Team Leadership in the Construction Industry: Characteristics of Effective Leaders and Evaluation of a Questionnaire

Day to day dealings are characterized by individual struggles. People make decisions and choose the right options to take before specific actions are taken. These day to day affairs exemplify in one way or another, a character of being a leader. It is not expected that people act alone at all times. Many times do they refer to others for opinion particularly in matters of complicated nature and so have to act in groups. This time, team leadership comes into play.

This paper treats of team leadership as a concept and its related aspects such as characteristics of an effective team leader viewed in the light of the construction industry and possible problems therein. Moreover, this paper includes an evaluation of the efficacy of a team leadership questionnaire directly linked with the topic. Team leadership, concept Leadership is the ability to set and define specific sets of directions to be observed and followed by the members or the group in the course of the performance of a particular job aimed at meeting the specified goals and objectives.

Additionally, it pertains to the ability to affect, shape and influence the behavior of other people towards the accomplishment of a particular job in relation to the established goals. In the workplace, leadership is seen by the ability of a manager to require performance of his subordinates, without the employment of force or coercion, that is, performance on the part of the subordinates voluntarily and willingly, using their knowledge and expertise in the fulfillment of their respective duties and tasks.

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In particular, this is shown by the ability of a manager to effective translate corporate goals and visions to individual tasks and equitably distribute these tasks to the members or subordinates. Subsumed in the concept of leadership is team leadership. Team leadership is characterized by team unity in the performance of the group task. The decision is come up with after consultation on the subordinates on the courses of action to be taken.

In particular, a team leadership is one where the burden of fulfilling the task at hand is not primarily and solely on the leader but is shared with the rest of the team, seeing the same vision and having the same mission. The team is not treated as composed of individual employees as in the case in the workplace but a collective body taking the away the traditional concept of leadership whereby the leader makes the decision and the makes the option for the team.

In short, it one characterized by participation and coordination among members and collective effort of everyone, may he be a leader or otherwise. Team leadership viewed in the light of the construction industry, is essential in the effective accomplishment of the construction work. Be it noted that in a construction work, the job is both physical and mental. Physical, in the sense that it involves the exertion of force in the building and construction of particular structures.

It is one of a mental process in the sense that the workers must be ensure that the building is properly constructed following the detailed and meticulous instructions provided in the blueprint, ensuring the safety and security of the future users of the same. In this regard, participation and involvement of every employee or crew are essential. For instance, one crew can not work on his own without consulting his team on the proper design, appropriate proportion of length and width of a material, appropriate materials to be used and the proper measurements.

As a structure has to be built proportionately taking into account the appropriate measurements, so is the decision of the team. All aspects necessary to ensure a successful construction project must be come up with the necessary consultation in such a way that the desired goal as laid down is met. Moreover, where crews are given different tasks does not mean they can act on their individual volition. A crew can not at any time rush to finish his part while leaving the rest of the crew at the first phase of the construction. Each must go hand in hand with each other.

The present practicum proposal shows an effective team leadership. It is worthy to note that the team is given a specific timeline within which to accomplish the desired objectives. By this, a crew can not remain idle and wait for the rest of the crew to accomplish their individual assignments. Corollary, one can not just proceed to finish his task without waiting for the rest of the team particularly where the task requires coordination among all crews. As can be observed, the proposal is a step by step process and so requires the coordination of each member.

Additionally, the proposal has never been a work of just one person. It may have been initiated by just one or a few, but the task includes the participation of all the crews particularly in the actual performance of the specific tasks and on matters where expertise is expected from the crews themselves. Effective team leadership An effective team leadership is characterized by the following factors:

• commitment to people
• team leadership is unique in a way that a task is done as a team and the accomplishment if any, is a product of a collective body.

Each team member is committed to work with each other without hesitation but collaborates with each other. This aspect should characterize task in a construction project. The latter should be characterized by coordination in all aspects, from the development of the framework of the structure to the actual performance of individual tasks. In the course of the job, it should be born in mind that one has to consult another. This expectation is seen in the proposal. Each crew is assessed on his individual skill and matches the same on the desired qualities necessary in the construction work.

One can not be hired simply because he has the ability to finish his assigned job but must also have the ability to work hand in hand with the other crews. Also, it is important to note that the proposal seeks to obtain the approval or opinion of an expert among the team on the effectiveness of what should be attained at a particular time. Standards are likewise set for the team to observe. More importantly, the part of the proposal whereby notifications are given to contractors and subcontractors is quiet impressive. This is an example of proper coordination.

• proactiveness;

While each member of the team thinks to do the task as a team, one must not rely on the other. He has got to have an attitude of doing his task by himself as assigned. Each must have the willingness to comply with his assigned task taking into account the task of the whole team.

• enthusiasm, energy;

Working with a team at times puts pressure to each of the members of the team. It is incumbent of each member to be enthusiastic in the performance of his task not only for himself but also for the team. Considering that in a team leadership, everyone acts in coordination and in harmony with each other, performance of one really affects the other or shall we say the rest of the team.

• will power;

The same premise in the immediately preceeding paragraph, each member of the team must have decided to work with a team and coordinate with the rest of the members for harmony in the work place.

This is essential in a construction work considering that the work required in it is both mental and physical. Moreover, construction work as herein presented in the proposal, involves several phases. Each crew must therefore commit to himself and to the team his desire to finish the tasks as assigned to them considering that such kind of work is really a team effort. The accomplishment of a single phase involves the participation of all from the employees of the contractor with the assistance of the sub contractor as the case may be.

• continuous improvement;

Team leadership or work by a team in general would at times yield unfavorable results among them, not because one member being at fault or otherwise but because there are really instances in the workplace which are beyond human control. Imperfections or defects in the course of the work may sometimes occur and must be dealt with professionally by all members. The aim of each must not to pull down one another but to seek for further improvement of individual performance.

• ability to accomplish the task as a team

Each member must be determined to work with his team. In a construction work, not only will one has to work with the rest of the team but must likewise consult the same for some acts which may affect the performance of the job. Possible problems and how to resolve the same Where a team is involved in the performance and accomplishment of a particular task, it is not uncommon that conflicts may arise. Conflict may result from misunderstandings among members in the assigned task, for instance, one expects that his task is limited to this extent and expects that another person does the rest, when in fact it is the former who is bound to do the same.

Also, conflict may arise in the salaries or wages of the employees. One may see his employer or the team leader as unfair in giving one member a higher salary than him, without due regard to the amount of task they each perform. There are however conflicts that may arise from personal matters, and not work related. These are not also uncommon and so must be seen beforehand and remedy be provided to resolve the conflict without sacrificing the task at hand or prejudicing the company for which a team works. These types of conflict may be resolve by providing a grievance machinery.

A grievance machinery is a procedure where internal conflict among members are resolve first by the members themselves before appropriate action may be taken to the higher level or worst to the courts. Second, where the grievance machinery is not effective, the contract setting forth the team project must provide for voluntary arbitration as a means of resolving a conflict. Voluntary arbitration is a mode of dispute resolution where a particular conflict is to be resolved by an impartial third person, with the cooperation of the parties involved in the dispute.

While these are specifically set forth in the contract, it is well to note that each member of the team must be able to understand his respective role and assignment and task to be performed hand in hand with the team. One can not work at any time according to his will but must cooperate with the team. That is job description must be properly understood by each in order to prevent confusion on individual task. This also prevents overlapping of tasks. Moreover, employees must be paid according to an established standard taking into account individual skills and competencies.

This is a matter which each member must also understand to prevent jealousy and resentment among members. Competition among the members of the team would not work for the benefit of the team, thus, each one must work in harmony with each other. These matters are applicable in a construction industry particularly that a construction team is composed of several members. Often they are from different contractors or subcontractors, therefore with different employers. Each group must have focus on their respective roles but must work in coordination with another group of different role. Efficacy of the questionnaire

The idea of having a questionnaire is impressive. As has been said, one would not know the effectiveness and efficiency of his performance unless he has opinions from third persons who assess his performance. The questionnaire serves this purpose. The questions are presumed to have been relevant that would measure the perception of the members or the crew pursuant to the appropriate statistical method. Thus, the same shall be respected. However, in the Lickert scale, the options of the respondents must not be limited to just four options as ‘false’, ‘more false than true’, ‘more true than false’ and ‘true.

’ The same should have provided for an option for ‘undecided. ’ Although this option may give the respondents the idea of not answering or just choosing ‘undecided’ leading to your failure to obtain the desired result, providing for the same is but proper. Respondents must properly be given the options in order to properly measure and know their perception. The inclusion of open ended question is also appropriate particularly where the competence of another person, in this case, the team leader is assessed.

There are other basis of competency which may be explained in different ways and perceived in different ways and better measured by asking open ended questions. It should be noted however that while open ended questions are proper, the same must be subjected to appropriate statistical application to assure relevance and significance of the results gathered. Conclusion Team leadership finds relevance in a construction work. In the latter kind of work, several persons are involved must each be committed towards the accomplishment of the desired goal.

One has to be minded of his own task with due regard to the vision of the team. Moreover, in a construction work, coordination is necessary and so the participation of everyone is ideal.

References

1. No Author. (2008). http://www. teamtechnology. co. uk/leadership-basics. html No Author. (2008). http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Leadership
2. No Author. (2008). http://www. ncrel. org/sdrs/areas/issues/educatrs/leadrshp/le2diffs. htm
3. No Author. (2008). http://www. teal. org. uk/et/page5. htm No Author. (2008). http://www. uscg. mil/hq/cg3/cg3pcx/training/tct/chap2. pdf

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