At Moonee Valley City Council, future planning is not just for senior managers – leaders at all levels across the organisation are getting involved in planning for the future.
Moonee Valley Mayor, Councillor Andrea Surace said Council conducts quarterly Leadership forums where staff members get together to share ideas, collaborate and learn.
“Moonee Valley, like much of metropolitan Melbourne, is facing increased growth now and well into the future and this presents a challenge for Council.
“We need to meet the needs of the community in this constantly changing environment, an environment that includes increased population, greater public transport and parking demands, changing social, housing and infrastructure needs and expectations, changing industry and employment opportunities and environment impacts.”
A recent leadership forum, facilitated by organisational collaboration specialist, Colin Pidd, provided an opportunity to envision what Moonee Valley would look like in the future.
A virtual snapshot of Moonee Valley was created through a series of ‘future booths’. Using demographic modelling, videos, posters, connected mobile and ICT devices and staff expertise, the booths engaged participants in anticipating what sustainable spaces, transport, improved technology and innovative community engagement might look like in the future of the city.
To engage participants in this vision of the future they undertook a role-playing exercise; by playing the part of a child, a resident with a disability, a small-business person, or an older person, they were encouraged to see things as a community member would. They were then encouraged to reflect upon and share these new perspectives.
The ideas generated will now feed into a new 10-year service plan that will enable Moonee Valley City Council to not only plan for the future, but also develop the organisation’s skills and capacity to deliver on the future.
Chief Executive Officer Bryan Lancaster summed up Council’s approach:
“We need to think big and be creative about how we plan for the future. Sometimes we are at risk of getting stuck in an annual planning and reporting cycle, we need to lift our focus.
“By collaborating with all staff – not only the senior managers – we have everyone working together in a positive and engaging way to innovate about the future.”
The first 10-year service plan, which is currently in development will become an active document that is revised and owned by all Moonee Valley City Council staff.
