A Word from the CEO

Heading into February, I’ve observed the busyness of our members abruptly stepping into the year pulling together resources to support their operations. Indeed, it is a big year. While there is a race for RATs and masks, the businesses also have to maintain their focus on price plans, water plans, and energy plans – just a few of the important tasks they need to complete.

Right now it is difficult to balance the strategic with the tactical. We have rescheduled our annual conference for a third time in the year. Our office with its recently-updated facilities remains essentially dormant. And our engagement with our members needs to raise to a level that doesn’t impose on their staff who are deployed for additional and alternative tasks.

Borrowing from McKinsey Company, delivery of our mission – the most strategic of our goals – requires us to align, execute, and thrive.

To align, we need to focus where we can make the most difference.  VicWater has worked solidly to find the ‘sweet spot’ for alignment. We know it is in the strategic initiatives that are supported by the MDs.  And we continue reviewing our scope to maintain this alignment.

To execute, we need to match our resources to our mission sustainably.  By ‘cutting the cloth’ right, VicWater is getting the Pareto-optimal result for the sector – not perfect, but practical.

And to thrive, we need to build an environment that brings out the best in our people.  VicWater’s team is small and select.  Everyone has a clear purpose and passion for our sector.

The knack for us this year will be to maintain the balance between the strategic and tactical.  We will make the time to reconsider regularly our purpose and the strategic value we are generating for our members according to that purpose.  For 2022, this is mission critical.