A whakapapa of connected frameworks and tools, Tōmua supports organisations to put people at the front and centre of their service design and delivery. Grounded in global best practice and te ao Māori principles, Tōmua methodologies expand on traditional approaches to address challenges and opportunities with whanaungatanga.

Organisations can adopt the full Tōmua toolkit or combine any of the six methodologies to deliver more inclusive and sustainable business practices that benefit both the organisation and the wider community.

Tōmua principles

Tōmua is built on five principles that give the approach a distinct edge over their Western counterparts, allowing organisations to deliver solutions tailored to their specific cultural and contextual needs:

Waiora To support overall health and wellbeing of people and the environment

Ahurea To uplift and respect Te Ao Māori, mātauranga Māori, Māori ways of doing and knowing

Manaakitanga To put people and whānau first

Manawaroa To develop enduring solutions that recognise our context

Te Tiriti o Waitangi To recognise the potential of Te Tiriti o Waitangi

Outcome realisation

Outcomes realisation is valuable to organisations to gauge their effectiveness, identify areas for improvement, and make informed decisions to realise desired outcomes. Hinerauora prioritises and encompasses stakeholder voices throughout this process, acknowledging the principle that outcomes have a whakapapa, and recognising data as a taonga.

Operating model design

The personification of ‘unlimited potential’, Tuarea expands on traditional operating model design approaches to challenge our thinking and invites us to consider how operating decisions affect people, communities, and the environment. An effective operating model, Tuarea supports organisations to turn strategy into reality.

People and change management

At the heart of any change are the people it impacts. Te Huringa methodology looks across whakapapa (background) to understand the full picture of change, guiding organisations to navigate and implement long-lasting and successful change with manaakitanga and kindness.

Service design

Hinepikorua personifies the Māori ‘pikorua’ design that represents infinity. Encouraging organisations to constantly evolve, Hinepikorua considers customers’ backgrounds, experiences, and contexts to understand who they are in order to define their needs from a service. Hinepikorua tools are tailored for specific groups.

Risk management

Nukutai adopts a Māori approach to aligned, integrated, and informed risk management decision-making to broaden how organisations think about, manage, and respond to risks and opportunities.

Recognising that people are the greatest influencers and determinants of success, Nukutai focuses on realising agreed objectives to inform how success is defined.

Programme management

Driving a programme or project to achieve its desired outcomes requires good programme management. Reretahi enhances the standard project management approach by weaving together best-practice with Māori values and principles, to bring a people-centred and values-based approach to achieving programme outcomes.

A critical component of our Tōmua journey has been to seek the advice and guidance of others. Our external advisory panel, Te Ranga Roa, brought together expertise across mātauranga Māori, indigenous methodology development, research, public sector transformation, and grassroots community impact. The panel has supported us in developing associated tikanga to ensure the integrity of our tools and the cultural competence required to deliver them.