The purpose of this master thesis is to investigate how architects and project managers can improve their work process within an architecture firm, in order to become more competitive and cost efficient. To fulfil the purpose of the thesis, the research has been based on an interview study that draws upon the challenges the construction industry is currently facing, especially within architecture and project management, which means that firms working in the early phases of a project must do some changes in their work processes to meet those challenges. Hence, the research question has been based on the firm’s ability to improve their work processes in different and new types of projects. The investigation has been based on semi-structured interviews and a literature study of scientific articles and academic literature. The interviews have been made with group managers, a design manager, internal project managers and external project managers from the Swedish architecture firm White AB in Stockholm, which has collaborated with the researcher when writing the master thesis. The interviews has shown difficulties in managing projects for both architects and project managers, and in defining roles and dividing of tasks, which has resulted in the lack of collaboration and communication, design problems, time and budget constraints, client dissatisfaction and cultural barriers within the firm. To handle and prevent these difficulties from occurring the researcher has provided the firm’s steering committee with guidance on how to improve the difficulties with two overall objectives. The objectives were based on the current situation analysis, which in turn was based on interviews and literature study that entailed architects’ increased collaboration with project managers and the definition of the project manager’s role. Hence the following guidelines can be achieved: internal and external marketing, education, experience feedback, common objectives and shared leadership. / Syftet med detta examensarbete är att undersöka hur arkitekter och projektledare kan förbättra sina arbetsprocesser, i en arkitektfirma, för att bli mer konkurrenskraftiga och kostnadseffektiva. För att uppfylla syftet av examensarbetet, har forskningen varit baserad på en intervjustudie som bygger på de utmaningar som byggbranschen för närvarande står inför, särskilt inom arkitektur och projektledning, vilket innebär att företag som arbetar i de tidiga faserna av ett projekt måste göra vissa förändringar i sina arbetsprocesser för att möta dessa utmaningar. Därför har forskningsfrågan varit baserad på företagets förmåga att förbättra sina arbetsprocesser i olika och nya typer av projekt. Undersökningen har baserats på semistrukturerade intervjuer och en litteraturstudie av vetenskapliga artiklar och akademisk litteratur. Intervjuerna har gjorts med gruppchefer, en projekteringsledare, interna och externa projektledare från den svenska arkitektfirman White AB i Stockholm, som har samarbetat med forskaren vid skrivning av examensarbetet. Intervjuerna har visat på svårigheter i att hantera projekt för både arkitekter och projektledare och I att definiera roller och uppdelning av arbetsuppgifter, vilket har resulterat i samarbets- och kommunikationsbrister, utformningsproblem, tid- och budgetbegränsningar, klientmissnöje och kulturella barriärer inom företaget. Att hantera och förebygga dessa svårigheter från att uppstå så har forskaren tillhandahållit företagets styrgrupp med vägledning om hur svårigheterna kan förbättras utifrån två övergripande mål. Målen baserades på nulägesanalysen, vilket i sin tur grundade sig på intervjuer och litteraturstudier som innebar ett ökat samarbete mellan arkitekter och projektledare och att definiera projektledarens roll. Därmed kan följande riktlinjer uppnås: intern och extern marknadsföring, utbildning, erfarenhetsåterföring, gemensamma mål och delat ledarskap.

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This dissertation examines how federal land management agencies implement group work processes to meet land management objectives focused on natural resource-dependent outdoor recreation management. This dissertation is composed of two separate studies, one focused on the U.S Forest Service interdisciplinary teams implementing environmental analyses in support of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) to comply with the 2005 Travel Management Rule and one focused on U.S. Forest Service and National Park Service management of partnerships to support recreational trails. These studies help answer the question "what factors lead to more or less successful group work in federal land management?" The first study is primarily informed by qualitative analysis and the second study is informed by quantitative and qualitative analyses. Chapter two reports the results and analyses of semi-structured interviews with 49 U.S. Forest Service employees on ten NEPA interdisciplinary teams. Chapter two examines interdisciplinary teams at the US Forest Service that had recently completed environmental analyses for recreational travel management plans in support of the 2005 Travel Management Rule. This study develops typologies of teamwork processes and how teams may change how collaborative they are over time and examines how external context and leadership approaches may influence process outcomes. Chapters three and four report the results of an online survey completed by 89 government and non-government points of contact for trail partnerships. Chapter three explores the factors that influence success in partnerships to support trail work at the U.S. Forest Service and the National Park Service. Chapter three analyzes the survey responses of 89 federal land managers and non-government persons involved in 69 partnerships to work on trails on U.S. Forest Service and National Park Service lands. This analysis uses linear regression to develop a model of the factors that are important to the success of these trail partnerships. The chapter reveals that trust, interdependence, and capacity are the most important factors to the success of trail partnerships. Chapter four compares the survey responses for 28 partnerships where both the government and non-government point of contact provided complete survey responses. Through comparison of these responses, chapter four explores the concept of agreement in partnerships and how agreement on key factors related to partnership success may relate to ratings of overall partnership success. The final chapter synthesizes the findings of the two studies to examine group work across contexts. Group work that is more collaborative and has higher levels of group interdependence lead to more positive outcomes across both contexts. I conclude by proposing a framework that could incorporate the principles of liberal education and transdisciplinary learning into individual and group training to help federal land managers internalize the findings of this research into their work. / Doctor of Philosophy / This dissertation delves into how federal agencies manage group collaboration to achieve their goals in natural resource-based outdoor recreation. The study consists of two main parts: one focuses on U.S. Forest Service teams working on environmental analyses under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) to adhere to the 2005 Travel Management Rule, while the other examines how both the U.S. Forest Service and the National Park Service manage partnerships to enhance recreational trails. The research seeks to answer the question: what makes group work in federal land management more or less successful? The first part relies on qualitative analysis, examining interdisciplinary teams at the U.S. Forest Service that had recently completed environmental analyses for recreational travel plans. This part identifies teamwork processes, explores how teams evolve in their collaboration, and considers the impact of external factors and leadership styles on their performance. The second part combines both quantitative and qualitative methods, focusing on the factors influencing successful partnerships for trail management within the U.S. Forest Service and the National Park Service. The study reveals that trust, interdependence, and capacity are key factors contributing to the success of these partnerships. By comparing survey responses from both government and non-governmental partners, the research also explores the relationship between agency-partner agreement on key success indicators and perceptions of overall partnership success. Overall, the findings highlight that collaborative group work with a high level of interdependence leads to better outcomes across different contexts. The dissertation concludes by suggesting a framework that incorporates transdisciplinary learning principles into training programs for federal land managers, helping them apply these research insights in their work.