Dear ,
Firstly, I welcome our recently joined new member Councils to the Network family -
City of Playford Council, Gympie Regional Council, Snowy Valleys Council, Latrobe Council and Burdekin Shire Council
Additionally, I warmly welcome our newest sponsor to the network family, Redman Solutions. Many of our members would already be familiar with Redman Solutions as they have provided exceptional technology solutions to Local Government for well over 10 years.
To each of you, welcome.
The Network has had a great few weeks with member meetings: the National at Penrith City Council, South East Queensland Chapter at Scenic Rim Regional Council and Riverina Chapter Workshop at Wagga Wagga City Council. On the 10th of May, the Tasmanian Chapter is holding their meeting at Zeps Café, Campbell Town.
Reflecting on each meeting’s agenda, the common theme is embedding customer service across the organisation to ‘spread the love of Customer Service to their council and community’.
Set out below is a summary of each meeting.
Riverina, NSW Chapter Workshop
Over 12 Councils worked together to form a Regional customer service strategy framework modified to align with their Council. Excellent feedback has been received and thank you to Carol Lewis of The Human Equation who designed and facilitated the workshop and to Meredith Hester, Wagga Wagga City Council for hosting the day.
National Quarterly Meeting, Penrith City Council
The NSW Department of Planning and Environment are currently working with various NSW Councils on implementing the new Planning Portal which will result in digital transformation of the NSW planning system. In the longer term, this will enable the community to communicate with Councils via different channels on lodgement and tracking of applications. Community members will now longer be required to lodge in person at Council, which is a really positive step, especially for regional areas.
The meeting also featured an interactive workshop focused on improving the following service areas:
- online permits
- Pensioner concession rebate process
- after hours service
Over 50 members attended this meeting and thank you to Angela Hume, David Parry and Amanda Adams-Bennett of Penrith City Council for hosting this event. A photo of this event is above.
South East Queensland Chapter
Over 20 people travelled to attend this meeting - some driving more than three hours each way. An interactive workshop was held focused on gathering information on communication channels each Council currently use. Matthew Johns of Logan City Council provided an excellent case study on his community consultation to evaluate customer satisfaction. Thank you to Margie Jackson of Scenic Rim Regional Council and Cath Harding of Western Downs Regional Council for hosting this meeting.
Tasmania Chapter Meeting
The upcoming meeting on 10th of May includes a workshop on communication styles and behaviour emotional intelligence - which is a great lead in to the workshop that will be held as part of the Annual Conference in October 2018 lead by Progress Training Systems.
National Benchmarking Program
For Council members who did not participate in the 2016/2017 National Local Government Customer Service Quantitative Benchmarking Program, which is subsidised by the Network yet managed externally, I encourage you to purchase the Standard Report to assist your Council in understanding what is happening in our industry. It is only $500+GST.
Annual National Conference: 17-19 October, Brisbane
Disconnect to Reconnect
This year’s conference focuses on case studies and a comprehensive four hour work shop across two days.
Key outcomes that each delegate will take back to their Council:
- Learning through the case studies presented
- Understanding your social / engagement style
- Equipping your team and yourself to disconnect and think outside-of-the-box resulting in reconnection, renewed energy and innovation
Feedback from the agenda has been so positive and I would like to say thank you to those Councils that have already registered for this event. Great to see such early interest in numbers for the conference – so as mentioned before, limited accommodation options, so if you have not booked now suggest you do earlier than later. For more information, please refer to the information in this newsletter.
National Awards Program
Each year the number of Councils participating in this prestigious program increases, which is so great to see. This is a fabulous opportunity for you to share what your achievements at a National level. The Network understands the importance of recognising, rewarding and showcasing the achievement of customer service professionals and their Councils. For more information, please refer to the information in this newsletter.
Regards
Pauline Webb
President
National Local Government Customer Service Network
