tool that can be integrated into the LPS, if the product allows (repeatable areas). Thus, we recommend that the production system be designed based on the team's needs and the product requests.