village manager | Te Ara Institute

DCMI provides hands on support and resources to Village Managers with the introduction of our new Industry Links page

Unanimously feedback received from Village Managers across the country has been a desire to have a ONE STOP SHOP to seek support and resources relevant to their roles.

In a revamp of the new DCM Institute website the COVID 19 resource page has been bolstered with the introduction of a new Industry Links page enabling Village professional access to quick links in relation to:

Resident support
Legislation and regulation
Industry resources
Work health and safety
Trusted Industry Partners

Along with the existing COVID -19 page, these resource pages provide a great place to seek information in a quick and timely manner.

As does the Industry News section of the new website. It allows busy village professionals to search for past items of interest that may have appeared as topics in past Village Manager newsletter.

Who doesn’t want to be the best Village Manager and yet when it comes to recruitment, it’s business acumen that’s considered important, mostly to fulfil the ‘operator compliance requirements’?

However, village residents see those skills a little differently, and Resident Association Presidents have shared the characteristics they feel make a great Village Manager – the so-called ‘soft skills.’

Honesty and has a sense of humour
A genuine listener who takes an interest in the community
Consultative and able to understand every resident is different
Transparent and follows up on issues
An influencer for the good of the village

Many of these characteristics are based around good communication strategies, not ones put in place by marketing teams, it’s about you the Village Manager ensuring effective communication is a priority.

A smile costs you nothing. Add in empathy and it will go a long way to building trust and long-term relationships within your village.

I have often had to remind myself of the importance of stepping back from the busy day to day reporting, compliance and paperwork and take time out in my day to reach out and build great relationships.

Many of us will have been attracted to the role of Village Manager for the joy of supporting the community and serve residents, therefore for our own job satisfaction we too must ensure we build time into our diaries to make this happen.

If you are part of the VM program you can download the WHS checklist as part of the month-end materials.

Jodie