Integration of the lean thinking principles into the owners’ project management

Construction projects face expanding requirements, while project performance remains a persistent concern. This paper examines how Lean Thinking can be integrated into project owners’ project management. Using the five Lean Thinking principles proposed by Womack and Jones as an analytical lens, the study draws on an iterative series of five focus-group workshops involving eight experts and the two authors. The workshop results were synthesised through structured memos, written feedback loops, and a final group review of the consolidated results. The findings suggest that many owner organisations and owner representatives already apply routines consistent with Lean Thinking, although often implicitly and in fragmented form. At the same time, the workshops identified principle-based action options for a more systematic integration. These suggest that Lean Project Management at the owner level differs from conventional approaches not by adding (isolated) methods, but by placing stronger emphasis on proactively shaping the conditions for reliable, value-oriented, and continuously improving project delivery. The paper thus provides an initial principle-based orientation for project owners and seeks to stimulate further discussion on Lean project management.