5 Tips to Ensure a Productive Virtual Site Visit
Virtual site visits are a relatively new concept that grew with the economic shutdown and the COVID-19 scare that prevented people from spending any time together face-to-face. As roles shift and new goals towards staying socially distant while maintaining productivity become powerfully evident in everyday routines, the virtual site visit concept is growing in popularity. To ensure productivity on your next virtual site visit, follow these 5 tips.
#1. Create Checklist with Instructions
If performing a virtual site visit as part of a building or site inspection, chances are you already have a list of instructions from the city or county in which the inspection is to be performed.
Using the instructions that you have alongside your own plans of what must be accomplished while performing the virtual site visit, create a checklist to follow for accuracy.
Your checklist may include various elements that should be measured during the virtual site visit or a list of tasks to complete during the virtual visit.
The goal of the checklist is to ensure you have a step-by-step list of tasks to follow so that you don’t forget anything important during the virtual site visit as you may not be able to get back to the site for a second visit if anything is missed.
#2. Review Approved Plans Prior to Visit
Prior to the virtual site visit it is important to review approved site plans for an understanding of the site and what should be taking place. As a virtual visitor it is important to be prepared to analyze the site as if you had been on-site for the past several weeks.
Proper planning an doing your homework is vital here! You should also review any permits for the site so that you can review permitted projects during your virtual site visit. Knowing the place you’ll “visit” before you virtually embark on your trip is very important.
#3. Take Notes
During the virtual site visit it is important to take notes of any items you notice. Depending on the purpose of your virtual site visit your notes could certainly vary greatly.
For example, if your virtual site visit is to find the perfect place to host a future event, you may take notes regarding space, seating, room size or floor plans.
Likewise, if your virtual site visit is part of your decision to represent the site as part of your brand then you may be taking notes about stakeholders you meet and the important decision makers that you come across along the way.
Consider capturing detailed images and notes regarding:
-Floor plans
-Seating capacity
-Pricing
-Location
-Location photos
-Potential Expenses
#4. Gather Supplies & Backups
Since you’ll only have one opportunity to get the information you need from a virtual site visit it is important to ensure you don’t forget anything.
Likewise, you want to be sure that you’re equipment is prepared and that you don’t lose out on important data collection simply because your equipment fails or your batteries die, etc.
Gather the necessary supplies for your virtual site visit such as maps, a field book, paper and pencil, digital camcorder, extra batteries, lights or a flashlight, a tape measure, and a memory card or other forms of data preservation equipment before the day of the virtual site visit.
Don’t forget those extra batteries just in case!
#5. Be on Time
You may be attending a virtual site visit but this doesn’t give any right to be late or otherwise unaccountable! Virtual site visits are scheduled and require involvement with key leaders or site management teams so it’s important to be ready, present and on-time for a scheduled visit.
This may mean chiming in from your smartphone or it may mean you actually attend the front gate of the site–either way, you must be on time. A productive visit begins with following these tips, planning and being prepared for the virtual site visit process.
To learn more about virtual site visits and the processes required, give Beverly Boy Productions a call. We’ll help you perform virtual site visits that allow you and your team to remain off-site or behind the scenes.
From capturing all of the footage to make informed decisions to delivering quantifiable data that helps you make important decisions — our camera crews are ready to produce your next virtual site visit footage. Give us a call–we can’t wait to assist you!
When Virtual Site Visits Work — and When They Don’t
Keep in mind, a virtual site visit is not viable for all types of planning or site analysis. Virtual visits are great for making preliminary decisions such as when you have recently inquired about a site for an upcoming event or program.
Virtual site visits are also a great idea when you already are familiar with the property but you need additional information to help you determine placement for an upcoming venue.
For example, perhaps you know a site is ideal for an upcoming conference you are planning but you’re not sure how to organize the layout of your conference guests and speakers — a virtual site visit is excellent in this case.
However, virtual site visits are not ideal in situations in which walking the space is vital for example, a virtual site visit will not provide you with accurate reporting of the surrounding areas and off-site events taking place near a venue.
While you could use a virtual site visit to define the appropriate layout of the space, you may need to send staff for a visit in order to determine what the location is like off-site and to get a better feel for the venue’s surrounding area.
Virtual site visits can take a lot of the guesswork and hassle out of visiting a site to get basic information. If you’re interested in a virtual site visit, give Beverly Boy Productions a call today to schedule a virtual site visit that’s important to you.
We can’t wait to help you start producing the data you need to make an informed decision about the site you’re interested in.
