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Leadership practices and communication framework for project success – The construction sector

Open Access
|Aug 2024

Figures & Tables

Fig. 1:

LPCD framework. LPCD, leadership practices and communication dimensions.
LPCD framework. LPCD, leadership practices and communication dimensions.

Identified leadership behavioural practices for project managers and followers

Leadership behavioural practicesItemMeanSDRanking
Project managers – (self-perception)
Work hard to achieve GoalsLB144.710.461
Keep commitments & promisesLB164.530.532
Setting a high standard for performanceLB114.480.563
Set a good example of behavioursLB84.320.594
Build and maintain relationships to work towards shared goalsRM64.480.535
Negotiate to resolve disagreements and create a collaborative environmentRM54.240.706
Comfortable to receive feedbackLB234.210.857
Recognise my feelings & emotionsLB254.170.678
Use effective communication for persuasionRM34.120.859
Awareness to recognise the feelings of othersLB244.110.7510
Followers – (feedback assessment)
Work hard to achieve goalsLB144.470.701
Keep emotions and feelings in checkLB274.420.702
Setting a high standard for performanceLB114.330.933
Keep commitments & promisesLB164.280.724
Set a good example of behavioursLB84.160.845
Build and maintain relationships to work towards shared goalsRM64.000.766
Negotiate to resolve disagreements and create a collaborative environmentRM54.000.727
Comfortable receiving feedbackLB233.980.998
Team members are rewarded for their creative workLB313.981.089
Awareness to recognise the feelings of othersLB243.950.8410

Key success factors and their impact on project success_

Key success factorsStandardised coefficient (β)R squareAdjusted R squarep-value
CMSF1 – (Effective Communication)0.4310.3750.3660.001
CMSF2 – (Relationship Management)0.2810.3130.3020.001
LBSF7 – (Self-Management)0.3000.2270.2150.000
LBSF2 – (Leading by Example)0.3660.2850.2740.000
LBSF3 – (Interpersonal Sensitivity and Encouragement)0.2420.1880.1750.000
Model summary
ModeRR squareAdjusted R squareStandard error of the estimate
10.754a0.5680.5320.27179
ANOVAb Sum of squaresDfMean squareFSignificance
1Regression5.78141.44519.648<0.001c
Residual4.487610.074
Total10.26865

j_otmcj-2024-0016_tab_006

Extracted factorsFactor loading%age of variance explainedCumulative %age variance explained
LBSF1: (Team encouragement and empowerment)
10. I show concern & care about our team member’s well-being & show empathy and compassion.0.722
17. I encourage my team members to express new ideas/opinions/suggestions for continuous improvement.0.717
20. I am conscious of my project team’s contribution and appreciate their efforts to the project’s success.0.620
28. I praise and appreciate team members’ contributions individually for the job well done.0.629
29. I am aware of my limitations and appreciate my team members’ strengths and contributions in helping me to engage with them.0.56135.16135.161
LBSF2: (Leading by example)
8. I set a good example of my behaviour (communication and listening skills) with my project team and stakeholders.0.567
11. I set high standards for performance for myself and adhere to the agreed-upon standards.0.641
14. I work hard to achieve the project goals.0.640
16. I keep my commitments and promises to those I work with.0.6767.24242.408
LBSF3: (Interpersonal sensitivity)
24. I have an awareness and ability to recognise the feelings and emotions of others and use these abilities to make decisions while interacting with them.0.712
25. I recognise my own emotions and feelings and can manage them.0.695
26. I encourage my team members to look for ‘out-of-box solutions’ and take risky approaches in challenging work scenarios/situations.0.638
31. I ensure the team members are well rewarded for their creative work in our project.0.6435.87448.282
LBSF4: (Mentoring relationships & empowerment)
3. I provide support, training & opportunities for my team members to adapt to the new project environment and mentor relationships to grow to perform better.0.698
22. I encourage & support my project team to adopt change management when required.0.6984.86953.151
LBSF5: (Inspire-motivation & visionary)
1. I inspire and motivate the project team to work together to achieve project goal/s.0.727
4. I discuss the big picture and describe what we aspire to achieve as a team.0.562
32. I have the flexibility in making decisions0.6914.47557.626
LBSF6: (Motivation -– visionary and promote relationships)
5. I encourage & motivate team members to achieve more than the agreed project goal/s.0.550
9. I encourage team members to solve problems together.0.647
12. I encourage team members to share their thoughts/dreams for the future.0.7624.35161.977
LBSF7: (Self-management)
23. I am comfortable & self-confident in receiving feedback and learning from it.0.824
27. I keep my negative emotions and feelings in check.0.7813.94365.920
LBSF8: (Coaching and team empowerment)
15. I suggest ways to improve team performance.0.717
19. I always look for new ways to do the job and challenge my project team members to look into how we work.0.6453.32169.241
LBSF9: (Promote relationships)
7. I encourage team members to exchange information with one another. Rotations converged at 15 iterations.0.7113.12672.367
CMSF1: (Effective communication)
1. I keep the purpose of communication well-defined & meaningful.0.680
2. I communicate clearly, and precisely without any ambiguity.0.816
3. I understand the communication from others involved in the project.0.784
4. I communicate appropriately with different audiences.0.613
5. I ensure the information is current, relevant, correct, meaningful, and straightforward.0.579
6. I use proper methods/media/channels for communicating the information to project team members and internal/external stakeholders.0.714
7. I achieved the expected outcome/s from our communication in general.0.655
8. I keep open and honest communication with all project teams and stakeholders.0.50738.54838.548
CMSF2: (Relationship management)
9. I use effective communication/tactics for persuasion.0.713
10. I negotiate in resolving disagreements and collaboratively develop a resolution.0.722
11. I build and maintain relationships with others, work toward shared goals, and create group synergy in pursuing collective goals.0.80810.46749.014
CMSF3: (Conflicts management)
12. I strive to encourage all parties to communicate willingly.0.730
13. I resolve conflict amicably.0.815
14. I helped solve relationship issues and problems that emerged on the project.0.6678.42957.444
CMSF4: (Communication willingness)
15. I encourage project team members to share events and changes willingly that may affect the project.0.788
16. I follow a trust mechanism in the process of communication.0.7216.77264.216

List of identified practice attributes for independent constructs from literature review_

1. Leadership practices

  • Relationships

  • Motivation

  • Influence

  • Visionary

  • Goal oriented

  • Trust

  • Encouragement

  • Communication

  • Inspire

  • Task-oriented

  • Team building

  • Stakeholders

  • Empowerment

  • Commitment

  • Emotional

  • Effective communication

  • Conflict management

  • Flexibility

  • Self-management

  • Coaching

  • Goal setting

  • Share information

  • Self-awareness

  • Seeking feedback

  • Sensitivity

  • Leading by example

  • Caring others

  • Empathy

  • Self-development

  • Humility

2. Communication

  • Formal communication

  • Informal communication

  • Frequency of communication

  • Respect each other’s viewpoints

  • Share events and changes willingly

  • Follow a trust communication mechanism

  • Defined communication purpose

  • Clear communication without any ambiguity

  • Understand communication with others

  • Knowledge of audience to communicate

  • Current & meaningful information

  • Proper methods/media/channels

  • Achieved the expected outcome

  • Open and honest communication

  • Tailor communication routines to the specific stakeholders

  • Communication barriers

3. Relationship management

  • Sense others’ developmental needs

  • Inspire individuals and groups

  • Use effective communication/tactics

  • Lead project network members

  • Manage change

  • Negotiate in resolving disagreements collaboratively

  • Work to build and maintain relationships with others

4. Conflict management

  • Respect others’ perspectives

  • Recognise conflict in an early stage

  • Encourage all parties to communicate willingly

  • Resolve conflict amicably

  • Work effectively to resolve

  • Solve relationship issues

  • Build consensus

  • Manage ambiguous situations

  • Maintain self-control

Respondents (project managers) demographics respondent number = 66_

CharacteristicsCategoryFrequencyPercentage (%)
Age (years)<30NilNil
30–40812.1
40–502537.9
>503350.0
DesignationProject manager3248.5
Project leader3451.5
Education backgroundDiploma11.5
Bachelor’s degree2639.4
Master’s degree3350.0
PhD34.5
Job experience54.5
Professional experience in construction industry (years)10710.6
10–201725.8
20–302131.8
30–40413.6
>401218.2
Professional experience as project manager/project leader (years)101827.3
10–202639.4
20–301421.2
30–4069.1
>4023
Project site locationSingle site2131.8
Multi-sites4545
Project complexityLow46.1
Medium3147
High3147

Categorisation and grading of leadership behaviour dimensions in the clusters_

Interpersonal Practice characteristicsEmotional Practice characteristicsTask-Oriented Practice characteristicsIntellectual Practice characteristics
(High)(Moderate)(Low)(Low)
RelationshipMotivate/motivationalTeam-buildingSelf-management
EmpowermentInfluenceGoal-settingSelf-development
Conflict managementInspire/inspirationalGoal-orientedVision
StakeholdersSelf-awarenessLeading by example
Effective communicationEmotions/emotionalFlexibility
CommunicationSensitivityCommitment
Share informationEmpathyTask-oriented
CoachingHumility
Seeking feedbackCaring for others
Trust buildingEncouragement
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/otmcj-2024-0016 | Journal eISSN: 1847-6228 | Journal ISSN: 1847-5450
Language: English
Page range: 204 - 223
Submitted on: Dec 7, 2023
Accepted on: May 21, 2024
Published on: Aug 14, 2024
Published by: University of Zagreb
In partnership with: Paradigm Publishing Services
Publication frequency: 1 issue per year

© 2024 Ashok Rehan, David Thorpe, Amirhossein Heravi, published by University of Zagreb
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.