Local GovernmentFuture
01 · Operating Models

Design how your council really works.

An organisation chart shows who reports to whom. An operating model shows how the work gets done. We design the whole system: services, decisions, structure, capability and technology, so it holds together when reform arrives.

A historic civic building with a clock tower under a partly cloudy sky
What an operating model covers

One connected picture of how the council works

Service delivery model

How services reach your community, and which ones you deliver yourself, share or buy.

Decisions and governance

Who decides what, at which level, so work moves without everything queuing for ELT.

Structure and functions

The shape of the organisation, built around the work rather than around history.

People and capability

The skills the model depends on, and how you find, grow and keep them.

Technology and AI

Where digital tools carry the routine work, so your people can carry the judgement.

Already mid-reform?

We can join at any stage, from first sketch to final sign-off.

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How we design

From the outside in

Step 1
Start with the community

The services you must deliver come first. The model exists to serve them.

Step 2
Draw the blueprint

Services, responsibilities, structure and skills designed together, as one clear picture your leaders can use.

Step 3
Pressure test it

We test the model against real events: amalgamation, a tight budget year or losing a function, before anything changes.

Step 4
Map the road

A step-by-step move from today's model to the new one, with transition planning included from the start.

Green harakeke strips partly woven into a mat on a pale grey mottled surface.
What you get

One picture of how the whole council works, so every decision after it is easier to make.

Start here. Everything else flows from your operating model.

We'll listen first.

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Operating Models | LG Future