| Common goal | Alignment on a project’s desired outcomes, which ensures that all stakeholders work towards mutual outcomes (e.g. time, cost, quality, etc.) | af Hällström et al. (2024), Rashidian et al. (2024), Yap and Lim (2023), Gao et al. (2022), Matthews et al. (2018), Moradi and Sormunen (2025) |
| Coordination (i.e. structured facilitation) | Alignment of individual efforts and allocation of resources to reduce duplicate efforts and/or conflicting actions | Gao et al. (2022), Mohamad et al. (2014), Pe-Mora et al. (2001), Gao et al. (2022), Matthews et al. (2018) |
| Cooperation (i.e. information, knowledge and resource sharing) | Cooperation involves participants exchanging information, knowledge, and resources to facilitate mutual learning between stakeholders, reduces project life cycle redundancy, and improves the collective capacity for outcomes | Dauda et al. (2024), van Leeuwen and Fridqvist (2006), Lin and Wu (2021), Gao et al. (2022), Matthews et al. (2018) |
| Fair share of risk-reward | Equitable distribution of potential risks and benefits is essential for a positive approach, in which distribution promotes commitment to the project and encourages active participation | Bidin et al. (2022), Chowdhury et al. (2021), Nwajei et al. (2022), Gao et al. (2022), Matthews et al. (2018), Moradi and Sormunen (2025) |
| Joint problem solving | Joint problem-solving involves all stakeholders sharing their expertise and available resources to develop solutions | Meng (2013), Pablo and London (2020), Zhang et al. (2020), Gao et al. (2022), Matthews et al. (2018), Moradi and Sormunen (2025) |
| Mutual trust | The willingness of project participants to rely on and have faith in each other’s capability (i.e. capacity and ability), and to share their resources and information to realize something which is mutually beneficial | Gao et al. (2022), Matthews et al. (2018), Moradi and Sormunen (2025) |
| Open communication | Transparent and immediate communication is essential for mutual understanding. It involves the regular exchange of information between the main stakeholders, active listening, and minimizing misunderstandings | Chen et al. (2022a), b, Grilo et al. (2013), Zhai et al. (2014), Gao et al. (2022), Matthews et al. (2018), Moradi and Sormunen (2025) |