With our corporate and business plans approved, and a new governance structure agreed for our Council of the Future change programme, it was time to kickstart the first round of workstream boards.

Aligned to our new priorities (Communities, Enterprise and Innovation), the boards have been designed to make it easier for project managers to work closer together, providing space to learn and support each other.

Taking place at the end of November, the boards aim to speed up transformation and ensure projects deliver on our business plan promises.

Overview of board meetings

Communities

The board kicked off with Chair, Ian Dryden, highlighting how each project in the workstream played a key role in “improving lives, raising aspirations and helping communities rebuild”. To do that, projects needed clear and achievable milestones that “challenged” project managers and ensured a consistent approach to project reporting.

Key messages from the board

Enterprise

There was a reminder of the Council’s financial situation, with Annemarie Neilson, Chair, stressing that all project managers had to think more creatively about how their projects find and access funding. She told the board, consideration had to be given to the activities that may need to stop to ensure delivery of priority projects.

Key messages from the board

Innovation

Stuart Lennie, Chair, invited project managers to provide a two-minute summary of their project, which drove home just how interconnected all Council of the Future projects are – when one moves forward or stalls, it impacts the progress of others. He also made clear there was a need to identify those linkages across all three workstream boards.

Key messages from the board