The role of the project manager in a project space

Paper in proceeding, 2017

The role of the project manager in construction projects has been studied extensively from different perspectives and the project manager plays an important role in coordinating the project and supporting communication and sharing of knowledge and information between project members. In recent years, more and more construction design projects adopt new working approaches in which project members work collocated and use structured methods as a way to enable face to face communication, which is known to facilitate knowledge sharing and create a better mutual understanding between multidisciplinary project members. Even though literature discusses these new settings, there are few studies on the role of the project manager while working in such a project space. A project space is defined as consisting of physicality, as well as materialization of power and social relations and experiences within the space. We study the role of the project manager within such a project space from an organizational spatial theoretical perspective. The research is based on three qualitative case studies in which data consisted of 26 semi-structured interviews and 60 hours of observations. From the empirical data, we contribute with a focus in understanding the role of the PM within a project space. The use and awareness of space and spatial configurations as well as facilitation to create a trusting environment are two findings that concern the PM role in relation to project space.