TY  - CONF
TI  - “Silent partners” of high-performing Lean Construction teams: oxytocin and heart rate
C1  - Singapore, Singapore
C3  - Proceedings of the 34th Annual Conference of the International Group for Lean Construction (IGLC 34)
SP  - 947
EP  - 956
PY  - 2026
DO  - 10.24928/2026/0120
AU  - Dewlen, Kevin
AD  - Senior Lean Coach, BA Science, Boulder Associates, Boulder, USA, kdewlen@boulderassociates.com, orcid.org/009-0008-0378-7757
ED  - Hamzeh, Farook
ED  - Poshdar, Mani
ED  - Garcia-Lopez,, Nelly P.
AB  - The neurobiological factors oxytocin and heart rate in high-performing lean construction teams are introduced alongside human relational elements, including trust, empathy, collaboration, and psychological safety. Researched heavily in traditional business organizations, to date no studies have looked at neurobiological factors in high-performing teams in the integrated project delivery (IPD) and collaborative project delivery (CPD) realms. The unique qualities of IPD/CPD design–construction teams, and the tools and interactions used, are compared with traditional business teams, which have been cultivated over years, versus IPD/CPD team cultures, which are established within weeks, but are expected to perform at comparatively high levels. The intent of this paper is to show, conceptually, how lean design–construction of large commercial projects could potentially benefit from future studies that measure neurobiological factors such as oxytocin and heart rate. An in-process lean construction observational study demonstrates how two neurobiological factors, the “silent partners” oxytocin and heart rate, can be evaluated in IPD/CPD teams. The discussion provides a strong conceptual basis for future research of IPD/CPD design–construction teams that could result in real-time data, biometrics, and returns on investments on different tools used that allow practitioners to achieve better team coaching and leadership, improving overall project success.
KW  - Communication
KW  - trust
KW  - psychological safety
KW  - oxytocin
KW  - theory.
PB  - 
T2  - Proceedings of the 34th Annual Conference of the International Group for Lean Construction (IGLC 34)
DA  - 2026/06/22
CY  - Singapore, Singapore
L1  - http://iglc.net/Papers/Details/2448/pdf
L2  - http://iglc.net/Papers/Details/2448
N1  - Export Date: 19 June 2026
DB  - IGLC.net
DP  - IGLC
LA  - English
ER  -