How are German project managers using Smartsheet?
"As an experienced project manager, I’ve used multiple tools through my career – and I’m confident that Smartsheet is the platform with the right mix of capabilities, integrations, and possibilities to really change and accelerate both my own work, and the success of my team and wider business.”
Tomasz Kowalski, Senior Project Manager at Delivery Hero
In a pre-COVID-19 world – Smartsheet explored the secrets and stumbling blocks of German digital transformation. We found that delivering work on time was less of a driver of change in Germany, suggesting that managers were handling projects more efficiently than the US and the UK. But today, efficiency alone is not enough.
Over the last couple of years, and in the fallout of the coronavirus pandemic, German project managers have faced challenges with productivity, security, integration of tools and shifts around automation. And crucially, for working during the pandemic, the switch to remote, hybrid and online teams has proved highly disruptive.
Findings in Smartsheet’s most recent research revealed that the shortcomings of paperwork and non-digitised processes are starting to hamper the ability of German businesses to compete. The almost overnight shift to online processes has exposed an over-reliance on manual solutions that while manageable in an office context, just aren't sustainable for remote working.
The pressure on project managers
More than half of German digital transformation is driven by PMO teams so the pressure to keep on track during this time of disruption means that their choice of digital tools is instrumental to their success. This is felt widely across Germany, Austria and Switzerland, with 71% of executives believing digital collaboration tools have moved into an increasingly important role for the future of everyday work.
When Smartsheet first looked into the barriers surrounding German digital transformation we found companies were slightly behind the curve with 11% of projects initiated 3-4 years ago compared to 20% in the US. And in our 2021 research, German businesses shared concern about ‘not having technologies to effectively support remote work’. This was significant for 41% of German companies compared with only 32% in the UK and the US.
The pandemic has certainly raised questions for German project managers about the efficacy of their systems and processes – not just while we live through the crisis, but in the longer-term too. While it’s catapulted businesses out of their comfort zone and control, it’s also offered a golden opportunity to learn from other countries by adopting software that will help position you for stability and security – as well as growth and success.
Efficient and dynamic
We spoke to German project management teams who have adopted Smartsheet to understand their concerns and motivations for doing so. We discovered that the combination of being able to maintain their project efficiency while working more dynamically had become a huge priority.
Dynamic in this context means collaborating seamlessly across and outside the organisation; seeing the status of all work in real-time and having the agility to keep up with today’s fast-changing work environment.
A PMO leader from Germany explained:
“We use Smartsheet to manage all our product launch projects within the company. The project plans help to ensure that all project team members are well-informed about their responsibilities and give the project manager a good overview of the status of each work package.
This, in turn, supports optimal time management and [helps us to] predict potential delays to the launch date.”
One German PMO interviewee reported that Smartsheet had enabled a reduction in admin overheads – and time spent managing and tracking projects thanks to a “single source of truth”. They also benefited from all project team members being able to edit sheets live and on-demand, meaning everyone on the project can contribute and have full visibility.
“Smartsheet allowed us to take that information and automate it, so we get direct feeds now from our internal systems. It’s all consolidated, templates are created, drafts are created, and a project plan. Where it used to take a week, two weeks sometimes, to get all of that information together. Now it happens in an automated fashion within a matter of hours.”
Michael Ghrist, IT Account Manager for Commercial Operations at Roche
Project management solutions like Smartsheet have provided German teams with a means to improve efficiency by providing full visibility of project statuses and available resources, wherever the workforce may be. It has enabled teams to work dynamically by streamlining how they collaborate and manage their workloads. It’s also helped by automating routine admin, helping to save time and reduce errors.
And while all this has been essential during the COVID-19 pandemic, Smartsheet isn’t only a response to disruption. Flexibility, collaboration, accountability and clear communication are all benefits that German project managers can find value in – during this crisis and in the future.
“Smartsheet provides us with an overview of resources and the status of our projects. Priorities can change rapidly and new opportunities arise, so we have to have the maximum transparency over the status of our projects. With Smartsheet everybody knows at any time where the project is, and everybody is on the boat in case something goes wrong.”
Marzio Locatelli, Head of Project Management at Trafag