The challenge
The Canterbury Civil Defence Emergency Management Group (CDEM) had recently grown its staff, was facing a pending restructure and was integrating new team members. While the team was high‑performing, there was growing frustration around work prioritisation and collaboration, and a tendency to solve problems in isolation rather than leveraging collective strengths. Leadership also recognised a gap: the team lacked a clearly articulated, shared purpose, vision and values to guide day‑to‑day decisions and operational practice. The agreed approach was to first build strong, aligned foundations – purpose, vision, values and a shared timeline – to support more productive progress on operational issues.
How we helped
We designed and facilitated a two‑day strategy DUCTRI design thinking workshop focused on alignment and practical next steps. The objectives were to develop a shared team vision, define and align team values, and begin to establish principles and practical ways of working together.
On Day 1, we concentrated on foundations and alignment. The group worked together to develop draft team purpose and vision statements that answered “Why do we exist?” and “Where do we want to be?” We then explored the current state – what was working well, what challenges the team faced, and where opportunities lay – to build a shared view of “Where are we now?” Finally, we began developing a timeline of CDEM’s formation and journey, surfacing key experiences and people that have shaped the team and its culture.
Day 2 focused on values and operational collaboration. We recapped Day 1, then moved into developing team values and describing behaviours that would be “above the line” and “below the line” for those values. To make space for deeper values work, the planned session on operational principles (teamwork, prioritisation) was deferred. Throughout, the workshop design emphasised participation, robust professional discussion and shared ownership of outputs.
The workshop produced several tangible outputs: a small set of purpose statements, with “To build community resilience to natural disasters, to help people grow and thrive through adversity, to improve and save lives” selected as the preferred purpose; a comprehensive analysis of current challenges, bright spots and aspirations; a small set of vision statements, with “We are an experienced and knowledgeable team who are recognised as leaders in emergency management by delivering excellent resilience outcomes for our community” selected as the preferred vision; and a set of values statements and behaviours, along with a prioritised list of who would refine each output and by when.
The impact
The workshop helped CDEM establish a clearer, shared foundation for how the team sees its role and future – why it exists, what it aspires to be and what it values in how it works. The process surfaced and organised key challenges (such as national and strategic direction, prioritisation and workload, and working together), bright spots (team culture, intrinsic motivation and capability) and aspirations (a high‑performing, strategically aligned, well‑structured and well‑resourced team, recognised as a centre of excellence). This gave leadership and the wider team a structured way to talk about where they are now and where they want to go, and provided a clear path to turn workshop outputs into everyday practice.
“Vaughan facilitated a strategy workshop that brought our growing team together around a clear purpose, vision and values. The process was engaging, practical and gave us a strong foundation for how we work together.” – James Thompson, Regional Manager / Group Controller, Canterbury Civil Defence Emergency Management