Chapter $5$th$,$ Integrated Example Projects: Suburban Homes Construction Project

Case Analysis

Suburban Homes, a medium$-$sized, fast$-$growing construction company, has an ambitious plan to expand its business to several southern states in the United States as a result of its significant growth and good reputation for building quality single$-$family homes and townhomes.

As a project manager, Adam Smith worked for several years in the construction industry and supplemented his experience with project management education. From his initial realization that managing projects successfully requires implementation of various project management processes, tools, and techniques, Adam recognized the importance of building project teams composed of well$-$trained staff. From his experience managing a few projects in the Midwest and based on the lessons learned from these projects, it was evident to Adam that Suburban Homes did not place a strong emphasis on people$-$related factors and team development. Adam recognized the scope for improvement in managing and developing high$-$performance teams and decided to act on this knowledge immediately.

Adam s primary task was to improve the performance of project management and increase the project success rate, so he wanted to address project team selection and the team development processes. Further, he realized that employee turnover and the expansion of the business in southern states led Suburban Homes to recruit more employees. Many of these new recruits have prior experience in the construction industry. In addition, the workforce now represents different work cultures, attitudes, commitment, and work ethics.

Adam recognized the immediate need to manage human resources effectively and efficiently. He decided to formalize project team selection, development, and management so that all the locations in the Midwest and South will have similar team management philosophy and practices. To achieve these purposes, Adam has considered the following:

I was hired as a consultant to develop the five deliverables.

$1.$ Train project managers as leaders. Also, project managers must be trained to identify talent, select project team members, and nurture their growth.

$2.$ Develop a team charter so that all the team members are aware of performance expectations, professional behavior, and other team norms. The charter should also help in training newly recruited employees to improve productivity, collaboration, coordination, communications, and conflict resolution.

$3.$ Develop a conflict management plan and prepare guide$-$lines for all employees to identify and manage conflicts.

$4.$ Design and implement a decision$-$making protocol for all the projects and in all locations.

$5.$ Develop norms for high$-$performing teams.

You are hired as a consultant to develop the above five deliverables.

Further Analysis:

In the case, the last consideration $($Deliverable $5)$ was to$,$ develop norms for high$-$performing teams. If you were Adam, what leadership theories would you draw upon in carrying out this assignment? Further, describe your view on the best mix of task $($technical$)$ versus a relationship$-$oriented mindset in Adam's consulting role?