Adapting to a COVID-19 workplace

When I reflect on the last few months I keep coming back to how incredibly lucky the Boroondara Statutory Planning Department was to have completed our paperless planning process before the word Coronavirus was a part of our vocabulary. Rather than needing to create band aid fixes, we had the benefit of having completed a process that gave us the time and space to implement, test and improve our entire planning process. This enabled a relatively smooth transition in a very short timeframe.

Benefits of the Paperless Process

Some of the benefits that were key in facilitating our transition were:

- Use of a program which allows us to electronically assess, stamp and sign endorsed plans. This eliminated issues with lodging plans when the counter was closed, and planners did not require any physical files or plans at home.

- Virtual dashboards which allow us to allocate, review and monitor workloads. These real time workload monitoring systems allows transparency and monitoring of trends.

- Use of a file storage program which allows us to replicate a physical file, including subfolders for each stage of the planning process.

- An online planning register which enables community members to review advertised plans online.

The first hurdle

However, having to transition and adapt 1200 staff and their roles Council wide, and 40 staff within the Statutory Planning Department from the office to home was not without its challenges.

The biggest physical challenge was needing to source laptop computers and docks for two thirds of our planning staff, set them up with SIMs and VPNs to allow access to our network from home and deliver two monitors and an office chair to every staff members home.

This was a huge personal and professional challenge. I needed to manage staff concerns and anxiety, whilst also assessing the known risk at that time and ensuring that we provided a planned and co-ordinated approach. We couldn’t simply shut down the planning counter on day one. Here were very different approaches in different Councils, which created more uncertainty both for community and our staff.

What services have needed to adapt?

On Monday 16 March 2020 the Victorian Government declared a state of emergency and Boroondara Council formally activated its Crisis Management Plan and Municipality Pandemic Response Plan to protect our community and staff. Two days later all public counters, recreation centres and libraries were closed and no public access was permitted to Council buildings.

Marjorie Kennedy

In order to adapt to this change we (amongst many other things):

- Transitioned all meetings to webex a virtual meeting program;

- Set up all the laptops to be able to receive calls from our work phones and a remote hunt group for calls to our general number;

- Changed the planning pre-application and heritage advice service to be by phone only;

- No longer made advertised plans available for physical viewing at Council Offices. Plans were made available online and copies can be mailed out on request. To help facilitate this advertising was extended to 28 days;

- Have proactively approached VCAT applicants and objectors to facilitate consent orders where possible and request the matter to be dealt with on the papers; and Participated in ‘immediation’ compulsory conferences and hearings at VCAT.

It has been fantastic how these measures have been embraced.

Council meetings

Boroondara Council makes on average over 1200 planning permit decisions per year, with only a small handful of those decisions being required to be presented to an Urban Planning Special Committee Meeting of the Council.

In April, Council meetings continued to be run in the Council Chamber. Social distancing measures were put in place for Councillors and a live stream for the public, with speakers provided a timeslot to present. By May, thanks to the State Government Omnibus measures, we were able to transition to a virtual Council meeting, live streamed on the Boroondara website.

Whats next?

Whilst this has been an incredibly challenging time both professionally and personally, I believe there is a real sense of optimism. We have been forced to change, to adapt how we lead and communicate, had our perspectives on workplace flexibility challenged and been forced to try new technologies. I have been amazed at how resilient our staff are and how creative and adaptive they are when confronted with challenges.

These lessons will have lasting impacts on the way our industry operates and I look forward to seeing the continuation of these adaptive and creative solutions we have created together.

Marjorie Kennedy is Statutory Planning Co-Ordinator at Boroondara Council with experience in both Local Government and private consultancy.

Email: Marjorie.Kennedy@boroondara.vic.gov.au