How can you identify the capacity building needs of a community?

As a project manager, I would start by engaging directly with the community through surveys, interviews, and workshops to understand their existing skills and knowledge. Analyzing their challenges and aspirations would help identify gaps. Additionally, observing community dynamics and consulting local leaders can provide valuable insights into specific capacity-building needs.

There are always pressure from communities around the construction project to be involved in although they are not ready either as workers or subcontractors/vendors for small jobs, especially in areas that are not used to working on projects, but they really need work. Helping them to leverage the skills and attitude readiness is much better for the project than letting the processes run naturally, where the contractor has to accept them after happened many conflicts. This is a dilemma for contractors. They will spend a lot of money for unproductive workers, and they will face problems achieving their targets. This situation must be assessed first by the contractor when carrying out capacity building efforts for community participation.

The outcomes of community capacity building efforts must be clearly defined by the contractor. Because contractors have many limited efforts and people always have excessive expectations. I have no problem with the tools that will be used to assess the situation, desires, etc., of society. However, I often see processes carried out with too much text book thinking and only at the surface level. So that we don't really get the real facts, society becomes too excessive with its desires, and we feel we have solved the problem. In fact, contractors must be very realistic about their abilities, and they must still focus on non-negotiable project completion targets.

Usually there is always a gap between the capabilities that the community has and the needs that the contractor expects, including the reality that can be achieved from the efforts made. Due to the short project implementation period, the contractor's implementing team only has time to spare between existing activities or to carry out it in parallel with other activities. Besides that, the implementation team also has limited resources to handle these efforts. If the capacity building is related to an HSE program, the owner usually already has a program that has been settled, and the contractor usually just sticks to the program. But regarding improving skills, work attitudes, etc., contractors usually have to handle it themselves.

The capacity building planning carried out by the implementing contractor and that carried out by the project owner or government is certainly different. Contractors of course have limited funds and resources so they only do it out of concern for the community and do it at a limit where community pressure is lower. From what I have done in the projects I manage, the capacity building program is carried out simply, with limit participant, but is still well planned, has clear targets and timelines. Usually I prepare a small special team to handle it so that it doesn't interfere with other activities. Such as civil workforce training programs, work attitude training programs, internship programs and direct assistance on projects, etc.