Council wins Management Challenge for second consecutive year

Northern Beaches Council has won the NSW division of the 2020 Australasian Management Challenge for the second year in a row. Council will now represent NSW in the Australian finals in October.

In this Q and A, Jules Bellamy, the very excited leader of Council’s winning team (the Foamy Triple Shots), explains what the competition was all about and what the experience and win means for her team and Council.

Briefly describe what the Challenge involved?

The Challenge is run by the Local Government Professionals Australia organisation and has been going for the past 25 years. In NSW this year, 22 teams competed from 18 councils, a total of 132 participants plus their mentors. The idea is to gain important skills in working together across Council, to grow personally and professionally, to solve problems and learn new practical insights into leadership and management.

What form did the competition take?

On the day of the competition, all teams were thrown 10 challenges in the form of tasks to be completed with identified deadlines during the day. The tasks were assigned randomly, and the idea was to co-ordinate, network and problem solve to best complete all the tasks concurrently. It was challenging, fun and I think by the end of the day we were all in bed by 8.30PM.

Why do you think your team won?

I think we were quite a competitive team and in that respect we were pretty lucky. We all had a variety of different skills and ways of thinking from different areas of Council, that really complemented each other. We worked well together and had trust and confidence in each other’s abilities. I think that is very important. We also had great mentors who really made a difference.

What did you gain personally from the competition?

It was a great experience and I totally recommend it. You gain really useful skills working as a team under pressure in more or less real-life situations; having to deal with the sort of issues and challenges any Council is likely to face daily. You get to work with five other people from across Council who you have never met before to build a really tight, effective team.

What does the win say about Northern Beaches Council?

I think it says that Council has some very committed, capable people. I think it also reflects very positively on Council’s management who supported us all along the way by allowing us to take time out from our normal duties to participate in an exercise that gave us an opportunity to develop ourselves both personally and professionally.

Are you excited about representing NSW in the Australasian final?

Yes, very much so. It won’t be quite the same as last year, as we all won’t be able to compete together, as everyone did in Darwin. However, I am sure it will be pretty cool and I am looking forward to it.