A project life-cycle approach to managing procrastination in construction projects: State-of-the-art review

Procrastination is one of the critical psychological behaviors affecting labor productivity and can occur throughout a project's life cycle. Several factors cause this phenomenon, from various personal to environmental factors. Affected by such diverse factors, employees often spend a significant amount of time procrastinating by engaging in nonproductive activities in the workplace, which adds to project costs without adding value. To effectively manage worker procrastination, project managers need to control its root causes throughout the project life cycle. However, the current project management literature lacks a holistic approach to addressing the roots of procrastinationThis study conducts a synthesis review to identify the root causes of workplace procrastination. Then a holistic framework is proposed to assist construction project managers in monitoring and managing procrastination throughout projects. The proposed framework is flexible enough to apply to any project organizational structure and provides several strategies for different phases of project life cycles. The main contribution of this paper is to strengthen our understanding of the procrastination phenomenon (i.e., its root causes and consequences) and recommend preventive practices. The implementation of the proposed life-cycle approach is demonstrated in the context of addressing potential procrastination among foreign construction workers, whose cultural and immigrant background often causes them to procrastinate more.