Council meetings are the cornerstone of local government’s democratic process, and yet, according to governance leaders, they’re also one of the most inefficient procedures. However, tailored digital solutions offer local government an opportunity to streamline the meeting process, better engage stakeholders and deliver a higher standard of transparency to the community.
Despite their essential role in decision-making, council meetings can be a source of frustration for all involved. A recent survey of 40 council meeting administrators and governance leaders identified several key challenges of meeting procedures:
Overreliance on individuals
More than half of councils rely on a single person to manage the meeting process, with many admitting that key staff can’t take leave at certain times (25 per cent) and staff must work overtime to make the meeting happen (21 per cent). Depending on a single person to manage the process creates a significant risk if that person is unavailable.
Fragmented systems
The meeting process is inherently complex, with multiple stakeholders, workflows and systems to be coordinated. However, slow adoption of cloud-based solutions and inadequate integration of systems further exacerbate inefficiencies, creating hidden risks and stress. 67 per cent of councils reported using four or more systems in the meeting process.
Poor accessibility
The readability of extensive documents emerged as the primary concern for councillors in Redman’s findings, with 71 per cent of respondents reporting navigating large documents was the main frustration with technology during council meetings.
Lack of transparency
Councils report that agendas, minutes and videos provided to the public are often not easily consumable or understandable, which undermines transparency. Moreover, the lack of accessibility to systems and reliance on hard-copy papers hinders transparency.
To overcome these challenges and unlock the untapped potential of council meetings, its crucial for local government to take advantage of modern technologies.
Make meetings easier with Resolve
An end-to-end solution created specifically for council meetings, Resolve is designed to make life easier for councillors and administrators, as well as provide greater transparency to the public.
Through the Resolve councillor portal, council teams can collaborate in one central location, ensuring business continuity with remote access to systems. Meeting administrators and managers benefit from a user-friendly platform to run meetings, with a drag and drop feature for agenda items and access controls.
Resolve makes it simple to disseminate minutes post- meeting, ensuring stakeholders can access key information promptly. The ability to live stream proceedings and integrate video content into agendas enhances transparency for councillors and the community.
Additionally, Resolve can be seamlessly integrated with council websites, allowing the public to easily search for agendas, reports and minutes, fostering greater accountability and trust in the democratic process.
When councils see meetings as an opportunity rather than an administrative headache, they can use democratic processes to drive meaningful change.
This sponsored editorial is brought to you by Redman Solutions. For more information, visit www.redmansolutions.com.au.
Image: Salivanchuk Semen/shutterstock.com
