Alsdorf, M; Koch, C and Sander, D (2006) Coaching at the building site: A feasibility study. In: Boyd, D (ed.) Proceedings of 22nd Annual ARCOM Conference, 4-6 September 2006, Birmingham, UK.
Abstract
Coaching has become widely used in business and is well described; however, it is rarely used in construction. This is in contrast to the poor performance of interaction at the site that leads to a vast amount of reported cooperation and coordination problems. This paper investigates the feasibility of a coaching approach to site management. The coach is a person who helps and guides another person or group to maximize his/its own capacity. Coaching is arguably useful in many different work situations, for example, problem solving, group work and planning. These assumptions are evaluated through observations at a building site operating with Lean Construction where the managers did not use coaching consciously in their interaction with employees. Twenty-nine participant observations of five of the managers at the building site were carried out at individual and group meetings. Coaching can be used successfully at a building site in certain specific situations. A feeling of security is important for the focus persons at the building site, and this is best achieved in the open air. The way the leader acts towards the employee/focus person is decisive. The manager can develop consciousness and responsibility by asking relevant questions rather than just answering the employee's questions. It would be appropriate to inform about the use of coaching at the beginning of a building project. Situations not suitable for coaching are, for example, those where an order has to be given or where dialogue would work better.
| Item Type: | Conference Paper (Paper) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | building site; coaching; Denmark; lean construction |
| Index terms: | feasibility study, manager, observation, lean construction, building site, problem solving, site management, consciousness, coordination, Denmark, cooperation, interaction |
| Subjects: | building construction, behavioral psychology, management, decision-making and reasoning, Geography, site and location studies, psychology, design stages, construction operations, data collection methods, practitioner, human factors and perception |
| Topics: | Roles and Professions, Research Practice, Geographical Context, Organizational Design, Site Management, Design Practice |
| Descriptive scope: | 3 PCE |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here