SOCIAL INTERACTIONS AND TEAM DYNAMICS IN A LAST PLANNER MEETING: AN OBSERVATIONAL METHOD

The Last Planner System^TM (LPS) is one of the most widely recognized lean techniques in construction to improve production planning reliability. Previous studies have suggested there is still room to maximize the benefits of LPS by identifying the missing parts in the implementation process or identifying the barriers to the effective adoption of this strategy. As one of these shortcomings, LPS has had limited study concerning its human aspect and participants' social interactions to inform the technique's effectiveness. This study seeks to understand the relationships among the LPS technical procedure, social interactions and team dynamics, and the actual planning outcomes in construction projects. An observational methodology is proposed to investigate the hypothesis that if construction teams more closely adhere to LPS procedures, the technical processes would be aligned with positive social interactions among team members leading to improved team dynamics. To support this hypothesis, the procedures and norms from literature were extracted to define the observable characteristics for capturing and comparing the implementation. This methodology can be used as a resource for construction companies to investigate the quality of the current operating procedures of LPS and develop corresponding implementation and improvement standards to secure the full benefits of LPS.