AN EVALUATION OF THE INFLUENCE OF CROSS-FUNCTIONAL TEAMWORK ON ATTAINMENT OF PROJECT TARGETS AMONG CONSTRUCTION PROFESSIONALS IN LAGOS STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

Despite widespread recognition of cross-functional teamwork’s benefits improved communication, faster decision-making, and stronger problem-solving there is still a notable absence of empirical, context-specific research examining its structure, effectiveness, impact on project objectives, and the obstacles faced by construction professionals in Lagos State, Nigeria; to address this gap, a quantitative study was undertaken in which a structured questionnaire anchored on four objectives (1) to examine the structure and characteristics of cross‐functional teams, (2) to assess the effectiveness of CFT, (3) to evaluate the impact of CFT on project targets, and (4) to identify challenges in CFT, Questionaire was administered to 200 registered construction professionals representing diverse functional roles, with data analyzed using descriptive statistics (mean item scores, standard deviations) and exploratory factor analysis (principal component extraction with varimax rotation), which yielded four distinct factors ‘Strategic Leadership Support’ (mean=4.05, SD=0.68), ‘Effective Decision‐Making Processes’ (mean=4.12, SD=0.63), ‘Optimal Resource Allocation’ (mean=3.98, SD=0.72), and ‘Collaborative Communication Infrastructure’ (mean=3.82, SD=0.77) that collectively explained 67.4 percent of total variance (eigenvalues >1; factor loadings 0.62–0.84), while communication breakdowns (mean=3.75, SD=0.81) and cultural‐diversity misunderstandings (mean=3.61, SD=0.85) emerged as significant impediments to team cohesion; the findings suggest that establishing clear goals, investing in continuous professional development, and deploying integrated communication platforms can mitigate collaboration challenges and enhance project delivery, leading to the conclusion that CFT constitutes a strategic lever for achieving project objectives in Nigeria’s construction industry, with recommendations for managers to institutionalize cross‐functional structures, strengthen leadership engagement, and provide targeted training, and with an invitation for future research to explore longitudinal impacts of CFT adoption, the mediating role of Building Information Modeling (BIM), and sectoral comparisons across other rapidly urbanizing contexts.