Desktop engagement versus boots on the ground

Have you ever wondered how big is Australia, geographically speaking when compared to our population and land mass? In 2024 the population density of Australia is 3.45 people per square kilometre. That figure highlights a relatively small population and large land mass, in essence we are country that is very spread out – especially when you venture outside our metropolitan centres and major cities.

What does this mean for the work we do? Well, there may be times as consultants where we need to travel vast distances to project sites to achieve desired goals and outcomes. As seasoned professionals, we are very adept at managing long distance travel, queuing our favourite podcasts and music playlists, restocking refreshments at our favourite spots, making phone calls to catch up with relatives and loved ones, the list goes on! So don’t worry about us, we’ve got this covered.

However, the one constraint is time. When travelling, especially when driving a car, we are very limited in terms of our work productivity. At most, we can answer and make calls in between our personal jam sessions (safely of course, via Bluetooth, Apple Car Play or Android Auto with both hands on the wheel 😊!).

So, how can we better utilise time and increase our understanding of a project site and its surrounds? Enter technology and the increased ability to gain and source information from desktop engagement sessions. Tools like business and residential searches, Google Street View, Google Maps, social media platforms, video calls, emails and the like can help build information and understanding whilst sitting comfortably at a desk – or wherever for that point. Desktop engagement can be very easy to commence, efficient but can it remove the need for travel?

They say a picture is worth 1000 words, well a site visit and in person attendance must be worth a heck of a lot more than that. On the ground engagement builds greater rapport with locals, develops understanding from personal conversations, helps acknowledge project constraints, identifies community concerns and improves communication. A site visit allows consultants to pick up on small cues, ‘gold nuggets’ of information and personal nuances that don’t translate over phone or email or Google maps.

That doesn’t mean we are completely discrediting the importance of technology and how much it can support project engagement. But even technology has its limitations when it comes to project sites and the information it can provide.

In many situations, Google Street View will provide a recent photo of a project site and help develop personal understanding. However, have you ever jumped on street view and noticed the last time Google sent a camera vehicle down that regional road was in 2008? That’s the same year that Micheal Phelps was the first person to win eight gold medals at one Olympic Games in Beijing! Even more shocking, that was seven Taylor Swift albums ago. The image quality is grainy, barely visible and provides no context as it looks like it was taken with a potato! We have all experienced this on at least one occasion.

So back to that point on travel - do we really think that desktop engagement can completely remove the need for on ground engagement? In some instances, there may be restrictions with funding, and considerations may have to be given to the quantity and frequency of travel overall. In these circumstances, desktop engagement can be quick to implement and cost effective. However, in short, we think at the bare minimum it’s important for boots on the ground engagement at the commencement of a large project and then as required.

As we mentioned in one of our previous blogs about artificial intelligence, it’s important to embrace technology, but also don’t forget the human touch! Boots on the ground engagement allows you establish relationships that will develop throughout the project and better understand the project beyond the scripted key messages.

Here at Spectrum Comms, we aren’t afraid of getting a little bit of dust on our boots or steel caps, it’s what keeps us authentic and grounded!

Note: as mentioned at the beginning of this blog, Australia population density is 3.45 people per square kilometre, do you know what the most densely populated land mass is? Macau is the highest ranked location globally, with a shocking 23,152 people per square kilometre!