The document discusses the implementation of the MinutePad paperless meeting management solution by the Newry, Mourne and Down District Council (NMDDC) as it transitioned from previous councils into a new, larger council. Key points: - NMDDC rolled out MinutePad in August 2014 to manage council meetings paperlessly across staff and councilors from merging councils. - MinutePad allows agendas and documents to be easily updated and distributed digitally in real-time compared to previous paper systems. - Both councilors and staff reported improvements in workflow efficiency from the paperless system in meeting preparation, participation, and records. - The council has realized cost savings by eliminating over

1. NEWRY MOURNE AND
DOWN DISTRICT COUNCIL
A NEW BEGINNING
Team Solutionz Ltd, Unit B3 Kilbegs Business Park, Fergusons Way, Antrim BT41 4LZ Tel: 028 9448 7753 www.minutepad.com

2. A NEW BEGINNING
Team Solutionz Ltd, Unit B3 Kilbegs Business Park, Fergusons Way, Antrim BT41 4LZ Tel: 028 9448 7753 www.minutepad.com
By April 2015 there will be 11 new Councils in Northern Ireland. The vision to have “a
thriving, dynamic local government that creates vibrant, healthy, prosperous, safe and
sustainable communities that have the needs of their citizens at their core”* underpins this
programme of reform.
The consolidation of the previous 26 Councils into 11 brings with it economies of scale, new
responsibilities and a broader range of powers. The creation of strong, modern governance
arrangements will provide greater transparency in the decision-making process of Councils,
and at the very heart of this process will lie a Council’s system of executive, committee and
sub-committee meetings.
One of the new Councils, Newry, Mourne and Down District (NMDDC) has chosen
MinutePad, by Team Solutionz, to manage all their Council meetings. This paperless meeting
management solution has been successfully adopted by many “legacy” Councils. NMDDC,
responsible for a revenue budget of over £50M, employing around 750 staff and with
41 local Councillors, would be facing many challenges as it evolved into its role, so it was
important that the transition to MinutePad was speedy, simple and stress-free.

3. Team Solutionz Ltd, Unit B3 Kilbegs Business Park, Fergusons Way, Antrim BT41 4LZ Tel: 028 9448 7753 www.minutepad.com
OLD AND NEW CHALLENGES
The challenges facing a successful MinutePad implementation would be old and new, logistical
and cultural.
Larger Councils naturally means increased numbers of Councillors attending
meetings and presents considerable logistical and meeting management issues.
The need for effective and efficient meeting management techniques becomes
extremely important, and the necessity to adopt “best practice”, from across
a range of previous disparate techniques, would be crucial to providing a solid
framework for Council decision making.
Previously, agendas were compiled from a number of different functional units
in the Council, each responsible for just a particular section of the agenda
process. This old system, where responsibilities for creation, collation, printing
and distribution were shared and “handed over” between departments, created
potential issues further along the chain, as deadlines drew closer and supporting
documents were still being finalised. Sometimes the functional unit responsible
for the timely distribution of Council meeting packs to Councillors, the final link
in the process chain, could be hindered in completing its tasks because of an issue
outside of its control and domain of responsibility.
“Agendas could be piecemeal with extra items being added under an existing item.”
The ability to manage differing meeting management processes into one
homogenous solution would require any new system to be flexible, particularly as
some of the “merging” Councils were using paper based systems while some had
already gone “paperless”.
“It was difficult to run two systems, one for Councillors who received documents
electronically and one for those that wanted a hard copy posted out.”
Any solution would need to ensure its successful and speedy adoption by users
unfamiliar with it. This adoption would apply to both organisers of Council
meetings, and to Councillors and Council officers who would be participating in
the meetings.
Any software based solution would need to meet targeted long-term cost savings
identified from a reduction in paper, printing and distribution charges.
A new solution would need to deliver identified benefits from streamlined
and improved working processes for meeting organisers, as well as improving
meeting experiences for Councillors.
“It was stressful - working to very tight deadlines.”
Any software solution would be expected to utilise and enhance any previous
Council investment in technology hardware such as mobile tablet devices.
In summary, the challenge faced by any meeting management solution would mirror those of
the new Council organisation. Do things better, not just differently.

4. “If you receive extra agenda items, simply add them
to the agenda and send out the notification to all your
members (Councillors).”
Team Solutionz Ltd, Unit B3 Kilbegs Business Park, Fergusons Way, Antrim BT41 4LZ Tel: 028 9448 7753 www.minutepad.com
MinutePad’s hosted “paperless” solution was rolled out across the new “shadow” Council staff
and Councillors in August 2014. As a cloud based application, the deployment of MinutePad
itself was swift and straight-forward, taking only half a day. Training was provided to Council
staff responsible for meeting administration, so that they would be familiar with the system
before Councillors were subsequently introduced to it. By 19th August 2014 NMDDC were
using MinutePad for Council meetings.
Initial training included administrative tasks like setting up templates for meeting invitations,
incorporating the new Council branding, adding members to specific committees or
subcommittees and designing layouts for agendas.
As MinutePad is a “live” system it allowed administrators to confidently treat meeting agendas
as “living” documents that could be altered, distributed, re-altered and re-distributed with
ease and speed. The restrictions, previously faced with a paper based system, of trying to
accumulate amendments prior to fraught, last minute releases to participants using postal or
courier services, were removed. This change in the manner of working, for both organisers
and participants, should not be under-estimated as it often leads to decreased stress levels,
increased feelings of “control” and ultimately “job satisfaction.”
Once a Council meeting has been arranged and invitations sent out, organisers can begin to
circulate electronic meeting packs. Councillors can start working on them immediately and add
their own personal annotations. Any subsequent revisions or updates forwarded by organisers
will retain those previously made annotations. This approach balances out the workload over
time as opposed to last minute “cramming” sessions for Councillors.
The MinutePad system allows Councillors to effortlessly follow the progression, at times not
sequential, through the meeting agenda. Utilising MinutePad’s electronic Meeting Reader
allows a Councillor’s input to discussions to be submitted in a timely and efficient manner.
The Meeting Reader ensures swift and easy access to previously made annotations and to
pertinent, supporting documents.
THE SOLUTION
“MinutePad is a “live” system and therefore you can
easily make changes to agenda, both before and after
sending it.”

5. Team Solutionz Ltd, Unit B3 Kilbegs Business Park, Fergusons Way, Antrim BT41 4LZ Tel: 028 9448 7753 www.minutepad.com
With the entire meeting management process (creation, collation, printing and distribution)
now within the responsibility of a single function area, improved ownership of the process is
achieved. Now, as the deadline for a meeting approaches, visibility of missing items is greater
and proactive remedial action can be carried out quickly.
Both Councillors and Council officers have commented on the improvements that MinutePad
has brought. This is especially encouraging as MinutePad was designed to be easy to use.
This praise for the new system from participants extends across meeting preparation, actual
meeting participation and to post meeting situations.
The adoption of the paperless MinutePad solution across all members of the two merging
Councils has been successfully achieved and organisational staff, Councillors and Council
officers have reported an improvement in workflow and efficiency.
Paper copy agendas are no longer being despatched to Councillors, so cost savings from
reductions in expenditure on paper, printing, binding and postage are being realised. Within 10
weeks of MinutePad being introduced it was calculated that the new Council has saved over
72,000 sheets of A4 paper, a potential yearly saving of 361,000 A4 sheets (the equivalent of
some 43 trees).
It is clear that Newry, Mourne and Down District Council with the assistance of MinutePad,
have taken some positive early steps in doing things better, not just differently.
“Our Councillors and Officers have commented on
how good it is. They find the system very useful. It is
simple and easy to use, even in meetings.”
“It is fast and efficient, saves on postage and best of all
it is “live’’, meaning reports can be added when they
are ready and extra items easily slotted in.”
“We were sending out in excess of 10 hard copies of
agendas to Councillors for 4 different Committees.
Some agendas were in excess of 100 pages. Now, no
hard copies are sent out.”
THE OUTCOME

6. WHAT OUR CLIENTS SAY...
Team Solutionz Ltd, Unit B3 Kilbegs Business Park, Fergusons Way, Antrim BT41 4LZ Tel: 028 9448 7753 www.minutepad.com
“The MinutePad paperless meeting management solution is
proving to be a very effective tool for us in administering our
wide range of meetings. It also adds benefit to the Councillors
receiving the information as accessibility is enhanced through
this approach. The implementation of this solution has enabled
greater efficiency in dealing with logistical issues surrounding the
governance of meetings and I welcome the introduction of the
MinutePad system in the Council.”
Liam Hannaway, Chief Executive Designate, Newry
Mourne and Down District Council
*Local Government Reform, “Back to basics...what are the benefits?”, DOE Feb 2013.