Much of the work that you do in the construction industry will be done with others. There are teams of all types and sizes across all sectors, so working with others is important.
Worksites will have different expectations of teams and different processes for how they meet and interact. You might meet with your team each day before you begin work; you might only meet at the start of the project or not actually meet as a group.
Regardless of how things work in your workplace, though, effective teams are important because they:
- help improve safety
- are likely to be more efficient
- are more likely to meet their goals
- create job satisfaction.
Effective teams:
- recognise the skills, experience and strengths that each person brings to the team
- are clear about everyone’s roles and responsibilities
- understand their purpose
- have clearly defined goals and objectives.
Effective team members:
- offer positive suggestions
- actively participate
- build on ideas
- celebrate the success of others
- help find agreement (even sometimes negotiate agreement)
- listen actively
- ask effective questions
- communicate well
- are respectful, inclusive and culturally safe.
You will often hear about being an effective communicator, but what does that mean? Here are some practical strategies for contributing to discussions about planning and organising respectfully and positively.
Listen actively
Active listening is more than just being around when someone else is speaking. It is about actively engaging in what they are saying and making a genuine effort to understand. Active listening involves nodding, leaning forward and using positive body cues to encourage the person to share their thoughts; a key aspect of active listening is to show you are engaged and not distracted. This gives the other person more confidence to open up.
Ask effective questions
Asking effective questions is about selecting the right questioning technique depending on the type of answer you are looking for. There are several questioning techniques that you can use – the most common are open questions (where you want detailed information to be provided), closed questions (where you are looking for a specific answer which may consist of a one-word answer or an exact answer) and probing questions (where you want to dig deeper into something that the other person has raised or mentioned in passing).
Think about your body language
Not just being aware of your body language, but that of others; a person’s words may not reflect what is being shown by their facial expression or posture; a good communicator can use their body language to show interest and engagement and can observe the body language of others to interpret the meaning behind their words or how they are feeling at that time.
Be respectful, inclusive, and culturally safe
Workplaces in Australia increasingly recognise that diverse teams are stronger and more innovative. Respectful, inclusive and culturally safe communication is essential to creating a culture that supports this.
Confirm understanding
Confirm understanding and ensure that there is a common understanding amongst the whole team. For example:
- review policies, procedures and standards as a group
- review the relevant drawings, plans and specifications as a group
- review the requirements of the task as a group
- set goals as a group
- assign roles and responsibilities as a group that are based on the strengths of individuals.
Communication style
Adjust your communication style depending on the needs of your audience. For example, if you are consulting with a first home buyer and those who have no experience in construction, you would refrain from using complex industry jargon. They are not likely to understand what you are referring to. Industry jargon can almost be as complicated as speaking a different language. Imagine a time where you have been to a physio or a doctor, and they begin outlining the scientific names for your muscles, bones or body functions, and you are left wondering what it all means. The same applies to construction. You and your fellow team members all speak the same language, but those outside your field may not. You will need to ensure you have broken it down enough for the people who may not be familiar with the industry to understand what you are trying to communicate.
Provide constructive contributions
Examples of providing constructive contributions may include:
- build on the ideas of others
- use positive language.
Role model positive behaviours
- communicate about safety
- wear PPE
- celebrate success
- build respectful relationships.
Importance of effective communication teams
Take a short break from the reading to watch the following video. This video underpins the importance of effective communication in teams, specifically in the construction industry. It is essential that you know and understands why you need to work collaboratively with others, especially with an industry that relies heavily on teamwork to complete tasks efficiently, but most importantly, safely.
Effective teams understand what their purpose is and also set clear goals and objectives. Kicking goals at the end of a task increases motivation and drive to continue setting new and more challenging ones.
Team purpose
One way of helping to ensure that everyone in the team shares a common understanding of the team’s purpose is to define it. A team purpose definition is a clear, concise statement about why the team has been formed. The statement should include a description of what the team does, a summary of who it’s doing it for and a clear message about why it’s important.
There are three steps that you can take to create a team purpose; they are as follows.
- Describe what the team does. Consider the responsibilities of what your team is offering. With construction having many roles in the box, choose which job makes up a majority of the work; for example, your team may be responsible for the waterproofing of a house. Therefore this is what your team does.
- Who are you doing it for? Who do you work for? Are you working privately or as a commercial stakeholder? Why is this important? It is important because you will need to determine what you will gain or what you could lose. It would help if you directed your focus towards those you are most aligned with.
- Why are we doing what we do? Ask yourself, what is the result? In waterproofing, your result is to have a safe and functioning bathroom without defective work. You want the client happy, and you do not want issues to arise because waterproofing has not been carried out properly. This can lead to ongoing back and forth issues which can delay further work until it is resolved. Remember you want what is best for all involved.
Once the team has worked together to decide its purpose, it can set a goal (or goals) and objectives for itself.
Hot tip!
Ensure when you are establishing the team purpose, remember to KISS: Keep It Super Simple. You want the team purpose to be easy to understand and straight to the point.
Goals
Goals are specific targets that the team is working towards.
Several goal-setting tools are used. One of the most popular tools you may have heard of is the SMART tool.
The following video breaks down each of the elements that break down the smart tool. As you watch it, consider goals you may have set onsite or personal goals you have set throughout your studies.
Based on what you have just observed in the video, we will set the following goal using the SMART tool in practice.
Goal
We will reduce our workplace hazards by two per cent in 2021.
- It is specific: it says exactly what the goal is.
- It is measurable: the two per cent reduction can be measured.
- It is achievable: a two per cent reduction is not an unachievable goal.
- It is realistic: to eradicate all hazards may be unrealistic.
- It is timed: it specifies 2021 as the timeframe.
Objectives
Objectives are the steps that the team will take to meet its goals. You will often hear about goals and objectives being set by a team in the same process.
Let’s consider the example we discussed: we will reduce our workplace hazards by two per cent in 2021.
Think about how you might add some objectives to that to help achieve the goal. Some examples could include:
- We will achieve this goal by being vigilant and immediately reporting hazards.
- We will achieve this goal by wearing PPE at all times.
- We will achieve this goal by implementing the risk controls described in the SWMS and JSEA.
- We will achieve this goal by following the instructions on signs.
- We will achieve this goal by respecting exclusion zones.
Once a team knows its purpose and has set its goals and objectives, it can begin to assign roles and responsibilities to each of the people within the team. Assigning roles and responsibilities can be difficult, especially if there are too few or too many.
The following diagram illustrates some considerations when assigning roles and responsibilities.
- Assign roles and responsibilities depending on skills, knowledge, experience, team members' strengths, compromise and fairness.
- Participate actively in the process.
- Negotiate agreement.
- Offer suggestions.
- Ask questions where necessary.
How can I do this effectively?
To ensure you are assigning roles and responsibilities fairly and effectively, you will need to apply some of your foundation skills of problem-solving and communicating.
A helpful strategy can be to break the project down into its component tasks and then plan the sequence of tasks logically. Doing this can be easier to assign people based on their strengths and pairing these individuals with those who may require more experience or training. Ideally, you would not put two apprentices who have just finished school on a job without the supervision of an experienced team member. The expectation is unrealistic and unfair to the apprentices and compromises the safety and result. Once you have established your teams, it becomes easier to identify when people might be available and when there might be overlaps.
Now that your team has got to know each other, you have established a common purpose and worked together to identify your goals and objectives. You have allocated your roles and responsibilities; it is time to put all of that planning and preparation into action.
By this stage, much of the hard work has been done. You already have a good understanding of the task and know what you need to do. It is worth reviewing your workplace guidelines and the instructions you have received to ensure that you are on track.
Highlight any issues or variances with your team and keep in touch regarding progress, quality, and timeframes.
It’s inevitable; there will be times when problems will arise which will impede your team’s performance.
Problems:
- time pressure
- lack of agreement between members
- lack of understanding of the purpose
- inability to stay on track
- supplier delays
- delays by other service providers which are outside of your team’s control.
Tips for solving problems:
- maintain your communication skills
- offer positive solutions rather than listing the issues
- go back to the team and involve everyone in the solution
- bring in expert help (your supervisor or others)
- be respectful
- negotiate agreement
- be prepared to compromise.
The following video outlines the effectiveness of collaborative problem-solving skills. Remembering problem-solving as one of the core generic skills you will need to work in construction, pay close attention to what drives success in collaborative problem solving within a team.
