About Shaping Our Future
About Shaping Our Future
The Shaping Our Future programme is our organisation-wide transformation initiative, designed to make Nelson City Council more efficient, adaptable, and focused on delivering the best possible services to our community.
As our city and its needs evolve, we must also reflect on how we work.
This programme is about ensuring that our systems, processes, and structures are fit for purpose—not just for today, but for the years ahead.
Through collaboration and continuous improvement, we’re working together to refine how we operate, strengthen the services we provide, and build a resilient, future-ready Council.
The Case for Change
Groundwork for Shaping our Future has been ongoing for the past two years to develop a Business Case for Change, which includes data and sentiment from:
- interviews and workshops with staff, Senior Leadership Team, the Mayor and Deputy Mayor and other elected members, as well as external partners;
- Staff Engagement Surveys;
- Residents Surveys;
- City Revitalisation Summit;
- and previous customer journey mapping.
Read the business Case for Change.
The Shaping Our Future programme is being delivered using iterative design
Iterative design is a cost-effective, flexible design methodology that puts the user experience at the centre of the design process.
Unlike linear design—where each stage in the process is completed in a set sequence before moving to the next—iterative design is a cyclical process that allows for changes to be made throughout the design process and improved continuously over time.
Why are we using iterative design for Shaping Our Future?
An iterative design process was selected as it allows us to make concrete progress for our organisation and community, while providing a framework for us to build and adapt that progress over time.
It also puts the experiences of our staff, customers and community at the centre of the design process by co-designing the future we want for the organisation, then implementing the changes necessary to get us there.
Phase 1 of the five-year programme was primarily about understanding the needs of the organisation and designing solutions to address them.
As we move into Phases 2 and 3 of the programme, we’ll start to see these changes being implemented.
The Workstreams
The Workstreams
The purpose of the Shaping Our Future programme is to transform Nelson City Council's operations to deliver high-quality services efficiently and productively while meeting the evolving needs of our community and ensuring we put the people of Nelson at the heart of everything we do.
The workstreams provide a framework to help us reach our ambitions.
Phase 1 had seven workstreams consisting of Council staff from across the organisation. Read more about the workstreams and their contributions to Shaping Our Future below.
From left: Nigel Philpott, Nicole Ching, Scott MacMorland, Martin Croft, Daniela Ramierz
This workstream focuses on ensuring our organisation is in the best shape to deliver efficient, productive and cost-effective services to our community.
Using the Operating Model as the blueprint for how our organisation will operate in the future, it provides the direction for all Council work, ensuring a robust organisation that is aligned with Council priorities and can better respond to the ever-changing needs of our community.
Operating Model workstream lead Scott MacMorland is hopeful this work helps staff and leadership teams to build on their strengths to further enhance service delivery and provide increased value to the community we serve.
“I believe in the power of co-design and collaboration, and this project embodies both. The Shaping our Future work will ensure staff have the tools, resources, and direction needed to do their jobs well and deliver good value for the community.”
‐ Operating Model workstream lead Scott MacMorland
From left: Scott MacMorland, Belinda Wheatley, Arlene Akhlaq, Steph Morrison, Maria Agudelo
The Transformation Management Office (TMO) is the central hub for oversight, governance, and coordination of the Shaping our Future programme. Their goal is to support each workstream to deliver measurable benefits to the organisation and our community.
Shaping our Future Project Manager Belinda Wheatley joined Nelson City Council specifically to be part of a meaningful change programme that will equip staff to meet the challenges of today and tomorrow, modernise the way we work, and deliver better outcomes for our community.
“I believe the impact of the program will be felt by our staff, through clearer priorities, better tools, and processes; by our organisation, through more efficient and effective service delivery; and most importantly by our community, through more accessible, inclusive, and responsive local services.”
‐ Shaping our Future Project Manager Belinda Wheatley
Back from left: Tom Ransom, Louis Dalzell, Gareth Power Gordon, Alistair Roper, Arnold Andrews. Front from left: Caron Greenough, Nicky McDonald, Jess Ettridge. Not pictured: Adrienne Gravatt, Madeline Austin, Jane Doogue
The Achievable LTP workstream aims to ensure that our Long Term Plans are achievable for the organisation and affordable for the community.
The workstream members are focused on improving the process for developing Long-Term Plans so that the ten-year work programme matches what the organisation can deliver, takes into account the Nelson community and how its needs are changing, and is realistic about ratepayer ability to pay.
“It’s my hope that we will deliver a plan that addresses the challenges Nelson is facing as a community, so we don’t push these problems off into the future. This work should give our community greater confidence in Council’s planning as well as enable staff to focus on delivering well-prioritised and achievable work programmes.”
‐ Group Manager Strategy and Communications and Achievable Long Term Plan workstream sponsor Nicky McDonald
From left: Jane McLeod, James Murray, Mandy Bishop, Emily Petersen, Michelle Joubert, Maria Agudelo, Paul Shattock. Not pictured: Bill Huppler, Warren Smith (Maven)
The Customer & Community workstream is centred around improving service delivery to our customers. We're looking closely at how we can improve our service across the organisation, as well as how we can better engage with our community to respond to its changing needs.
The workstream have been identifying how our customers interact with us every day by looking at a series of customer journeys as well as rich data that informs how we might streamline processes, reduce delays, enhance accessibility, respond better to the needs of Nelson residents and build stronger relationships with our community.
Group Manager Environmental Management, Mandy Bishop, believes strongly that our community deserves a Council focused on putting them at the heart of everything they do and sees this work as an opportunity to improve how we work to deliver services more effectively.
“I want our staff to view service requests as an opportunity to improve our services, and for our customers to be able to get help and obtain the information they need more efficiently. I want to strengthen engagement with the public, and for the community to be proud of their Council.”
‐ Group Manager Environmental Management and Workstream sponsor Mandy Bishop
From left: Nikki Harrison, Abby Kuyk, Andrea King, Louise Morten, Scott MacMorland
This workstream is all about supporting Council’s greatest asset – our people. It is about harnessing our strengths across the organisation and building a workplace culture that is skilled, engaged, diverse and aligned with Council priorities.
The People workstream aims to build a strong and agile workforce that has the right tools and capabilities to succeed.
Capital Projects Project Coordinator Louise Morten was excited to be part of the People workstream, a group of forward-thinking and innovative people dedicated to empowering our staff in meeting the changing needs of our community.
“My passion has always been around creating environments where both individuals and organisations can thrive. Our workstream is just one part of the programme that is going to create lasting, positive outcomes for both our staff and everyone who lives in Nelson and visits here.”
‐ Capital Projects Project Coordinator Louise Morten
From left: Fiona McLeod, Alec Louverdis, Maggie McGill, Belinda Wheatley, Cameron Ford, Marian McCay. Not pictured: Arlene Akhlaq, Paul Harrington
The Purposeful Delivery workstream aims to ensure that work programmes and projects are well-coordinated across our organisation, increasing organisational efficiencies and ensuring strategic alignment with Council priorities to deliver measurable benefits and value-for-money to our community.
The workstream is focused on delivering a transparent, robust, enduring and easy-to-use framework for prioritising programmes and projects, ensuring all work is fit-for-purpose, aligned and focused.
Group Manager Infrastructure Alec Louverdis jumped at the chance to lead the workstream and be part of the solution to deliver tangible benefits to our ratepayers, our organisation and staff.
“I believe in the workstream’s objectives that aim to deliver an achievable work programme, working with elected members and looking after staff to drive greater efficiencies across the organisation - a win for everyone.”
‐ Purposeful Delivery workstream lead Alec Louverdis
From left: Andrew White, Rebecca Thorne, Sarina Barron, Amy Rouse-Groome, Maria Agudelo. Not pictured: Warren Smith (Maven)
This workstream aims to review the portfolio of all Council services to help us better understand and identify any gaps in our service offering and the areas we need to make improvements.
With the needs of our customers and community at the centre of our thinking, our aim is to ensure the delivery of more efficient and better-quality services that are easier for our staff and customers to navigate.
Team Leader Information Management, Sarina Barron, is excited about being part of a programme of work that will bring tangible benefits to both staff and the community.
“If you want to see change, you need to be part of it. The service workstream is at the coalface of Council—it’s where our actions directly impact the community.
"It’s inspiring to see the passion our staff bring to delivering these essential services, and being involved means we can help shape more efficient, higher-quality outcomes that truly benefit both staff and the people we serve."
‐ Team Leader Information Management Sarina Barron
The Operating Model
The Operating Model
Council’s new Operating Model is a blueprint that lays out how all parts of the organisation—our people, processes, technology, and systems—work together to deliver value to our community.
It will help us make more consistent, focused decisions that are better aligned with our long-term strategic goals.
The Model includes a set of Design Principles that will guide the way we work moving forward. For example, prioritising the use of digital workflows and processes for efficiency (Efficient way of work) over manual workarounds and fixes.
These Design Principles will help us achieve our Strategic Shifts—a move from where we are now to a future desired state.
We’ve always had systems and processes for the way we work, but until now, there hasn’t been a single model that shows how the whole organisation fits together.
The Operating Model makes it easier to see how decisions should be made, resources used, and services delivered, so we avoid duplication, confusion, and short-term fixes.
How staff input shaped our Operating Model
Our future operating model has been shaped with the insight, experience and aspirations of our people at its core. This was not a top-down redesign, but a co-created document produced by staff grounded in real feedback, reflections and forward-thinking from across council and community.
Over four workshops held in March, 91 staff from across Council came together to explore a big question: How might we work together in the future to deliver even greater value to our community?
Led by the Operating Model workstream, these sessions were a key step in designing how Council could operate in a more connected, customer-focused and adaptable way.
Staff from all levels and parts of the organisation contributed real-world insights, co-designing more than 20 future scenarios that captured everything from public transport access to youth engagement, emergency response, community consultation and more.
Each scenario followed a simple structure: who is involved, what challenges they face, and how a future-ready Council could respond.
From this work, some common themes emerged, including:
- Customer-centric and tailored services – Integrated around people’s needs, life events, and preferences
- Digital and smart solutions – Supporting self-service, process automation and informed decision-making
- Focused community engagement and inclusion – With a strong emphasis on participation and equity
- Accessible and proactive information – Making the right data available at the right time, in the right way
- Cross-sector collaboration – Strengthening partnerships with suppliers, iwi and other councils
- Efficient and aligned planning and delivery – Using improved tools, frameworks, integrated planning and roles to reduce duplication and improve outcomes
- Capability and career development – Supporting staff to grow and adapt as services evolve.
The Operating Model workstream used these ideas to develop “strategic shifts” — broader representations of the future that informed the Operating Model.
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FAQs
Frequently Asked Questions
The whakatauki Kōmiria te anamata expresses the essence of shaping the future through innovative ideas, like moulding something to its fullest potential. It emphasises the transformative power of creativity and adaptability in driving meaningful change.
