TY - CONF TI - Team building workshop series: laying the foundation of a Lean Construction transformation AU - Shigaki, Jeferson Shin-Iti AU - Yokoyama, Satomi AU - Ishikawa, Koichi AU - Taira, Shojiro AU - Yamasaki, Hiroaki AD - Senior Research, Research & Development Institute, Takenaka Corporation, Inzai, Chiba, Japan, shigaki.jeferson@takenaka.co.jp, orcid.org/0000-0003-4513-6334 AD - Associate Chief, Construction Division, Takenaka Corporation, Koto-ku, Tokyo, Japan, yokoyama.satomi@takenaka.co.jp, orcid.org/0009-0005-7458-3215 AD - Chief Expert, Construction Division, Takenaka Corporation, Koto-ku, Tokyo, Japan, ishikawa.kouichi@takenaka.co.jp, orcid.org/0009-0000-4929-2946 AD - Senior Chief Expert, Construction Division, Takenaka Corporation, Chuo-ku, Osaka, Japan, taira.shoujirou@takenaka.co.jp, orcid.org/0009-0000-0451-4867 AD - Group Leader, Construction Division, Takenaka Corporation, Koto-ku, Tokyo, Japan, yamasaki.hiroaki@takenaka.co.jp, orcid.org/0009-0006-6309-9345 ED - Hamzeh, Farook ED - Poshdar, Mani ED - Garcia-Lopez,, Nelly P. ED - Gan, Vincent PY - 2026 DA - 2026/06/22 T2 - Proceedings of the 34th Annual Conference of the International Group for Lean Construction (IGLC 34) C3 - Proceedings of the 34th Annual Conference of the International Group for Lean Construction (IGLC 34) CY - Singapore, Singapore SP - 1040 EP - 1051 DO - 10.24928/2026/0163 SN - 2789-0015 (ISSN) AB - This paper describes the early stages of a Lean Construction journey with a focus on the social aspects of a broader organisational transformation undertaken by a Japanese construction company. The Team Building Workshop Series was designed not to teach methods and tools, but to create team awareness and a constructive communication environment by closing gaps between functions, roles, and generations with different value systems, thereby promoting a more collaborative work style. Action research was the methodological approach selected to guide the continuous improvement of workshop design and implementation in a real-world setting. The empirical activity involved cycles of planning, conducting, and reflecting on the observed impacts of six workshops conducted between 2023 and 2025, involving 176 professionals. Participants reported immediate positive effects on communication and mutual support, noting benefits from attentive listening and increased opportunities to share thoughts in a psychologically safe environment. These workshops have provided the foundation for further Lean activities such as Takt Production training, BIM-based collaborative sessions, and retrospective meetings to transfer lessons learned to future projects. The study demonstrated how systematically designed team-building workshops can address the often-overlooked social foundations of Lean Construction through a scalable approach from individual awareness to organisational change. KW - Lean Construction KW - team building KW - training KW - collaboration KW - organisational change. L1 - https://www.iglc.net/papers/details/2476/pdf UR - https://www.iglc.net/papers/details/2476 DB - IGLC.net LA - English N1 - Export date: 04 October 2026 ER -