Personalities of Construction Project Managers: A Link to High Performance Teams

Abstract

This work presents a comparison of the results of Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) personality tests between public sector and private sector, older (age 40 and older) and younger (less than 40), and civil engineer and project manager respondents. The MBTI test identifies prominent personality types with respect to interaction preference (extraversion or introversion), information-gathering preference (sensing or intuition), decision making preference (thinking or feeling), and structure preference (judging or perceiving). The four scales can also be combined to create a personality type categorization. The paper explains the MBTI testing process used and examines the three groups' preferences across all four measures and the combined indicator and attempts to identify reasons for similarities and differences. The MBTI personality test results are then examined with respect to creating high performance teams. The idea that a variety of personality preferences are needed within a single team in order to fully develop, synthesize, implement, and advance project ideas is proposed. Personality type combinations of high performance teams are suggested and discussed. Conclusions summarize the MBTI findings and suggest further research to validate the study's findings.