SitePodium is a platform dedicated to bringing together all the stakeholders in a construction project. And by engaging them, you keep them involved and happy. Stakeholders are all the parties that have some kind of interest in your project. They need a way to express their concerns, to ask their questions and to share their plans.
In our previous blog we spoke about all the stakeholders involved in a construction project. Here, we will have a look at the indirect stakeholders in the construction industry and mainly the local residents and business owners. How can you engage with them and include them in your plans?
Recap: who are your indirect stakeholders in the construction industry?
Let’s start with defining who your indirect stakeholders are. The general definition is: “All people and groups indirectly involved in or associated with your project”.
Some examples of indirect stakeholders in the construction industry are local shops and residents, labour union, licensing- and inspection organisations, professional bodies, public utilities and government bodies.
Indirect stakeholders do not participate in carrying out the project, but they are affected by it. It is also the group of stakeholders that is most commonly ignored. As we shall point out here, this is a major mistake. Luckily, and we will go into this in detail, this mistake can easily be put right.
Why is engaging with indirect stakeholders in the construction industry so important?
Imagine you are a local resident. You work regular nightshifts and sleep during a large part of the day. How would you feel if you were rudely awakened by construction work? Similarly, residents who park at their own parking place would be quite upset if they find it taken up by large machinery. And local shop owners would not be pleased if their entrance is blocked unannounced.
By informing these internal stakeholders involved beforehand, they would be prepared. They could make arrangements, so they are not affected by what will happen that day. And most importantly, they will not feel ignored (and complain about your project).
This is indirect stakeholder engagement
You keep indirect stakeholders in the construction industry happy, by involving them in several ways.
- Informing your indirect stakeholders
The least you can do is to inform indirect stakeholders of the timelines of your project and of the ways this will affect them. Doing it properly, means adding the resolution you put in place to make it easier for them.For example, you tell them your construction project might cause inconvenience to them at certain dates. If you tell them you will only make noise from 9 to 5, you show them that you thought about their circumstances. - Two-way communication
Only informing your indirect stakeholders will already have a large impact on how they will feel about your construction project. However, what if they have questions or they want to express their concerns? They might even have ideas on how to do something better.Always add contact details to your communication channels and be transparent about how to get in touch with someone within your team. Even if they do not contact you, it tells them that they are not dealing with a brick wall but with a transparent and honest organisation. In case there is a problem, they know where to go. That creates trust between you and your indirect stakeholders. - Take indirect stakeholder engagement further
Complete indirect stakeholder engagement in the construction industry goes further than that. To really involve them in your project and make them feel important, there are so many more things you can do. These are just some examples.- Organise meetings for residents and shop owners where you give them the chance to get answers to their questions. They can meet with representatives of your direct stakeholder teams and speak directly to them.
- Appoint a point of contact within your team of direct stakeholders, who can deal with their requests and pass on their worries outside of these meetings. If the local residents and shop owners also assign one point of contact, they can meet face to face periodically.
- Set up an online platform, the SitePodium app is perfect for this, where indirect and direct stakeholders come together, exchange information and hear about the latest news. It will have a feed, a calendar and it allows everyone involved to stay up to date.
Does this sound like a lot of work?
Yes, it is true that indirect stakeholder engagement in the construction industry takes a bit of organising. But it is not much more than making sure the contractors are on site at the right time or scheduling the deliveries. Add indirect stakeholder engagement as a task to your site management team and it can easily be incorporated.
By taking on this task properly, you will save time as well. You will have fewer complaints, you will not be engulfed by questions and requests and your project can run smoothly. Managing a group of angry indirect stakeholders is a lot more work than keeping them happy by engaging them. And investing in SitePodium makes it even easier.
Use SitePodium and start engaging your indirect stakeholders
If your project manager has the right tools to engage indirect stakeholders, it becomes a rewarding and lucrative role. An app which allows all stakeholders to communicate with each other, is an ideal solution. SitePodium can be downloaded on any smartphone or tablet and accessed when needed.
For indirect stakeholders in the construction industry this app is key. They can keep up with the latest news and developments, get updates on meetings that have taken place or measurements that will be put in place. They can respond, interact and participate, all from their own mobile phone. They will never be surprised by sudden pile driving or a blocked passage, because they knew about it in advance.
On top of that, engaging your indirect stakeholders in the construction industry through a platform like SitePodium, gives you a wealth of information that you would otherwise have ignored. You can listen to your indirect stakeholders and respond properly. They might have good ideas of their own, which you can put into practice and learn from.
The app allows you to set your own limits. You decide how much access indirect stakeholders have and how they can respond. That way you create a controlled community space for all the parties that are involved in your project.
Are you interested in the great opportunities that SitePodium has to offer? Then visit our website and schedule a meeting to exchange information. You can read more about us, our pricing or download our brochure.
