Types of people in communal development projects in construction sector: Are they effective together?

Several issues in the real estate sector require communal development projects, where stakeholders need to self-organize and voluntarily take the responsibilities to realize the goals. The challenge is that such projects remain no one's, but everyone's responsibility. This paper investigates the group dynamics in such projects, focusing on creating a typology of the participants. The findings are part of a larger project that aims to understand who should be part of such projects, and what is needed to realize the desired change. The effective change management for these projects is critical so as to be lean with organization and management of these workshops such that we create more value for participants despite of the limited resources. The research data is collected from six workshops organized by an association of real estate owners in Finland. The research data is analysed using a coding scheme developed on the basis of literature review. Findings reveal five types of people in the workshops: opinionated leaders, empathetic leaders, critics, passive respondents, and listeners. The significance of these findings for management and planning of such projects is discussed.