SEPTEMBER 2024CONSTRUCTIONBUSINESSREVIEW.COM8IN MYOPINIONHIGH-PERFORMING TEAMS IN THE BUILT ENVIRONMENTBy Joseph Yost, Vice President, McCarthy Building Companies, Inc.A sense of amazement comes over me every time I see a construction project in its build phase, and I immediately think of all the people who came together through planning, design and construction to make that project happen. No matter the delivery method, every successful project involves a team finding its stride and working together through various challenges. On the flip side, nearly every project facing trouble and potential failure is born from poor teamwork and communication.Combine the rapid nature in which these extraordinary teams come together, and the speed at which they need to reach a performing state, and the amazement grows. While it is tempting to leverage using the same team for each project, bringing new teams together can offer significant benefits. Healthy conflict arising from unique and diverse perspectives on teams brings innovation, complementary solutions, atypical productivity advancement and comprehensive risk mitigation from a valuable library of lessons learned. The importance of team building and development skills cannot be stressed enough within our industry.There are two critical elements of team building and a few best practices I believe produce consistent and meaningful results. It is imperative that team leaders and members understand these philosophies and how leveraging certain best practices helps their teams progress toward high performance. This creates project teams focused on maximizing value for each team member involved ­ owners, general contractors, architect, engineers, trade partners and consultants.Elements of High-Performing TeamsThe first critical element of successful high-performing teams is the stages of the team development model, which originated with Bruce Tuckman, who was well known for his research on group dynamics. Team leaders need not be experts in this model of forming, norming, storming, performing and Jay Yost is vice president of McCarthy Building Companies. Yost has more than two decades of experience in the construction industry, having worked in all phases of the business. Passionate about organizational effectiveness in developing and leading high-performing teams while building strong client relationships, he holds a Bachelor of Science in Construction Management from Sacramento State University and a Master of Arts in Organizational Leadership from Point Loma Nazarene University.Joseph Yost
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