In late 2019, the planning team at the City of Ryde would never have been able to work remotely. Fast forward to March 2020, and not only is most of the team working predominantly from home, but their productivity levels have also never been so high.

​

So how is this possible? What did they change? The simple answer is, they didn’t try to change everything at once. They took a series of ‘baby steps’ and implemented incremental changes in a strategic way that was designed to support their team to transition with minimal disruption to their ‘business as usual’.

 

Embracing the change and increasing productivity

Knowing that the NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment was introducing changes, including the mandatory use of the NSW Planning Portal, it was clear to the team at Ryde that the best place to start was to implement fully electronic Assessment and Determination processes.

​

Manager of Development Assessment at City of Ryde, Sandra Bailey, couldn’t be more proud of her team and how they embraced the change. Since they started working electronically, the planning team has been more collaborative, and then with the changes to working conditions brought about by Covid-19, the team has actually become even more productive whilst working from home.

​

“I thoroughly enjoyed working with Redman Solutions and found the whole change process really smooth. Straight away, Redman Solutions Lead Consultant, Jade Reed, really got us and understood what we wanted and needed,” Sandra said.

​

​

“I thoroughly enjoyed working with

Redman Solutions and found the whole

change process really smooth. They really got us

and understood what we wanted and needed."

​

 

“I feel for other organisations that haven’t got the systems and tools that we do, and yet we are living proof that change doesn’t have to be huge to deliver significant results. Sometimes the biggest changes come from taking the first few small steps in the right direction,” Sandra further added.

​

The importance of support during times of change

According to Jade, one of the most important things to remember when supporting a team through changes is that every team, and every individual within that team, work at different rates of change.

​

“The key to helping the team at Ryde to navigate their way from paper-based processes to working fully electronic was to identify which parts of the existing processes to change first and which parts to leave until a later date,” Jade said.

​

“We also made sure that the implementation was delivered in ways that met the needs of every team member. Some people just picked it up and ran with it, while others needed one-on-one support to get them up to speed. The most pleasing thing to see was the team coming together to make sure that everyone adjusted to the change, felt supported, and got the help they needed,” Jade concluded.

​

 

“We also made sure that the implementation

was delivered in ways that met the

needs of every team member."

​

 

Redman Soutions is looking forward to working with the City of Ryde to deliver Phase 2 of this project which will involve transforming their existing lodgement process into fully electronic lodgement that incorporates the use of the NSW Planning Portal.

​

If your Council could use some help to navigate the change from paper-based Development Application assessments to fully electronic, incorporating the NSW Planning Portal, reach out and have a conversation with us today.

​

With a few small changes, we can have your team working electronically with minimal overhead and effort from your IT team.

​