Integrating community feedback into construction planning

If you want to know how the community around your building project feels about what you are doing, you need to find a way to collect feedback. Even though a general feeling is much more difficult to measure than an exact number, the information that you get from doing this, is very valuable for the success of your building company and future projects. 

In a previous article we spoke about measuring social impact and asking for community feedback is one way to do that. Here we will look at how collecting and measuring community feedback will benefit your construction projects during every stage.

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The importance of community feedback for construction planning

You might wonder: why should I ask the community around my construction project for feedback? After your project is finished, you move on and so will they. You are there to do your job whether they like it or not, so what does the opinion of the local residents matter?

Asking the community for feedback does have a number of important advantages. These directly influence you, your company, the people working for you and your success in the future. We give you five reasons why asking for feedback from the community is important in construction projects.

1. Asking for feedback is an integral part of community engagement. It is something that you have to work on if you want to remain a serious competitor in your market.
2. You can address and solve issues before they become official complaints. Community members will feel better about your project if they are involved.
3. You get a feel for what it is like to be on the other side of the fence. This will greatly benefit you in future projects as well.
4. Use community feedback for making the right decisions, for example about when to temporarily cut off the water or do noisy work on site.
5. Collect the answers, compile a report and show these during your presentations for future projects to impress the client.

 

The importance of feeling heard

We understand that asking for feedback also makes you vulnerable. Because, what if the feedback is negative and you get swamped by complaints? You would be surprised by how important it is for local residents to feel heard and to be able to express their opinions. 

It is always an option to hide behind your site fence until your project is finished. However, the problems with the community might be much larger than what you experience from getting some negative feedback. Worst case scenario: feedback will turn into an official complaint and a court case that you can do without.

Put yourself in the community’s shoes. By asking them for feedback about your construction project, you make them feel heard. This will automatically tone down their negative feelings towards your project, even if they request something you cannot realise. By asking for feedback from the community, you involve them in your decision making, you can explain your actions and create a positive atmosphere in the area.

Ask for feedback continuously

We recommend that you ask the community for feedback from day one. Even before your site fence is set-up, you can organise a town hall meeting and get to know the community. Keep requesting feedback whilst you are working in the area, to really analyse your impact there. Similarly, collecting community feedback about your construction project after completion, will tell you a lot about what you can do better (or keep up!) for your future local residents. 

Requesting feedback does not always have to involve something big. On SitePodium you can raise a poll, for example, asking about who experienced noise pollution the night before. Keep it balanced. We think it is good to ask small questions regularly, but keep the large matters you need feedback on for face-to-face communication.

Handy tip:

This might take you right out of your comfort zone, but why not ask for community feedback about your construction project at the very beginning of a town hall meeting? You will immediately get a feel for what is hot in the community. Also, you are able to properly address most issues there and then during your presentation, rather than hastily afterwards.

 

Asking for community feedback: some examples

We think it is clear that asking for community feedback during every stage of your construction project is important. But how can you ask the community for feedback? There are literally dozens of ways to do this and you can be as creative as you like.

Here we discuss our five favourite ways to get feedback from the community around your construction projects.

1. Open house

   The last thing you want is to open yourself to feedback and to receive questions, complaints and suggestions all day long. We recommend that you organise an open house, or open office where you invite local residents to come in and speak to you. This can be weekly or bi-weekly and does not need to last more than two hours.

   Your open house will be for non-urgent things that are important for the community around. Maybe they are worried about road closures that are scheduled or about building dust on their windows? Let them speak to you at a set time during the week and you can immediately settle their nerves. And you only have to deal with community feedback at a scheduled timeslot in your busy week.

2. Project lounge

   For large and long-lasting projects, it is a good idea to set up a project lounge. This is a room which people can visit, containing all sorts of information about your building project. Naturally, there would also be a community engagement officer available for answering questions. Even better: it can be the base for your community engagement team.

   The advantage of a project lounge is that you can continuously ask for community feedback about your construction project. Place questionnaires on the counter, make an interactive pillar with the option to leave feedback or simply ask your visitors in person.

3. End of project questionnaire

   Questionnaires are always useful in getting feedback from the public. This can be done digitally or on paper and you can ask several different questions to get feedback on. 

   We particularly believe in the value of raising a questionnaire after your project is finished. You can use SitePodium to announce it. If you are organising a meeting or street party to celebrate joint effort and completion, you can also use that moment to share the questionnaire.

   By asking the community for feedback when your construction project is finished, you can get a general idea of what was liked, what was not liked and what could be improved. Emotions do not run as high and residents are able to look back much more calmly and objectively. This you can use this information again in future projects, to keep improving yourself.

4. Coffee time at the square

   Use your community engagement efforts to kill two birds with one stone. In our book ‘Happy Neighbours’ you can find 45 creative ideas about how you can engage the community around your construction project. One of them is to organise a free coffee and tea van in the square.

   Whilst your local residents enjoy a cuppa with your employees, why not ask the community for feedback about your construction project at the same time? In such a relaxed and open atmosphere, you will get the most valuable information straight from the horses’ mouth.

5. SitePodium application

   For feedback that does not have to be given in person, SitePodium is an ideal medium to use. It has a newsfeed where you can post information. Every thumbs-up (or down) to your post is valuable feedback from the community that is easily collected. 

   Op top of that, you can raise polls to get people’s opinions. An app like SitePodium encourages two-way communication. And because everything is registered, you can use our reporting module to collect information and make valuable data presentable.

All this feedback, but what to do with it?

It is one thing collecting all this community feedback. But what to do with the information you receive? We can think of a few examples:

1. Measure the progress of your community engagement actions.
2. Make decisions based on the mood and opinions of those affected.
3. Plan community engagement even better in future projects.
4. Use your data to impress future clients.
5. Get ideas and input you would otherwise have missed.

Community feedback in construction projects with SitePodium

The SitePodium app is an ideal medium for receiving feedback and opening up to the community. Lower your site fence and let the local residents have a say. You will notice that your project runs smoother, the atmosphere is better, and your fame will grow. Do not underestimate the power of hearsay.

That is why we would like to hear from you and how we can help improve the communication between your community engagement team and the residents around your project. Book a demo, so we can show you exactly and personally how SitePodium can help you get community feedback on your construction project. Alternatively, download our brochure or contact us to find out what SitePodium can do for your next construction project.