Understanding Interactions between Design Team Members of Construction Projects Using Social Network Analysis

Abstract

Social Network Analysis (SNA) has not been used to study design project teams in which the full interactions have become more complex (formal and informal) because the team members are from different companies and there is no collocation. This work proposes a method to understand the interactions in the design teams of construction projects using SNA metrics and the sociograms generated within temporary organizations.This study includes three stages: (1) a literature review of the dimensions of interactions within work teams and the application of SNA to the architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) industry; (2) a proposal of an interaction network method for construction project design teams; and (3) an analysis of a pilot project. Interaction networks were defined in two categories: general interactions and commitment management. For each network, metric indicators were defined for the analysis. The pilot project showed high levels of consistency among team responses. The proposed method allows an analysis of the entire work team and of each individual team member. The

Exploring the Relationship Among Planning Reliability (PPC), Linguistic Action Indicators and Social Network Metrics

“…The metrics were selected according to the state of the art for LAP (Salazar et al 2018;Salazar et al 2019) and SNA (Herrera et al 2020). The method proposed by Herrera et al (2020) was used to evaluate social networks because it includes a commitment management perspective.…”

“…The metrics were selected according to the state of the art for LAP (Salazar et al 2018;Salazar et al 2019) and SNA (Herrera et al 2020). The method proposed by Herrera et al (2020) was used to evaluate social networks because it includes a commitment management perspective. To analyze the project meetings, authorization was requested from each of the attendees through informed consent, detailing the purposes of the investigation, ensuring the confidentiality of names and making known the treatment of the data collected.…”

“…The team then reviewed the video recordings and recorded the LAP indicators according to Salazar et al (2018 and2019). The SNA indicators were measured through the application of the survey developed by Herrera et al (2020). Taking advantage of the fact that the work team of each project was colocated, the SNA survey was applied to each project physically at the last LPS meeting that the researchers attended.…”

“…The use of social network analysis in the AEC industry provides evidence of evaluations of traditional interaction dimensions in this industry, such as personal interactions, information flow, planning, problem solving, collaboration, trust and learning (Herrera et al 2020). In these networks, each member of the work team is represented by a node, and the connection between two nodes represents the connection (e.g., communication, commitment, trust) that has occurred (Alarcón et al 2013).…”

“…Furthermore, it is possible to use SNA for collaboration and evaluation in construction project teams (Kereri and Harper 2019). Additionally, in construction work teams, there is evidence of commitment management (Herrera et al 2020), which can be measured using the four stages of the conversation for actions. Then, it is important to comprehend the shared understanding process in teams that are multidisciplinary, in which negotiations and discussions are common (Kleinsmann et al 2012).…”