Developing productive relationships in the construction industry

This work has roots in the observation that the construction industry needs a stronger presence of civil behaviour (the development of good relationship). It was also observed that uncivil behaviour is driven by fear, resulting in aggressive behaviour and a belief that work is an either/or survival game and not a both/and exercise in growth. The work simultaneously set out to develop case studies concerning relationship behaviour in contractors, their clients and professional bodies, with a literature search concerning the nature of relationship competence and what prevents the development of good relationships, and how good competence in relationships can be developed. The first finding was that understanding the nature of the issue of relationship competence resides in the field of social science, and that it required a research methodology appropriate for this field. A methodology designed to deal with the subjective perceptions of the participants involved, not with the abstract objectivity, was developed and adopted and is fully described. The second finding was that since fear is the main disabler of otherwise potentially good relationships, methods of developing good relationships have to directly address the handling of fear - and it was possible to identify methods of achieving this. The third discovery was that in the sphere of professional competence development i.e. the development of relationship competence, there are sources of substantive articulateness available to map different levels of competence, and the matching development of trust. These were used to formulate a framework of analysis. This framework not only fitted the perceptions of the interviewed participants, but was actively welcomed by them, as one that gave articulateness to phenomena that they were deeply aware of but previously have been unable to articulate. The fourth finding was that a clear teaching method emerges though which these competencies are developed, which is not abstract. It is a Socratic method of engagement between a mentor and mentee where the skills of relationship competence can be developed by live practice within a relationship. This is done under the guidance of someone who already has these competencies and is articulate about them so that they can describe what is continuously happening. Central to this live practice is the development of high levels of empathic trust between the protagonists in the process. The final discovery shows that substantive articulateness about high levels of competence requires the individual to have a high degree of relationship competence. One observable symptom of this is that there is much literature that addresses issues of trust and relationship development without having the strength to make a difference. The output of a wish list is not the same as a detailed description of 'how to'.