Tasman District Council

“We have been very happy to have Kyran and his team in our organisation. Developing leaders and leadership competencies has been a priority for us for some time now, and we’ve benefited greatly from having ODI on the journey with us. We had the flexibility to set our learning areas and Kyran’s team of capable presenters then developed the programme content to fit.  We’ve seen a real improvement in competency across our range of participants, and particularly at our team leader level.”  (Joanna Cranness, Human Resources Manager)

Generation II Leadership Development Programme

Tasman District Council's Generation II Leadership Development Programme provided targeted leadership behavioural learning and application support for 60 Team Leaders and Supervisers (Tiers 3 and 4). Each participant had previously participated in either the Management Group Leadership Development Programme (Tier 3's) or the Co-ordinators and Seniors Leadership Development Programme (Tier 4's). 

Management Group Leadership Development Programme

Tasman District Council (TDC) engaged us to administer a 360^o  review (against their leadership competencies framework) with their 23 Tier 1-3 leaders, and then to design and deliver a programme that addressed the priority behaviours revealed by the reviews. Selected people received individual feedback about their report findings.

Leadership Masterclasses

In parallel to the Management Group Leadership Development Programme delivery, Leadership Masterclasses were provided to the Tier 4 leaders, to familiarise them with people leadership behaviours in preparation for future roles.

Coordinators and Seniors Leadership Development Programme

TDC also engaged us to deliver this programme for 32 Tier 4 leaders. It consisted of a 360^o review against their competencies framework, two one-day workshops, and workplace application support using our Action Learning Tool.

• "This programme was excellent for providing a platform for coaching and discussing changes to our work style. F has developed into a very competent supervisor; she listens well and encourages her staff to succeed by working as a team."
• "D has worked on identifying those parts of his work which can be delegated to others and some of his tasks have now been devolved to other staff. I think he has made steady progress with his goal but probably needs my encouragement to keep working on this." 

High Performance Work Initiative Programme

TDC joined our 2015-16 HPWI programme, co-funded by Callaghan Innovation, which comprised 10 facilitated half-day workshops to execute ODI’s 10 Levers for High Performance Work diagnostic. The council then selected and executed two consultancies to improve two levers:

Management Systems and Practices

The principal consultancy outcome has been introduction of a value-based model for evaluating the worth of potential innovation initiatives, and enabling prioritisation of them in the operational workflow. The model is being piloted in an IT project to rebuild TDC's website into a more customer-centric form, with enhanced functionality to obtain client input and feedback on council deliveries.

Culture and Climate

The principal consultancy output was a draft Culture Implementation Plan leveraged off the refreshed Purpose and Values, also outputs from the consultancy. This has now been finalised, action responsibilities identified and progress is taking place across each of the five elements of the plan. The council will continue implementing the plan and is extremely pleased with the new resource and with its rollout across the organisation.

Building Teams with Belbin

Desirée Williamson facilitated half-day workshops for two TDC teams. Prior to the workshop, participants and their team members undertook an online Belbin Team Roles diagnostic. The workshop then included a debrief of the results and development of new teamwork practices.

• "I have been able to better understand how other people in our team prefer to work and be much more mindful of that when working with them."
• "We've had discussions about the team profiles, the gaps in the team roles in our department, we've put the three top roles for everyone on the 'wheel' and displayed that on the internet, and we've discussed the structure of project teams to ensure they cover the various team roles."
• "Difficult to put into words, but really just have a gut-instinct type feeling that our team is now working together more cohesively, maximising complementary skills of each team member etc."

Coaching Skills

Kathryn Jackson facilitated four coaching skills workshops which included a half-day follow-up six months after the workshops.

• "I have practised asking questions rather than giving answers."
• "Staff are more often approaching me with solutions to a problem they have, rather than just with a problem."
• "Employee seems more open to having conversations with me."

Coaching

Tamika Simpson and Carol Howard have provided monthly coaching for a Tier 2 leader. The outcome to date has been improved workflow management and some restoration of work-life balance.

Process Improvement Consultancy

Carol Howard provided facilitation and consultancy services within a single workstream (Tiers 2-4) to assist with improving workflow and task allocation.

• "I found the exercise worthwhile, as it pointed out that all staff in our area were and are feeling that things needs to change to improve our service for the customers and for our own wellbeing, mainly by bringing in more resources. It was good to hear that the same things I brought up, other staff reiterated, so it means we are all on the same page, we need help. Carol was open, very friendly and helpful and easy to talk to."
• "We now have a number of external consultants processing resource consents and have an additional casual admin person working for three months."

SMT Strategic Leadership Consultancy

Roger Lewis provided facilitation and consultancy services to support the senior management team to focus on strategic priorities and to work more effectively as a team.

• "We have put in place aligned senior management team 'protected work time'. I have put in place 'drop in' sessions for staff to come see me with issues, rather than constantly interrupting me. We are looking at rolling that out across the department."
• "More effective engagement at the leadership level has lead to better alignment of goals and co-operation."
• "SMT is doing more big rock moving together."