The Ultimate Guide to Protecting Your Council’s Process Knowledge
In this interactive guide, we explore how teams can protect key council process knowledge – moving it out of heads and into dynamic documentation.

In local government, the stakes have never been higher. With 91% of Australian councils currently experiencing skills shortages, protecting organisational knowledge has become a critical challenge for local government.
Picture this: It’s Monday morning, and Jen from Community Services has just started her well-deserved retirement after 23 years. By Tuesday afternoon, your team realises she was the only person who knew how to run the annual community grants program. The spreadsheets are there, the forms are saved somewhere on the shared drive, but the actual knowledge of how everything fits together? That left with Jen.
If you’re wincing in recognition, you’re not alone. The data tells a stark story: Unplanned staff turnover in councils has almost doubled from 8.3% in 2018 to 15.6% in 2022. For rural councils, that figure climbs even higher to around 20%.
Every year, local governments across Australia and New Zealand watch decades of valuable knowledge walk out the door. Sometimes it’s retirement – and with over 30% of the local government workforce now aged over 55, this challenge is only growing. Sometimes it’s restructuring. Often, it’s the quiet departure of a key team member who’s stored years of critical process knowledge in their head.
The cost? According to the 2022 Local Government Skills Survey, 65% of councils report that project delivery has been impacted or delayed by vacancies, skills shortages, skills gaps or training needs. It’s not just the scramble to piece together how things work – it’s the delayed services, the frustrated residents, and the countless hours spent reinventing wheels that were actually rolling quite nicely before.
But here’s the thing: losing process knowledge isn’t inevitable. The solutions aren’t about creating more complicated manuals or longer handover documents that nobody reads. They’re about fundamentally changing how we capture, share, and protect operational knowledge. Recent studies show that councils using structured digital systems significantly improve their knowledge retention rates.
In this guide, we’ll show you how forward-thinking councils are:
- Turning vulnerable person-dependent processes into resilient system-supported ones
- Creating living documentation that actually gets used
- Using digital tools to capture knowledge naturally as work happens
- Building a culture where knowledge sharing is effortless, not extra work
Whether you’re facing an imminent retirement wave or simply want to protect your council’s operational knowledge, you’ll find practical, proven approaches that go beyond traditional documentation.
Let’s start by understanding exactly what’s at stake…
Knowledge Loss: The Hidden Crisis
When we talk about council challenges, we often focus on the visible ones – budget constraints, regulatory changes, increasing service demands. But there’s a less visible crisis unfolding: the steady erosion of operational knowledge.
The Scope of the Problem
With nearly one-third of public sector employees now over 50, councils face an unprecedented wave of retirements in the coming decade. But it’s not just about retirements.
Today’s workforce is more mobile than ever, and each departure risks taking critical process knowledge with them.
Where Are Councils Vulnerable?
- Complex regulatory processes that have evolved over years
- Community-specific programmes with unique local requirements
- Legacy systems and workarounds that ‘everyone just knows’
- Grant and funding processes with annual cycles
- Historical decision-making processes and precedents
Beyond the Obvious Costs
The impact of knowledge loss goes far deeper than immediate operational hiccups:
Service Disruption
When key process knowledge walks out the door, a process that once took hours might now take weeks as teams piece together how things work.
Compliance Risks
In the regulatory environment councils operate in, undocumented process knowledge isn’t just inconvenient – it’s a risk.
Employee Morale
Nothing frustrates capable team members more than not having the information they need to do their jobs effectively.
Drain on Resources
The hidden cost multiplier? Time spent reinventing processes that were once well-understood.
Warning Signs: Is Your Council at Risk?
- Processes that only one person fully understands
- Documentation that hasn’t been updated since implementation
- Teams that struggle when key members are on leave
- The phrase “That’s just how we’ve always done it”
- Multiple versions of the same process across departments
The Path Forward
The good news? Recent research shows that councils using structured digital systems significantly improve their knowledge retention rates.
The key is moving from person-dependent processes to system-supported ones.
In the next section, we’ll explore how modern approaches to process management are helping councils break free from the knowledge retention trap.
A Modern Approach to Documentation
Gone are the days when process documentation meant dusty binders on office shelves or lengthy Word documents buried in shared drives. The digital transformation wave hitting local government isn’t just about new technology – it’s about fundamentally rethinking how we capture and share knowledge.
Static vs Dynamic Documentation
Traditional documentation is outdated almost as soon as it’s written.
In today’s council environment, processes change frequently – whether due to regulatory updates, system improvements, or efficiency gains.
Even when documentation exists, it’s often:
- Buried in complex file structures
- Spread across multiple locations
- Written in technical language
- Too detailed to be practical
- Too simplified to be useful
- Old approach: Process documents buried in shared drives with cryptic file names like “Planning_Process_v3_FINAL_FINAL_2”
- Modern approach: Mobile-friendly digital portals where staff can quickly search and access processes from any device, whether they’re at their desk or out on a site inspection
The Shift to Living Process Documentation
- Updates automatically as processes evolve
- Remains accessible when and where it’s needed
- Captures real-world usage patterns
- Integrates with daily workflows
What This Looks Like in Practice
Visual Process Mapping
- Clear, intuitive process flows
- Step-by-step guidance
- Visual cues and decision points
- Real-time updates
Knowledge Capture in Motion
- Capture knowledge as work happens
- Learn from actual usage patterns
- Enable continuous improvement
- Facilitate team input
Building a Knowledge-Resilient Organisation
Creating a knowledge-resilient council isn’t just about having the right tools – it’s about building an organisation where knowledge sharing is woven into its cultural fabric. The path to resilience requires careful thought and deliberate action.
The Foundation: Cultural Shift
The most sophisticated process management system won’t help if your culture doesn’t support knowledge sharing. Successful councils understand that knowledge capture needs to be part of everyday work, not an additional task. This means building it into daily workflows, recognising those who actively share knowledge, and ensuring role descriptions reflect these responsibilities.
One of the biggest barriers to knowledge resilience is the outdated “knowledge is power” mindset. Modern councils are actively working to shift this perspective by celebrating knowledge sharers as organisational assets. When teams understand that their value lies in their ability to improve and share processes rather than guard them, real transformation begins.

Creating "Living" Process Documentation
Static documentation is dead documentation. Living documentation evolves with your organisation, reflecting real-world changes and improvements. This requires regular health checks – not just annual reviews that nobody remembers to do, but genuine engagement with the processes and the people who use them.
The key is making these reviews meaningful rather than mechanical. When a major change occurs, teams should naturally turn to their process documentation to update it. This only happens when updating is easy and the value is clear.
Finding the Right Level of Detail
One of the biggest challenges in process documentation is finding the sweet spot between too much and too little detail. The solution lies in layered documentation. Think of it like a map – sometimes you need the continent view, sometimes you need to see the street names, but you don’t need both at once.
Start with simple process flows that anyone can understand at a glance. Then add layers of detail for specific roles and situations. The goal isn’t to document every possible scenario, but to capture the critical decision points and requirements that make the process work.
Measuring Your Progress
Success in knowledge resilience isn’t about the volume of documentation you create – it’s about how effectively your organisation maintains and uses its knowledge. Watch for signs like reduced dependence on specific individuals, faster onboarding times, and more consistent service delivery. When processes run smoothly despite staff changes or absences, you know you’re on the right track.
The true test of knowledge resilience often comes during transitions – whether it’s staff changes, system updates, or organisational restructures. These moments reveal whether your processes are truly documented and understood, or merely running on institutional memory.