Since 2019, Thames-Coromandel District Council and the wider community have enjoyed the many benefits of Resolve Meeting Management. 

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We spoke to Governance Manager Ariana Hay and Governance Advisor Jenna Litchfield to understand how the platform has evolved over the years and its impact on their day-to-day operations. 

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Transforming Council Meeting Management: The Journey to Resolve

Thames-Coromandel District Council, like many others, relied on an outdated solution for managing its council meetings that no longer met its needs. Ariana highlighted the challenges, noting that it was inefficient and time-consuming, complicating its workflow.

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"We had a system in place, but it was no longer performing as required," she said. "Working with large documents and reports was particularly problematic. If we needed to make changes or attach large files, the system would frequently crash, disrupting our processes and wasting valuable time."

 

Resolve stood out to the team for its intuitive design, ease of use, and features that accommodate all stakeholders. Beyond this, the team was enthusiastic about partnering with Redman Solutions, which is known for its helpful and consultative approach.

 

“Resolve appeared user-friendly, sleek and functional rather than other providers we looked at,” Ariana said. The team was also so helpful and hands-on during the entire process, and we knew we would be supported during the transition.”

 

"Resolve appeared user-friendly, sleek and functional

rather than other providers we looked at."

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Ariana explained how team Redman's hands-on approach continued throughout the implementation and helped to make everyone feel at ease.

 

“I felt like we were able to take our report writers along the journey and really make the system work for them. The team was helpful and was always there when we needed them. They were available to address any concerns, and it was clear that we were being driven by experts who were able to validate everything we were creating within Resolve.”

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“I can’t imagine doing what we do any other way.”

Over the past five years, Resolve has certainly evolved within TCDC—from council meetings to workshops, the features have been able to extend to various applications.

 

Jenna explained how some key features have transformed how they now run meetings and have made it easier for all stakeholders.

 

“We not only use Resolve for our formal meetings but also in workshops, hearings and other informal meetings because of its flexibility,” she said. “The speaker timing feature is so simple that it has been helpful for us and our Chair. The built-in minutes feature is also a favourite for team members; we love being able to move around so easily and record motions and votes at the same time.”

 

She also explained how the platform's simplicity allowed the team to be self-sufficient when creating meetings and adding new users.

 

“Over the years, we have navigated our way around the platform and become super-users. It’s so intuitive that we can easily set up and train new users on customised templates, and within no time, they’re using the platform with little to no help. I can’t imagine doing what we do any other way. All that manual labour was crazy - now we have a simple way to run our meetings, and everything is available in one place. From history to comments, everything is linked, and it is a true end-to-end process,” she said. 

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"I can’t imagine doing what we do any other way.

All that manual labour was crazy - now we have a simple

way to run our meetings, and everything is available in

one place."

 

The Profound Impact - For Teams and the Wider Community

From increased efficiencies to automated processes and enhanced transparency, Resolve has had a huge impact on the Thames-Coromandel team and the wider community. 

 

Ariana explained how the easy navigation of Resolve has made life easier for both internal teams and the public.   

 

“The Public Portal has been so beneficial. All it takes is a click of a button to publish agendas, and suddenly, our community has access to everything, “she said. “The functionality is great, and the public can easily search for what they want. They have practical options to view the full agenda, singular reports, and access to minutes.  I feel very proud of the interface on our website”

 

She then elaborated on the wider benefits for internal teams.

 

“You’ll often see elected members using the portal to find reports, and for myself, I can easily use dropdown boxes, categories, and the advanced search function to find what I’m looking for. The process is more efficient, enabling us time to work on value-added projects. We’re just so much more efficient and can meet our deadlines so much faster—it really gives us our time back so we can do other things.”

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"We’re just so much more efficient and can meet our

deadlines so much faster—it really gives us our time

back so we can do other things.”

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TCDC Advice for other councils:

 

Jenna: Anything is possible! Don’t be afraid to play around with Resolve and make it work for your council. For example, we had an idea for an agenda template and thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be great if we could make it look like this? ' And then we did it. You can replicate anything you want and then easily improve on it as you go.   

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