34th Annual Conference of the International Group for Lean Construction (IGLC 34) - Singapore, Singapore - 2026

https://doi.org/10.24928/2026/0202

Understand the relationships between communication behaviors and team performance in last planner system implementation

Canlong Liu1, Vicente A. González2 & Gaang Lee3

1Lecturer, School of Architecture and Design, Hunan University of Science and Technology, China, [email protected], orcid.org/0000-0001-6653-9920
2Professor and Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Digital Lean Construction, Infrastructure Human Tech (IHT) Lab, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Alberta, Canada, [email protected], orcid.org/0000-0003-3408-3863
3Assistant Professor, Hole School of Construction Engineering, Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, University of Alberta, Canada, [email protected], orcid.org/0000-0002-6341-2585

Abstract

Drawing on sociotechnical systems theory, the effective implementation of the Last Planner® System (LPS) requires the motivation and empowerment of individuals to collaborate effectively. To improve LPS implementation performance, it is necessary to examine how social mechanisms within LPS influence team performance, with particular attention to social interactions. Although prior case studies suggest that certain communication behaviors may be associated with LPS performance, their analyses often involve substantial uncertainty and limited capacity to isolate and quantify behavioral effects. To address this gap, this study conducted an immersive virtual reality (IVR) experiment, where LPS was implemented while minimizing involvement of potentially confounding factors, thereby exclusively examining the association between communication behaviors and team performance. Correlation and regression analyses indicate that frequency of formative communication was positively correlated with team performance, while negotiation and identification behavior were the two strongest predictors. These findings provide empirical grounding for improving commitment management system (CMS) and for developing behavior-based machine-learning models to predict team performance in LPS contexts.

Keywords

Last Planner® System, collaboration, language action perspective, performance, immersive virtual reality.

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Reference in APA 7th edition format:

Liu, C., González, V. A. & Lee, G.. (2026). Understand the relationships between communication behaviors and team performance in last planner system implementation. In Hamzeh, F., Poshdar, M., & Garcia-Lopez,, N. P. (Eds.), Proceedings of the 34th Annual Conference of the International Group for Lean Construction (IGLC 34) (pp. 1087–1098). https://doi.org/10.24928/2026/0202

Shortened reference for use in IGLC papers:

Liu, C., González, V. A. & Lee, G.. (2026). Understand the relationships between communication behaviors and team performance in last planner system implementation. IGLC34. https://doi.org/10.24928/2026/0202

 

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