Difficulties with Implementation of Goal Setting for Construction

Abstract

Goal setting has an established record of improving the productivity of the workforce in manufacturing and service industries, and a programmatic use of goal setting and feedback has been shown to increase productivity by up to 20%. In addition, previous studies have shown that specific, difficult goals produce better performance than any of medium, easy, or do‐your‐best goals; or no goals. However, notwithstanding its potential for productivity improvement, attempts to apply goal setting to construction projects have been limited due to the inherent characteristics of the construction industry and the associated difficulties in implementation. Based on results obtained from two widely different studies, many of the obstacles for successful implementation of goal setting in the construction industry are explicitly identified, suggestions for dealing with them are advanced, and productivity is shown to increase from 10% to more than 20%.