A team from Tasman District Council has done Aotearoa and Taituarā proud, finishing equal third at the 2026 Australasian Management Challenge Final in Hobart.
Competing as Tactically Tasman, the team represented New Zealand against seven other finalists from across Australia after winning the New Zealand leg of the Management Challenge in Lower Hutt earlier this year.
For the Tasman team, the value of the experience extends well beyond their podium finish. The skills, confidence and connections gained through the challenge are already being taken back into the organisation.
More than a competition
This was Tasman’s first time entering the Management Challenge, with the team brought together just a month before the New Zealand regional challenge.
Made up of people from across the organisation, the team brought together expertise in HR, organisational development, strategic policy, infrastructure planning, IT, communications, land information and leadership.
Because they come from across the council and don’t usually work together as a group, much of their early preparation focused on building trust, understanding each other’s strengths and figuring out how they would operate as a team.
“We spent a lot of time focusing on team building and understanding each other’s areas of comfort,” said team member Amy Smith.
They also ran a mock challenge to practise working together before arriving in Lower Hutt.
Even then, as first-time entrants, they weren’t entirely sure what to expect. Seeing some of the more experienced teams arrive with decorated booths, lights, sparkles and even team cheers and dances was a little intimidating. The Tasman team took a more understated approach.
“We just really focused on what, as a team, we were wanting to bring to the day and we stuck to our plan really well,” Amy said.
Their strategy included something equally important: making sure they enjoyed themselves. Snacks and team banter helped keep them going as challenges came thick and fast.
Their mix of preparation, humour and teamwork proved effective as they worked through complex, fast-paced challenges requiring them to analyse problems, make decisions, communicate effectively and adapt under pressure.
And much to their surprise, they won!
Sarah Rackley, who supported the team for the regionals and joined the team to compete in the finals, was in the UK when the team were told about the announcement at the Taituarā Excellence Awards.
“When Amy messaged me it was about 8.30 in the morning for me, I was so excited for the team… it’s never too early for bubbles!”
After that victory, the team headed to Hobart for the Australasian final, with support from Taituarā to take up the opportunity to represent New Zealand.
Building skills that will stay with the organisation
Following both challenges, the team took time to debrief and reflect on what they had learned.
Across the group, they identified 21 different skills strengthened through the experience, including collaboration, listening, big-picture thinking, facilitating conversations, emotional intelligence, adaptability and communication.
The team also developed greater confidence in stepping outside their comfort zones and working through uncertainty.
“The collaboration and openness of the team just really encouraged everyone to lean into it,” Amy said. “We were all blown away by how we could collaborate and work under pressure.”
One thing that stood out was how people were able to move between roles, support others to lead and keep their humour and respect for each other as the pressure increased.
The team had a simple principle for giving feedback: challenge the idea, not the person. That allowed them to review each other’s work, offer different perspectives and speak openly when something needed to change.
Another benefit was the opportunity to build connections with other local government professionals.
At the New Zealand challenge, the team admitted they were largely focused on getting through the day. By Hobart, they knew what they were in for and were able to relax a little more and get to know teams from across Australia.
Those conversations showed them just how differently councils approach the Management Challenge, from large organisations where it is an established part of leadership development to smaller teams, like Tasman, brought together to give it a go.
Taking the learning back to Tasman
The team is now looking at how to put what they learned into practice within Tasman District Council.
Ideas include mentoring and coaching future participants, running internal challenge-style activities, and bringing the team’s collective skills together to help work through complex organisational issues.
Sue McLean, Group Manager Strategy and Finance and the team’s mentor, said from the outset she had wanted the experience to deliver benefits beyond the competition itself.
“I’ve always had an intention that we reuse the skills that this team get and build it into our DNA on how we run as a team.”
For Sue, one of the things that stood out was the team’s understated approach. While other teams brought plenty of fanfare to the challenge, Tactically Tasman quietly got on with the job, something she said reflected the way they tend to operate back home.
She said the achievement also belonged to the wider organisation.
“I can’t understate just how awesome these guys are, but it’s not just them that won, it was their team behind them that picked up their workload while they were away. They also won.”
For a team that came together just a month before its first Management Challenge, finishing third equal out of 102 teams across Australasia is an impressive result.
But perhaps the best indication of what they took from the experience is that they are already thinking about what comes next, how they can help the next Tasman team, bring their new skills into their everyday work and get this particular combination of people back together when the council has a difficult problem to solve.
Congratulations to Tactically Tasman on an exceptional result.
The finals team: Amy Smith, Michael Goldingham, Sarah Rackley, Kimberley Strawbridge, Sarah Rapsey & Mike Harry
