Critical Tools in Today’s Construction Industry
By / Jessica Kirby
Today’s construction professionals have far more than their projects to contend with when developing a solid and productive workplace culture. The entire Western hemisphere is experiencing an unprecedented demographic shift that leaves leaders managing generations that span decades, each with defining personalities, perspectives, and work ethic. The days of one-sizefits-all management are clearly over. Today’s construction industry is diverse, challenging, creative, and ripe with opportunity. Globalization has opened up mobility and information sharing to the extent that seemingly basic skills like communication can no longer be natural or practiced without intent. Instead, communication becomes an active, strategic tool, fine-tuned to create results and, most importantly, mitigate conflict. Traditionalists and baby boomers bring long-standing, pioneering knowledge to the construction industry and represent a fifth of the workforce whose knowledge we will struggle to replace as they retire over the next decade. Generation X/Y is the bridge generation, still willing to take accountability for their mistakes, but with a keen eye on technology, and, of course, millennials have turned the workplace landscape on its head, valuing work-life balance, creativity, collaboration, and attention almost as much as the technology that seems permanently attached to their fingertips. Can the generations, with their differences and shared values, come together in the workplace and become mutually binding strands in the fabric that holds a company together? Stephane McShane, author, teacher, and director with Maxim Consulting Group, says they can, but with these broad generational gaps comes conflict that appears to manifest as cultural or personality differences. More often, however, the problem lies in varying expectations and styles of communication. “We provide leadership to three or more generations with differing personalities and perspectives,” McShane says. “While we understand that there are significant differences in these generations, it is critical that labor and management 12 » Partners in Progress » www.pinp.org
representatives understand how to assess their own communication styles, as well as those they work with, for all to succeed.” It is easy to take communication for granted—we speak, write, text, call, and meet face to face, conveying ideas that are important to us without any real commitment to how we get our message out. This, says McShane, is one of the most important components of communication—the “how” rather than the “what” of our message, and it is critical we start by evaluating our own styles of communication. “Until we understand our own communication style, we cannot: 1. Know how our style affects our interaction with others; or, 2. Understand how to change the way in which we communicate in order to most effectively send the message in the way that the recipient needs to hear it,” she says. Step one in redefining the efficacy of our communication is identifying the challenges, both in our own communication styles and in others’, and putting in place an effective improvement program that establishes meaningful communication for the entire team. “The power of having roles and responsibilities defined creates the ability to have focused, positive interaction between the ‘silos’ that exist within construction operations,” says McShane. “The grey areas that are created by every person doing their job differently, along with deliverables not being standardized or expectations made clear, create conflict. The good news is that these communication challenges can be solved, and a smoother workflow, and more importantly, culture, will result.” According to McShane’s presentation at the 2018 Partners in Progress Conference, communication is one way leaders execute the immense power granted to them by their organizations. Poor leaders will abuse this power for their own benefit, while strong leaders will use it to inspire others to greatness. “People stand with leaders who stand with them,” McShane says. “Leadership leads to trust, which in turn garners respect.” Great leaders use their power to set direction among their
© Can Stock Photo / focalpoint
COMMUNICATION SKILLS:
