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Tailored Executive Development Program for Flinders Island

The Local Government Association of Tasmania took its Executive Development Program off shore recently, with tailor made workshops for elected representatives and staff at Flinders Island.

General Manager Lee Connors said because Flinders Island is a small community and reliant on air transport, sending nine people to a course on the Tasmanian mainland is very expensive. "We make a real effort to get to conferences but we have a problem in getting bulk exposure to new developments," he said.

"It is often difficult to pick up the latest trends in small, isolated communities. Bringing the program to the island gave our elected members in particular, much wider exposure to modern concepts, such as strategic management. He said Flinders Island was able to choose those aspects of the overall program they felt would be most useful for their particular needs.

Presenters included management consultants, Bob Owens and Neil Shephard, and Allyson Warrington from the Local Government Association of Tasmania.

The three day program, made possible through a subsidy from the National Office of Local Government, began with the first time visitors to the Island getting to know Council personnel and finding out about the unique features of running an island Council.

This was followed by sessions on Strategic Planning and Strategic Thinking; Effective Facilitation; and Principles of Planning and Resource Management.

Day two covered Quality Systems; Lobbying and Policy Making; and Communication and Media Management, while Day three included Risk Management; Decision Making and Performance Measurement.

The program concluded with a review and assessment session. "Feedback from participants indicated that they found it very valuable and rewarding," Lee Connors said.

For further information contact Allyson Warrington, telephone (03) 6231 0666

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