PROJECT MANAGER'S LEADERSHIP STYLES AFFECTING CONSTRUCTION PRODUCTIVITY

Abstract

Productivity in the construction industry is essential for business sustenance. Project Managers play a significant in achieving productivity in construction. Therefore this study examined the critical project manager's leadership style to influence construction productivity. The study adopted a quantitative research approach; thus, closed-ended questionnaires were distributed to construction professionals via the Survey Monkey platform. Data gathered were analyzed using descriptive statistics to identify frequencies and weighted scores. The findings indicate the main factors affecting construction productivity as incompetent supervising and management, poor leadership, lack of skilled and experienced labour, and poor project communication. Therefore project managers should exhibit supportive (ability to delegate and assign tasks to the employees), charismatic (ability to transform attitudes and beliefs in employees), transformational (ability to inspire others), and democratic (ability to include employees in decision making) leadership styles to influence construction productivity positively. There is an urgent need for project managers to be trained on the appropriate soft skills aspect of managing construction projects to effectively improve construction productivity, reduce project cost and time overruns, and sustain construction businesses.