Envisio Drives Visibility, Efficiency & Strategic Alignment at Barcaldine Regional Council
Barcaldine Regional Council
1,540
Daniel Bradford
Before using Envisio, Barcaldine Regional Council had no dedicated system for managing their strategic plan or projects. They relied on an operational plan spread across various documents, listing numerous items that were reviewed once per quarter.
CEO Daniel Bradford explained that although the team invested significant time and effort into launching their plans and projects, tracking progress through spreadsheets was becoming increasingly time-consuming and added little value.
"We invested a lot of effort into creating the plan, but it wasn’t something we regularly revisited to monitor progress," he said. "Our project management process faced similar issues. We had difficulty maintaining a central source of truth for projects, only relying on a shared spreadsheet between me and other project managers to track monthly updates. This method was manual, slow, lacked detail, and didn’t deliver the value we could have achieved with a more efficient system."
It was clear to Daniel that the team had a strong desire for more insight and needed a more efficient way to track their progress. The executive team also wanted to stay informed about the status of the plan and subsequent projects were at.
Uncovering Envisio and Achieving Implementation Success
With various strategy documents and projects scattered across different areas, Daniel recognised the need for a solution tailored to Barcaldine's requirements. From the beginning, his expectations were clear: the system needed to offer a holistic view for all stakeholders, handle projects of any size, and make it easy to generate reports.
Daniel shares how he first discovered Envisio.
"I had known about Envisio for some time and had seen it in use at a previous council. It was intuitive, and I immediately recognised it as a great opportunity. The solution could handle both small and large projects, allowing us to easily add and display key details for each project, including budget scope, justification, and progress."
“I had known about Envisio for some time and had seen it in use at a previous council. It was intuitive, and I immediately recognised it as a great opportunity."
The timing for implementing Envisio was ideal, as Barcaldine was in the process of reinventing its planning approach. They adopted a stop/start method, with a strong emphasis on measuring each project.
“We were focused on Key Business Indicators (KBIs) and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), and we were fortunate that the solution allowed us to build out our plan incrementally. It even gave us the flexibility to pivot during the process. I found it relatively easy to use, especially when it came to connecting the three layers of our corporate plan,” Daniel explained.
Daniel wanted the team to be familiar with Envisio before the training began. Sharing both the platform and the reasons behind its adoption helped build buy-in, which was essential for a successful implementation.
“We communicated with the teams before the rollout, ensuring everyone understood the why and had a chance to see the platform,” he said. "Our Senior Managers were craving something like this, as everyone had their own way of managing projects - from whiteboards to notepads. We needed a unified solution, and I knew everyone would relish in the accountability.”
“Our Senior Managers were craving something like this, as everyone had their own way of managing projects - from whiteboards to notepads. We needed a unified solution, and I knew everyone would relish in the accountability."
The training approach was kept small and conducted in two stages. Since Barcaldine was implementing both the Strategic Planning and Projects modules, sessions were customised for administrators and smaller teams.
Daniel explained how each group received system training and how the modules are currently being used.
“We held two training sessions - one for administrators and then small group sessions to bring everything together. Once we reached the point of adding projects, teams were trained on how to easily create initiatives and projects. All projects and actions were submitted through council for refinement and budget allocation.”
Currently, 12 people use the Strategic Planning module quarterly for Key Business Indicators (KBI). For Projects, 20 users engage with the system monthly. The buy-in has been strong, with 40+ projects completed, 60 in progress, and another 80 proposed."
Daniel emphasised his appreciation for the personalised approach provided by Redman Solutions. He said, "We truly enjoyed collaborating with the Redman team. They defined success from the outset and supported us at every stage, always ready to make adjustments and help with any additional development we required."
“We truly enjoyed collaborating with the Redman team. They defined success from the outset and supported us at every stage, always ready to make adjustments and help with any additional development we required."
Enhancing Council Operations with Envisio: Improved Visibility, Efficiency, and Strategic Alignment
The implementation of Envisio has provided council with significant improvements, including clear visibility into project progress through dashboards, which has resulted in improved focus.
Daniel explained that adopting the solution has encouraged more productive discussions centred on project delivery, rather than merely tracking.
“It’s been great to see where each project stands quickly, and using dashboards has made tracking progress much easier," he said. "My monthly reporting process is now far more efficient. When I run the report, I know the updates are current, and all the information is easily accessible in one central location.
He also highlighted how the traffic light system, which highlights project statuses, has had an impact on teams and councillors.
“We now have a clearer understanding of where every project stands, and the use of dashboards has shifted the conversation, allowing for deeper discussions on how to deliver rather than just monitoring project status.”
“We now have a clearer understanding of where every project stands, and the use of dashboards has shifted the conversation, allowing for deeper discussions on how to deliver rather than just monitoring project status."
This, along with the ability to map projects with GPS tracking features, has helped the team create location-based dashboards for the public and elected members to search projects and get updates.
With project management now more meaningful and reporting significantly more efficient, Daniel is impressed by how everything aligns with the council's plan, creating greater synergy across the organisation.
“In the past, our Strategic Planning documents were accessible but only referred to when necessary. Now, it’s always in front of us, and everyone can link each project back to the plan, staying focused on what needs to be achieved,” he said.
“In the past, our Strategic Planning documents were accessible but only referred to when necessary. Now, it’s always in front of us, and everyone can link each project back to the plan, staying focused on what needs to be achieved."
The team at Barcaldine have the ability to map projects with GPS tracking features. This helps them to create location-based dashboards for the public and elected members to search projects and get updates.
Daniel’s Advice for other Councils looking to implement Envisio
From the outset, we were clear about what we wanted from the solution, and that focus has guided us throughout the process. We implemented the Projects module early on, and the team's responsiveness to updates and requests has been excellent, with the developers adapting the system to meet our needs.
It’s important to have a clear understanding of your goals. For us, the priority was receiving high-level updates on projects and gaining a holistic view of where things stand.