Foundations of Success: Building High-Performing Construction Teams

Summary

Construction Leaders Podcast Summary
Episode: Foundations of Success: Building High-Performing Construction Teams
Release Date: July 1, 2025
Host/Author: Construction Management Association of America
Guests:

• Timothy Singleton, PMCM Business Leader at Jacobs
• Aya Kurokawa, Architect and Principal at isgenuity

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Introduction

In the episode titled "Foundations of Success: Building High-Performing Construction Teams," Carly Trout and Evan Hendershot delve into the critical elements that constitute high-performing teams within the construction industry. With tight deadlines, slim margins, and uncompromising safety standards, building robust teams emerges not merely as a beneficial aspect but as a significant competitive edge.

Guest Introductions

Carly Trout opens the discussion by introducing the guests:

• Timothy Singleton brings extensive experience in construction management across sectors like higher education, healthcare, and pharmaceuticals. As the PMCM business leader for Jacobs in New England, Tim has focused on enhancing project outcomes through lean methodologies and fostering diverse teams.

• Aya Kurokawa shares her background as an architect and principal at isgenuity, with over 25 years in design and architecture. Aya emphasizes her passion for mentoring, shaping creativity, and promoting inclusive processes. Her involvement with organizations such as Professional Women in Construction and the National Organization Minority Architects informs her perspective on team dynamics and performance.

The Evolution of High-Performing Teams

Aya Kurokawa provides context on the longstanding conversation between her and Tim regarding diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) as foundational to building pipelines for high-performing teams. She notes, “[...] building the pipeline conversation, we're trying to make it a bigger conversation” ([22:32]).

Timothy Singleton recounts the origins of this dialogue during a 2018 symposium at Willis College, where industry professionals debated the shortcomings of the existing system and identified pipeline building over mere percentage targets as a sustainable solution. He states, “[...] instead of just trying to look good for a day or a year or a project, looking at just percentages. Because the growth in percentages as an industry, they weren't going all that fast.” ([05:28])

Defining High-Performing Teams

When asked to define high-performing teams, both guests emphasize diversity and psychological safety as key components:

• Timothy Singleton highlights that diverse teams bring a variety of thoughts and experiences, enhancing project outcomes. “[...] if you're allowing folks that think differently to have the safety to say what they want to say, you're missing out on that high performing team.” ([08:09])

• Aya Kurokawa expands on this by linking diversity to broader perspectives, increased creativity, and better decision-making. She underscores the importance of inclusive workplace culture and psychological safety, stating, “[...] the foundation of psychological safety, of creating a workplace culture, creating a team environment [...] creates a sense of belonging and ownership from all folks who are touching and thinking about the project.” ([10:01])

Key Elements in Building High-Performing Teams

The conversation identifies several critical elements:

1. Diversity and Inclusion:

   • Emphasized as essential for bringing varied perspectives and enhancing team performance.
   • Aya mentions leveraging diverse backgrounds to foster creativity and problem-solving.

2. Psychological Safety:

   • Creating an environment where team members feel safe to voice ideas without fear of belittlement.
   • Tim notes, “Everybody's comments are valuable and that alone makes for a really strong team.” ([09:23])

3. Mentorship and Continuous Improvement:

   • Aya advocates for mentorship as a cornerstone for professional growth and team development.
   • Commitment to lean principles and ongoing improvement ensures teams evolve and adapt.

4. Sustainable Practices:

   • High-performing teams consider sustainable resource use and community investment.
   • Aya states, “[...] they leverage the best of the local resources and then they invest in the communities and embrace the ecosystem [...]” ([12:16])

Real-World Examples

Timothy Singleton shares an example of the Wellesley College Science Building project:

• Wellesley College Science Building:
  • Initially challenging due to diverse backgrounds and lack of immediate connection.
  • Over time, the team harnessed diversity to align client expectations, resulting in a successful project delivered ahead of schedule and under budget.
  • Tim remarks, “We ended up with a great project way beyond schedule and budget. So when the clients walk in the door, they're smiling because we manage their expectations and satisfaction.” ([13:29])

Aya Kurokawa discusses a gender-inclusive restroom project:

• Gender-Inclusive Restroom Project:
  • Aimed to serve an underserved LGBTQIA community by creating a space of safety and dignity.
  • The project involved integrating authentic voices from the community to inform design decisions.
  • Aya explains, “[...] it's really about creating a space that is welcoming and that is safe and provides and fosters that sense of safety for all.” ([15:37])

Fundamentals for Building High-Performing Teams

When advising organizations on developing high-performing teams, both guests outline several fundamentals:

• Cultivating Workplace Culture:

  • Establishing psychological safety and an inclusive environment where ideas can be shared equitably.
  • Aya states, “You really need to create that culture of being able to contribute ideas equitably and that comes along with [...] psychological safety.” ([19:54])

• Understanding Team Members:

  • Recognizing and valuing the diverse skills and experiences each member brings.
  • Aligning team goals with organizational visions to ensure collective commitment.

• Commitment to Lean Principles and Continuous Improvement:

  • Embracing lean methodologies to streamline processes and enhance efficiency.
  • Maintaining a focus on improving project outcomes and client satisfaction.

Resources and Further Learning

Timothy Singleton suggests various avenues for organizations to deepen their understanding of building high-performing teams:

• Books and Conferences:

  • Exploring literature on team performance and attending industry conferences.
  • "People Profit Connection, How to Transform the Future of Construction by Focusing on People" available at cmanet.org Bookstore.

• Professional Networks and Symposiums:

  • Engaging with industry symposiums and expanding conversations beyond traditional boundaries.
  • Encouraging participation in organizations that support mentorship and DEIB initiatives.

Aya Kurokawa emphasizes the role of mentorship and active participation in professional communities:

• Mentorship Programs:
  • Fostering internal mentorship within firms and participating in external mentorship opportunities.
  • Encouraging contributions to organizations like Professional Women in Construction to promote inclusive environments.

Conclusion

The episode underscores that building high-performing construction teams is intrinsically linked to fostering diversity, ensuring psychological safety, and committing to continuous improvement. Through real-world examples and actionable advice, Tim Singleton and Aya Kurokawa provide listeners with a comprehensive framework for developing resilient and high-achieving teams. Carly Trout and Evan Hendershot conclude by directing listeners to valuable resources and teasing the next episode's focus on handling tough conversations in construction leadership.

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Notable Quotes:

• Aya Kurokawa ([03:54]): “[...] the patience and creativity that you had in that role applied to what you're doing today.”
• Timothy Singleton ([05:28]): “Instead of just trying to look good for a day or a year or a project, looking at just percentages. Because the growth in percentages as an industry, they weren't going all that fast.”
• Timothy Singleton ([09:23]): “Everybody's comments are valuable and that alone makes for a really strong team.”
• Aya Kurokawa ([10:01]): “[...] creates a sense of belonging and ownership from all folks who are touching and thinking about the project.”
• Timothy Singleton ([13:29]): “We ended up with a great project way beyond schedule and budget. So when the clients walk in the door, they're smiling because we manage their expectations and satisfaction.”
• Aya Kurokawa ([15:37]): “[...] it's really about creating a space that is welcoming and that is safe and provides and fosters that sense of safety for all.”
• Aya Kurokawa ([19:54]): “You really need to create that culture of being able to contribute ideas equitably and that comes along with [...] psychological safety.”

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Additional Resources Mentioned:

• People Profit Connection: How to Transform the Future of Construction by Focusing on People – Available at cmanet.org Bookstore
• CMA Conferences: Opportunities to connect with peers and learn best practices for building high-performing teams.

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For more insights and future episodes, subscribe to the Construction Leaders Podcast and follow the Construction Management Association of America on social media.

Transcript

[Carly Trout]

Hello and welcome to the Construction Leaders Podcast, the show where we break ground on leadership, innovation and performance in construction. I'm Carly Trout with Evan Hendershot and today we're diving into a topic that's reshaping the job site and the boardroom, building the pipeline to high performing teams. In an industry where deadlines are tight, margins are thin and safety is non negotiable, building strong teams isn't just a nice to have, it's a competitive advantage. But what does it really take to develop teams that don't just meet expectations, but exceeds them? Whether you're a project manager, executive or boots on the ground leader, this episode is packed with insights to help you build a stronger, more resilient workforce, one team at a time. Today we are joined by Timothy Singleton, PMCM Business leader at Jacobs and AI Kurokawa, architect and principal at isgenuity. Tim has a wealth of experience in construction management across diverse industries such as higher education, healthcare and pharmaceuticals. Over the years, he's progressively taken on more complex projects and led larger teams, demonstrating his adaptability and versatility. I is an experienced project leader with demonstrated history of managing complex healthcare design and higher education projects from feasibility through construction. She is passionate about people and community as well as establishing and driving a collaborative, inclusive process that results in positive impacts for all. Welcome to the podcast, Tim and I.

[Aya Kurokawa]

Thank you Carly. Thanks for having us.

[Carly Trout]

So before we dive into today's topic, can you start off by telling our listeners a bit about yourselves? So Tim, why don't you start off.

[Timothy Singleton]

Thanks Carly. As you mentioned, my name is Tim Singleton. I'm the PMCM business leader for Jacobs for all of New England. You did a great job of describing my past, but a good chunk of my time I spent trying to figure out how to create better project outcomes. And it's an equation. It started off with me getting heavy into lean and also started off heavily into me trying to create diverse teams. And when I put them together, that kind of got us into this conversation about higher performing teams. And that's the gist of this conversation.

[Carly Trout]

Great. How about you, Aya?

[Aya Kurokawa]

Sure. So my name is Aya Kurokawa. As you mentioned, I'm an architect and principal with hisgenuity. I've been in this design Sphere for over 25 years and fun fact, I started out actually in education as a preschool teacher and fast forward through my career in design and architecture. The common thread has always been in mentoring and shaping mindsets and creativity and just bringing out the best of people. That has really influenced and continues to influence in how I think about teams and team performance. I'm involved in several different organizations, including Professional Women in Construction and National Organization Minority Architects, along with various others that also continue to possibly impact my thinking around how people work and how our networks can work together to bring out the best throughout our profession.

[Carly Trout]

I love that you used to be a preschool teacher. We talked on a podcast before about folks coming from other industries and segueing into construction. So I'm sure, as you mentioned, the patience and creativity that you had in that role applied to what you're doing today. So that's great.

[Evan Hendershot]

Thank you for that brief intro about yourselves and thank you so much for joining us today.

[Timothy Singleton]

Welcome.

[Evan Hendershot]

We really appreciate having you here. Tim, you covered this briefly in your intro about how your background led us to this discussion today, but let's dig into that a little further. Tim and I what really inspired you wanting to cover this topic for this audience? How about we start with you?

[Aya Kurokawa]

Yeah. So just to give a little context and step back a bit, Tim and I have been talking about this topic for a number of years and we met at a symposium related to how to build the pipeline and take into consideration how diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging fuels that building of the pipeline and yields to building higher performing teams. And the conversations have been going on for a number of years and have really embraced a lot of other networks and people. So this is definitely an idea that has been evolving and continues to grow and evolve and connect to others in the profession. Personally speaking, again, I'm in the sphere of design and architecture, which is complementary and a part of the whole design, building, construction world. My perspectives are representing more so of the design profession, but our conversations together make this comprehensive whole that is this building and construction that we both live in. Tim.

[Timothy Singleton]

Yeah, so around 2018 at Willisi College, a bunch of us got together, a bunch of contractors, owners, the designers, engineers got together and we were talking about diversity in the industry. Actually, we had several meetings and the first one was about what was wrong with the system and the second one was what how do we fix it? And the fix was focusing less on percentages and focusing more on the building the pipeline. And the end result of that, we called it making real long term changes in the industries. Instead of just trying to look good for a day or a year or a project, looking at just percentages. Because the growth in percentages as an industry, they weren't going all that fast. So we realized something else needed to happen. So that's how that we got into that. Then we talked about the value of that diversity and that's how we got it to do high performing teams.

[Aya Kurokawa]

So there are a number of business case studies that have been published over time related to how diversity can basically be used as a business case. Right. To move the needle in terms of the bottom line and economy. So Harvard Business Review has a number of publications. The American General Contractors of America has a great publication related to the construction industry. McKinsey has numbers and numbers of articles related to DEI related to the business case. But beyond the business case, beyond the dollars, the other complimentary topic is about the value of diversity within business organizations and how that fuels thinking and creativity and et cetera that we can get into related to performance. With Tim's leadership at these symposiums, we're trying to bring it into the sphere of the owner, architects, engineers and contractors because it is less published within that building industry. And we've been able to harness the minds of leaders from various organizations to really think through about what does that mean, what does diversity mean within their organizations and how will it help their organizations and businesses and us as a collective?

[Evan Hendershot]

Yeah, that's great. I think that's why it's so important to have these conversations in venues like this, in symposiums, like you're saying, and network across the industry like folks like yourselves have. So we've talked a little bit about diversity and kind of define that and the value of that. But how are you defining high performing teams? What is a high performing team? How do you measure that? What are. Yeah, let's, let's just say that what is a high performing team to you? Tim, how about we start with you on this one?

[Timothy Singleton]

So focusing on what I was just saying about the data from other industries, that's how we picked up on a diverse team is the high performing team. And when we talk about high performing team, there are internal and external teams that for an individual company or an owner's team, you want to create that diversity of thoughts and experiences to make your team stronger. And then on a project level, it's the same thing. You want the diversity of the project team to understand if you're all thinking the same things or you're not allowing folks that think differently to have the safety to say what they want to say. You're missing out on that high performing team. You're missing out on a better project.

[Carly Trout]

Outcome to build off of that. Tim, I was curious. You mentioned lean construction in your introduction and there were some other things that you all had brought up when you were proposing this topic. Such as sustainability, psychological safety, things like that. And it's interesting that we've touched on all of those topics in past episodes of the podcast. So can you maybe talk a little bit about those and how those are also incorporated into building these high performing teams?

[Timothy Singleton]

So the part about the psychological safety is actually really important. It's the experiences that you, I read about and I've experienced personally is sometimes a person is a little bit different than the rest and they don't feel comfortable saying what they want to say, which might be very valuable. And so this, it's really important to the leaders of the team to create that environment so that everybody on the team feels safe and they can say their mind, they're not worried about being belittled or being Iran. Everybody's comments are valuable and that alone makes for a really strong team.

[Aya Kurokawa]

We believe that high performing teams are inherently diverse and they are bringing broader perspectives, increased creativity, better decision making approaches and skills which yield improved problem solving and, and they also foster better customer relations. So in general, there are many facets, we think, to high performance in teams. We think that in order to get there, the foundation of psychological safety, of creating a workplace culture, creating a team environment and the team could be both internal within your own firms or your own companies, but also within a project. We all know that many hands will touch it. Other outside consultant teams, subcontractors, et cetera, will touch the project. So we think broadly about who the team is and can even include the client. Right? So if you have this expansive understanding of team, we think that the foundation of creating a culture, creating a workplace space that is fundamentally empathetic is it is inclusive. It creates, you know, a sense of belonging and ownership from all folks who are touching and thinking about the project. We think that psychologically safe or psychological safety is absolutely integral and needed in order to foster that sense of trust, right? So that people can feel empowered and have a voice at the table to bring. We also think that high performance teams, they leverage each other, right? They leverage the strengths and skills and experiences that individuals and the firms or companies within the teams bring to the table. And they also think sustainably, meaning that they leverage the best of the local resources and then they invest in the communities and embrace the ecosystem that can empower economically, financially and bolster hiring practices within their local communities and context.

[Carly Trout]

Let's take a quick break for some information on today's sponsor. Mindforge is proud to sponsor this episode of the Construction Leaders podcast. Mindforge is a field communication platform built for the Realities of construction. With mindforge, contractors can instantly, instantly send alerts, safety updates, orientation videos and progress bulletins straight to every crew member's phone. No matter where they are on the job site, workers join with a quick QR code and get info in their preferred language. Whether it's day one onboarding or a last minute change in the field, mindforge makes sure your message gets seen and understood by fast. If you're looking to boost safety, clarity and team connection on every site, visit mindforgeapp.com to learn more. So ultimately you mentioned the end result is better project outcomes, right? That's what all of this work is for. I'm wondering if maybe you all could share some examples of these high performing teams and how they were able to to be leveraged for better project outcomes.

[Timothy Singleton]

I think my favorite story, the science building that we completed at Wellesley College. We didn't start out that way, but we ended up with a really high performing team. And what makes it so cool is that Wellesley College is an all women school. You're thinking if the team is women, they connect. But that's not quite it. The diversity of the background of the people at Wellesley College is huge. Know where they came from, financially or religious or anything. There's all, there's so much diversity there, it's incredible. And I think the project was about four years and I would say the first six months it was quite difficult because there wasn't that connection that we're talking about. When a team was diverse, you get more of that synergy because you can relate better to somebody else on the other side of the table because you have some diversity of background that's matching. And as we figured that out, we got to understand the expectations of all the clients. And when I say clients, it's not just the project manager from the college or the professors, it's everybody that might be using the facility, whether it's students, professors, housekeeping, campus police. It av all those people understanding what their expectations are and what their conditions of satisfaction are starting to lean to lean. Lean, that's another lean term. It's basically understand what are their expectations, knowing what they are and how to manage them. If you have a diverse team, you can do that much better. And we ended up figuring that out. I ended up going to the LTA Congress every year, got smarter and smarter every year, just understanding this whole process and ended up working out really well. We ended up with a great project way beyond schedule and budget. So when the clients walk in the door, they're smiling because we manage their expectations and satisfaction.

[Carly Trout]

I love that. Just stepping back and looking at the bigger picture and all those end users and making sure that everyone's satisfied with the project outcome. AI, did you have an example that you wanted to share as well?

[Aya Kurokawa]

Sure. We just finished construction on a project for a higher edge institution in the area. It was a gender inclusive, multi stall restroom project. And while that might not sound so glamorous, it was probably one of the most profound projects that we have gone through as a team. So the nature of the gender inclusive restroom project was to serve a community that. That has traditionally felt underserved. It's a restroom for all. And it had heavily integrated the voices of a wide community, including a gender equity LGBTQIA population that provided some voice and guidance regarding their experiences as individuals in a community that really needed to feel safe, need to feel secure, while just trying to do some basic functions that we all, as humans, need to do. And our understanding of the project wasn't really just about the bricks and mortar, about building a bathroom, right? Anyone, any designer, architect, contractor can build a bathroom at the end of the day, but this was really more about creating a space of belonging, a space of safety, and a space of dignity. And how better to go about that than to create a safe space within our internal design consultant and construction team and bring to the surface that mission and goal of, again, not just creating the bathroom construct itself, but to create a space that is welcoming and that is safe and provides and fosters that sense of safety for all. And internally, we actually leveraged our own internal diverse experiences and identities, and we welcomed voices who wanted a part in the design process. And we have designers who are proudly a part of the wider LGBTQIA community, and they were able to provide us their own experiences about feeling unsafe. So that had been used to influence the course of the project. So it's really about, again, harnessing the resources that you might have or that you might be able to reach out to, to get the authentic experiences and voices in order to drive at creative solutions, or just gaining a wider understanding of the problem at hand and really trying to integrate those authentic voices within that design process.

[Carly Trout]

Yeah, that's. That's a really great example, and thank you both so much for sharing those project examples.

[Timothy Singleton]

I've been around a little while. I've been on the owner side for many years. Worked for contractors too. But I think that when we interview contractors now, we see this more and more as the years pass, where their teams are becoming more diverse and higher performing. When they step into the room and they're speaking to the client who's diverse. We can feel the connections, whether it's like a Skanska or Turner or a Suffolk or any of those larger companies when they come in the room and you can feel the energy that they're listening and they're connecting and you can see the body language where I think 20 years ago it wasn't really that, it was more about, yeah, we can do that for you, we'll build that. But now let's, you know what, we understand you, we know what your expectations are. We can make you happy. And I think if folks, that's not the only part to these interviews, but if folks think about it and next time they go to these contractor interviews or designer interviews, think about it and you're going to see it more and it's really valuable.

[Carly Trout]

So that's a great segue. Actually, I was going to ask if an organization were to come to you and say, listen, we really want to work on this and have higher performing teams, what are some fundamentals? What advice would you give them to start working on this?

[Aya Kurokawa]

Yeah, there are several fundamentals that we would encourage organizations to really invest in and think about. And again, it's really about the workplace culture and mentality that the organization can invest in. You really need to create that culture of being able to contribute ideas equitably and that comes along with again, that psychological safety in the workplace, understanding who your people are and what amazing skills and lived experiences that they will have and allowing that to be a contribution into your everyday operations, where you're thinking about projects, et cetera. And it's also to align what your shared visions and goals are as an organization and about what is it going to take to be your best and what is it going to take to become the best, highest performing team that you can represent on projects or for your clients. And it's also this commitment to continuous improvement. Right. So leaning on lean principles, continuing to think about what will make us better, what will make the project outcome better, what will make the client's satisfaction increase, what will help to keep us all aligned and happy to be performing. What we do, I think are some of the basic premises for building high performing teams.

[Evan Hendershot]

All right, well, thank you both for answering those questions so far. But I have one more question for you and that is where can we learn more about some of this stuff or what you're working on?

[Timothy Singleton]

Kim, that's a complex question. Where do you get more information? It's a lot of Learning, there's books on it, lci, Congress, there's always sessions on higher performing teams and different ways to get there. On building the pipeline conversation, I think that's limited and that's why we've been having this conversation. People are talking about it more now, but 2017 was pretty quiet and you see the union is in the Boston area now are starting to realize that one because they believe in it, but also they don't have the workforce so they're having to go look for potential new members in areas where they didn't look before and it's causing them to become more diverse and it's often become better, more high performing without even realizing it. It's not a simple answer. You can't just, I don't think you can go somewhere and someone's going to tell you this is it because it's just a new conversation and we're trying to make it a bigger conversation.

[Evan Hendershot]

I'm glad both of you are here then so we can spread the word through this conversation on the podcast. AI, do you have anything you'd like to add?

[Aya Kurokawa]

Yeah, think regarding higher performing teams and especially with building the pipeline, we as representatives in our industry are encouraging other leaders and growing professionals to continue to mentor and foster. The mentorship is really integral in each of our practices. Whether it's in the design profession, architects and designers, they continuously pull each other up, right. And in construction it's the same way. So the value of mentorship is really great and such a potential to expand on this conversation and what that might look like is both internally within your own firms and within your own companies, but also tapping into the professional communities and resources and the different organizations that really value mentorship as a part of the professional trajectory of one's career. So like the professional women construction of the world are in so many different organizations are out there. So I think we just encourage to volunteer, contribute your time and really bring forward the conversation about inclusive environments and creating the best platform for individuals to grow and being a part of it.

[Evan Hendershot]

And with that, Tim and I, we thank you both for joining us today. It was a pleasure chatting with you both. And before we go, I wanted to leave our listeners with two other resources on these types of items. First, I encourage you to check out the People Profit connection, How to Transform the Future of Construction by Focusing on People, which is [e-mail] Bookstore secondly, we encourage you to sign up for CMA conferences where you can connect with your peers and learn how they are building high performing teams at their workplace. Tough conversations are part of every construction project, whether addressing underperformance, resolving conflicts with trade partners, or delivering bad news to clients. In the next episode, we will welcome guests from Epic Rivers Leadership to discuss the how behind those critical conversations. You'll hear strategies for staying calm under pressure, communicating clearly, and turning tension into progress. Whether on the job site or in the office, this is a must listen for anyone leading teams and managing complex projects. To be sure you don't miss our next episode, please subscribe to the podcast and follow us on social media at maahq. Don't forget to leave us a review with your thoughts on today's episode and let us know what you would like to hear next. On behalf of cmaa, I'm Evan Hendershot with Carly Trout. Thank you for listening.