In 2023, we asked governance leaders to explore strategic risks and identify best practices within the council meeting process. The results were published in “The Unrealised Potential of Council Meetings” and prompted a fundamental question:
How do Councillors feel about Council Meetings?
To gain insights, we conducted interviews and surveyed 40 councillors to understand the improvements that would most effectively support them in their roles. The resulting Insights Report serves as a guide for councils to unlock the untapped potential of council meetings, fostering transparent decision-making while acknowledging the time and resource constraints faced by councillors.
71% of respondents said navigating large documents was the main frustration with technology during council meetings.
In general, councillors expressed profound gratitude for the contributions of governance teams and endorsed their continual efforts to assist them in their roles. Additionally, our findings revealed:
7 out of 10 respondents felt that decision-making in council meetings was either 'somewhat transparent' or 'not as transparent' as desired.
The readability of extensive documents emerged as the primary concern for councillors
The implementation of easily searchable minutes and videos was identified as a key improvement to decision-making processes and information retrieval.
Discover all the latest insights by accessing the report here.