City of Whittlesea now uses Jira to fast-track decision making and deliver value faster
See how Quirk helped them get there
Quick Facts
- Industry: Local Government
- Challenge: Disconnect between strategic initiatives and operational execution
- Solution: Integrated planning and execution framework with automated workflows
- Outcome: Transformed from reactive to proactive digital service delivery
Executive Summary
The City of Whittlesea’s Customer and Digital Experience (CX/DX) program faced significant challenges in delivering key FY’24 projects to meet the needs of their growing population. Despite having Atlassian tools, the team operated reactively without effective long-term planning capabilities. Quirk implemented an integrated framework that connected strategic planning to execution, enabling proactive delivery management and enhanced stakeholder reporting.
The Challenge: Bridging Vision and Reality
Initial State
When we began working with the City of Whittlesea, their digital services team faced significant operational challenges that were impacting both delivery effectiveness and team wellbeing. Leadership struggled with limited top-down visibility of digital initiatives, making it difficult to track progress and align priorities with community needs. The team had fallen into a reactive ‘firefighting’ approach to delivery, constantly responding to immediate pressures rather than working strategically.
Stakeholder reporting was particularly problematic, with no consistent way to communicate progress and value to council leadership and the community. Resource capacity planning was ineffective, leading to overallocation and unclear priorities. This situation put the council at risk of losing public trust through misaligned priorities and delayed deliveries. Perhaps most concerning was the impact on staff, with many experiencing burnout from constant crisis management.
Transformation Goals
Recognising these challenges, the City of Whittlesea set ambitious transformation goals. They needed to shift from reactive to proactive planning and delivery while improving visibility of strategic initiatives. Establishing a clear value framework became a priority, along with enhancing stakeholder reporting capabilities. The council aimed to optimise resource allocation to prevent burnout and, crucially, build public trust through more effective delivery of digital services.
Our Approach: Modernising Public Sector Operations
Discovery Phase
Our engagement with the City of Whittlesea began with a comprehensive assessment of their delivery ecosystem. Through detailed analysis, we evaluated their current delivery practices and uncovered key pain points affecting service delivery. We worked closely with stakeholders across the council to map their reporting requirements, ensuring we understood both the operational and strategic information needs of different groups.
A thorough evaluation of resource allocation processes revealed opportunities for improvement, particularly in how work was prioritised and assigned. Throughout this discovery phase, we identified numerous opportunities for automation that could reduce manual overhead and improve consistency. Drawing on input from council leadership, we documented clear requirements for a value framework that would align delivery with community outcomes.
Solution Design
Based on these insights, we designed a solution that would transform their delivery capability. At its core was a scaled Jira workflow that could handle the complexity of council operations while maintaining clarity and efficiency. We created an automated reporting framework that delivered relevant insights to different stakeholder groups without requiring manual intervention. The solution included a comprehensive capacity planning system to prevent overallocation and enable proactive resource management.
To empower teams and reduce dependencies, we established self-service capabilities that allowed stakeholders to access the information they needed when they needed it. Throughout the solution, we integrated strategic alignment measures to ensure all work remained connected to council objectives and community outcomes.
Implementation: Building Government-Grade Solutions
Technology Stack
We established an integrated suite of tools designed to support modern government service delivery. Jira formed the foundation as the core work management platform, while Confluence provided a secure home for all documentation and knowledge sharing. Power BI delivered sophisticated analytics capabilities, enabling data-driven decision making. Miro facilitated collaborative planning sessions, particularly valuable in hybrid working environments. These tools were connected through automated workflow engines that reduced manual intervention and enhanced consistency.
Process Transformation
The technology implementation was supported by comprehensive process changes across the organisation. We rolled out scaled Jira workflows that could handle the complexity of council operations while maintaining visibility and control. Work package releases became automated, reducing administrative overhead and improving reliability.
A key focus was establishing self-service reporting capabilities that empowered stakeholders to access the information they needed without creating additional work for delivery teams. We implemented a regular planning cadence that brought structure to previously ad-hoc processes. Feature tracking was enhanced to provide better visibility of progress and value delivery to the community.
Results: Data-Driven Digital Service Delivery
The transformation delivered substantial improvements across multiple dimensions of the City of Whittlesea’s operations, with clear quantitative and qualitative benefits.
Quantitative Improvements
The quantitative improvements were significant and measurable. The council achieved a $200,000 reduction in annual planning costs through streamlined processes and automated workflows. Time-to-market for new features decreased by 30%, enabling faster response to community needs. Strategic initiatives saw a 20% increase in benefits realisation, while team turnover reduced markedly as working conditions improved.
Operational Improvements
Operational improvements transformed how the council delivered digital services. The shift from reactive to proactive planning was particularly noteworthy, with enhanced initiative visibility enabling better decision-making. Automated progress tracking and improved resource allocation reduced administrative burden, while manual reporting overhead decreased substantially through self-service capabilities.
Strategic Benefits
Strategic benefits reinforced the council’s position as a modern service provider. Better alignment with objectives ensured resources were focused on community priorities. Stakeholder confidence grew through clear value demonstration and improved public trust. The new delivery model proved sustainable, supporting long-term service improvement.
Team Impact
The impact on teams was equally positive. Staff burnout reduced significantly as clear work prioritisation and better capacity management took effect. Enhanced collaboration tools and practices improved cross-team working, while overall job satisfaction increased as teams spent more time on valuable work rather than administrative tasks.
Client Perspective
“We partnered with Quirk to help us uplift our current Jira implementation and provide expert advice on a range of operational and process improvements.
The team provided comprehensive expert advice that was successfully implemented and well documented.“
Paul Clapton, Head of Application Solutions – City of Whittlesea
Looking Forward
The City of Whittlesea now has a robust foundation for:
- Sustainable strategic execution
- Efficient operational processes
- Enhanced public service delivery
- Continuous improvement capability
Start Your Path to Clarity
What our clients say about us.
Our client’s satisfaction is at the heart of everything we do. Here are some words of appreciation from those who have experienced the Quirk difference.
Transforming Industries with Innovative Solutions
We have collaborated with forward-thinking companies, revolutionising their industries through our cutting-edge solutions and transformative approaches.
Ready to modernise your organisation?
Modern work is complex, but managing it doesn’t have to be. We specialise in helping organisations turn operational complexity into streamlined, visible workflows that drive better business outcomes. Whether you’re struggling with resource allocation, project visibility, or system integration, we can help you build a more efficient, scalable way of working.
Let’s have a conversation about your unique challenges and how we can help you solve them.
