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The Secret to Better Process Ownership in Council Teams 

by Jul 23, 2025Workflows

If you’re working in local government, there’s a good chance you’ve heard it before: 

“Only Carol knows how that works.” 

Maybe it’s Rates. Maybe it’s building consents. Maybe it’s the customer onboarding process for new dog registrations. Either way, it’s stuck in someone’s head – and everyone’s relying on them to remember. 

The real problem? Ownership. 

We’ve worked with dozens of councils across New Zealand and Australia. And one theme shows up again and again: there’s a process, but it’s invisible. 

Sometimes it’s documented in a 42-page PDF buried in SharePoint. Sometimes it’s been passed down verbally between staff for years. 

And when that happens, it’s fragile. 

When people leave, processes walk out the door with them. 
When systems change, workflows grind to a halt. 
When audits happen, teams scramble to explain how things “should” work. 

Mapping ≠ documentation. It’s delegation. 

Here’s the difference: 

  • Documentation tells you what someone did once. 
  • Mapping shows you how something works now – and who’s responsible for what. 

When a customer service team maps out their complaint-handling workflow, they’re not just drawing boxes.

They’re capturing the “how” behind the handoffs. They’re identifying gaps. They’re flagging pain points.

And most importantly – they’re giving their colleagues a shared, reliable reference. 

Ownership makes onboarding easier 

Process ownership isn’t just about risk reduction – it’s a huge win for onboarding too. 

Instead of asking a new starter to shadow Dave from Finance for two weeks, you can walk them through the mapped journey, complete with key responsibilities, supporting documentation, and embedded knowledge (👀 more on that coming soon). 

And when that’s paired with automation? Even better. But mapping is the first – and arguably most important step for teams struggling with process. As we love to say – automating a crap process won’t make it good, it’ll just emphasise how crap it is. 

What great ownership looks like in practice 

Clear Roles

Each step shows who’s responsible, not just what happens. 

Visibility

Maps are accessible, searchable, and version-controlled. 

Knowledge

Supporting notes, links and SOPs (coming soon!) are embedded.

Collaboration

Teams can update and iterate in real time – no more static Word docs. 

From fragile to futureproof 

Your goal isn’t to write the perfect SOP. It’s to make it easy for someone else to step in and succeed. 

The best time to document was yesterday. The second-best time is when your team can do it together – visually, collaboratively, and easily. 

That’s what Flowingly is built for. 

💡 Want a practical guide to protecting your council’s process knowledge?
 👉 Read the Ultimate Guide to Protecting Process Knowledge →