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- Headquarters Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Number of employees 150 +
Challenges and Objectives
HKZ Group like many other organizations, especially project-based, were working in an office environment that thrived on instant communication face to face with the ability to arrange meetings on a whim.
With the pandemic and the sudden introduction of lockdown, many businesses faced challenging times. The ones who had not yet transitioned into more digital ways of working were in a tough situation. HKZ Group was no different. Although they still had the use of IT equipment and standard applications they were still faced with complicated data on spreadsheets, which were being used to create and assign project tasks, and the need to sift through chains of emails to understand the core message.
With businesses and primarily the private sector shut down the only organizations still open and working was within the public sector. This sector was more important than ever due to the reliance of the public on not only the continuation of public services but also for communication on the latest updates regarding the pandemic.
This was all time-consuming and increased the difficulty of good communication due to employees being more isolated than in the familiar team environment.
The 3 main challenges HKZ Group faced were:
Too Many Meetings – As well as ad hoc face-to-face discussions a number of meetings were conducted every Monday which took around 5 hours. These meetings were mostly on a one-to-one basis and were used to talk about all the projects.
Too Many Emails – There were far too many emails flying around that contained spreadsheets with project tasks, due dates, and with people accessing older versions. Lack of clarity was a big hindrance to successful communication.
Privacy and Security – Whilst communication between people was kept within premises and to the extent files distributed were kept secure, with the type of clients and document sensitivity it became crucial for HKZ Group to keep all data within its national borders.
How the Solution Helped
When HKZ Group reached out to us they told us that they were looking for a way to continue operating during lockdown whilst minimizing the use of multiple apps when working on projects.
Slenke, as the customer put it, met all the requirements.
The key factor in deciding on Slenke was that the application was easy to use, maximizing the use of all the features and the crucial element of all data being held within Canadian borders.
How Slenke was the right Solution
HKZ Group was looking for one platform that met all their challenges. Slenke provided the 3 core components of Teams and Project collaboration and well as the ability to share company-wide communications all in one easy-to-use interface. The navigation was highly intuitive and a big plus was that with most people they could hit the ground running. No training is needed.
It was that easy to use.
The issue of ‘Too Many Meetings’ was addressed through the direct message function built within Slenke. Having discussions on a one-to-one basis kept increasing the number of meetings and close to 1/5 of the working week was spent on project discussions alone. Slenke reduced the need significantly through Direct Messaging.
Slenke’s array of features included all the key tools needed for successful Project Completion. These included the Project Timeline, Kanban Boards, Task prioritization, Templates, Budgeting, and Reports and Analysis.
Privacy and security was and is a hot topic especially around the topic of personal and sensitive data being held outside of host countries. HKZ Group’s principal deciding factor was the need to hold sensitive data within Canada which is what Slenke provided along with the added satisfaction of all data having end-to-end encryption and encrypted file sharing.
Results
Overall HKZ Group’s feedback for the product was great. Along with the security element, the product allowed them to pick up and get going as soon as the lockdown started. It also provided them with the right features knowing that they wouldn’t be paying for features they wouldn’t use.
Feedback included the following:
With Slenke everybody can see what everyone is doing; it made it an easier, more accessible, and less time-consuming way to do what would take hours to do before.
The increasing take-up of remote and hybrid working collaboration software is becoming that important solution helping meet demand.