Construction project teams and their development : the case in Sri Lanka

![CDATA[Construction industry is highly susceptible to be benefited from teams as the construction products are delivered by a collection of diverse professionals. However, effective teams cannot be created at a stroke, and, they need time and opportunity to mature. This is normally referred as team development; and, this area has been subjected to various researches. However, there is a deficiency in published researches on team development with regards to construction teams and none is reported in Sri Lanka. Therefore, this study explored how the construction project teams in Sri Lanka go through team development process. This research problem was approached through case studies of three construction projects, which were operating under the traditional procurement method with re-measurement contracts. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with five distinct participants of construction team during data collection. Based on findings, a new model of team development with regards to Sri Lankan construction teams was developed. The new model indicates that construction teams progress basically in a linear sequence (forming-storming-norming-performing-adjourning) as suggested in the literature. However, the study unearthed that within this basic linear sequence, several cycles can be created due to the conflicts that may occur when the team is at performing level. The results further revealed that construction teams in Sri Lanka lacking with mutual accountability; and formal attempts to get long-term benefits.]]