1.     Introduction

People’s different behaviors are based on their cultures and the values they learned during their lives. Although it seems at first look that it is a personal issue.

People’s behaviors directly impact the projects, and accordingly the organizations’ performance. We will explore how different behaviors, shaped by culture and values, can affect a project’s performance.

 

2.     Personal space:

People’s behaviors result from their own beliefs and values. Values are generated from culture, experiences, and personality type, It concluded that personal space as a value drives people’s behaviors. From a project management point of view, the project manager is always looking after the performance.

People’s performance would shape the project’s performance. Therefore, to increase the project performance, project team performance should be increased, and since the project team behaviors reflect their performance, project team behavior is involved.

Accordingly, factors affecting project team behavior also affect the project performance. That is why, culture, experience, and personality type (factors affecting values, which influence the project behavior) directly impact the project’s overall performance, which is called Personal Space.

 

3.     Culture:

Culture is a dominant factor in shaping human values and, consequently, behaviors. In construction projects, cultural influences on individuals and the project itself cannot be underestimated and it defined five cultural dimensions that “distinguish one culture from another”

·        Power Distance

·        Individualism

·        Masculinity

·        Uncertainty Avoidance

·        Long-Term Orientation

Example of “Uncertainty Avoidance”, workers from certain countries do not prefer to be managers. They always need to be instructed rather than given instructions. these cultural beliefs are examples of how cultures could affect your plans. Therefore, it is essential to study the working environment and how culture could impact it. In my opinion, they like to completely avoid risks and uncertainty.

4.     Individual vs. Community Orientation:

According to Pettinga, and Flatto “Recognizing that people do not operate in a vacuum that they work and interact with those around them, many organizations have utilized personality typing to evaluate the work and decision-making styles of their members.”

It said that organizations are hiring people based on their skills to work in teams. However, it is still challenging to manage a team consisting of individuals with different skills and with different cultures.

The people’s culture could affect their interdependence performance, some cultures prefer individual work, while others are more interdependent.

At the end of the day, the project performance is measured by the team’s overall performance, therefore, the project manager’s role is to motivate the project team and encourage teamwork.

5.     Respect for authority:

Respect for authority is an obvious and important matter in the Middle East generally, and my company specifically. I used to write to project managers and senior management using name prefixes such as Mr., or Engineer. Even in meetings and general talking, I cannot call the elders or seniors by their names directly, prefix is a must to show respect. However, when I worked with a Western project manager, and it was my first time working directly and closely with a Western, I called him Engineer John, until he informed me that I did not have to say “Engineer”, his comment was (I know that I am engineer, no need to repeat it every time you mention my name).

Respect for authority varies from one culture to another. Although I was dealing with individuals from the same level of authority in my company, it is normal to call a Western directly by his name, however, it is extremely normal to call another nationality by their name without a proper prefix.

6.     Non-verbal communications:

According to Yamaguchi “interpersonal communications that express social sensitivity can generate trust relationships among them.” The project team should maintain perfect communication between them internally, and externally as well.

Non-verbal communication is as important as verbal communication, especially because it can vary 180 degrees from one culture to another. What could be accepted and welcomed in a culture, could be not accepted and show unrespect in another culture.

Investigating the working environment, and the team members’ cultures is not a choice for the project manager to effectively manage the project team, and communicate with stakeholders.

7.     The value of time:

This is a very interesting topic, for 11 years, I have been working on construction projects in the Middle East. I never worked, on or heard of a project which started and finished on time. Both clients, and contractors are fighting when there a delays, either the client wants to apply delay penalties, or the contractor is asking for an Extension of Time (EOT), but at the end of the day, they just reach a mutual agreement.

Furthermore, courts are not performing fast to solve issues between contractors and the clients, one case could take 4 or 5 years to be resolved by the court. This concludes the value of time in the business in the Middle East. On the other hand, from a regional point of view.

Different cultures deal with time from different perspectives. However, when it comes to project management, the project manager should highlight the importance of deadlines to everyone to avoid any delays in the project.

8.     Valuing cultural diversity on teams:

Wong, (2007, pp 158-159) mentioned various ways “teams can show they value cultural diversity.” creating a team environment increases mutual respect.

Recognition is the best way in my opinion which makes the team member feel that his/her inputs added value to the team. The recognition not necessarily to be tangible, a project manager dedicated a special parking area for the employee of the month, and the competition was very high.

Other ways such as “Transparent intentions, Visuals aids, Avoid the Rush, and Do Not Assume that Silence Means Agreement” would increase the valuing level in different cultures as well.

 

9.     Impact of different generations in the workforce:

 

Different generations have different ways of thinking, different methods of doing things, and different expectations in teamwork. The variance between generations could be observed by applying the following points:

·        Knowing the characteristics of generations.

·        Identify the value of each generation.

·        Understand how to communicate with different generations.

·        Win the respect of each generation.

Mann, (2011) stated that “The next time you find yourself muttering in disbelief over a colleague’s work habits, stop and consider the generational attributes at play. It may provide you with the insight you need to successfully manage the situation.”

10. Conclusion:

Throughout different cultures, values, beliefs, and generations, people form their behaviors. Although it is their behaviors, being a part of a team, your behaviors will affect others. Therefore, individuals should pay attention to their behaviors to keep the team morale and to avoid hitting cultural behavior variance. The project manager is the leader of the team who should guide, and manage the individuals to maximize the benefits and minimize the impact of different cultures.

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