Admin. Distr. Leipzig: Process automation in school administration

About the Department of School Administration/Culture in the Administrative District Office of Leipzig

The Department of School Administration/Culture is based at the real estate and culture office of the administrative district office of the city of Leipzig in Saxony, Germany. Marco Wüste is the IT coordinator of the department and organizes and manages all IT matters for the ten schools run by the district: three vocational school centers at six different locations and seven special schools - each with different requirements.

The initial situation

When Marco Wüste took up his position as IT coordinator in the Department of School Administration/Culture eight years ago, neither digital tools nor proper IT support existed for the ten schools. Today, he has a dedicated team at his side, but the range of tasks remains extensive: from planning and procurement, inventorying IT components and end devices to managing external service providers and coordinating with the schools themselves. As the number of IT systems increases, so do the challenges.

Before Stackfield, the team had tried to manage the whole thing via Outlook, but plain email communication was simply not suitable for task management on this scale, says Marco Wüste. “We quickly realized that we needed a tool that would allow us to manage the daily workload. Thousands of pieces of paper in front of the keyboard that end up disappearing were not an option for me.”

Why Stackfield?

The IT team was certain that a digital solution should be cloud-based, as not everyone is always in the office but occasionally works from home or at school. Another key aspect was data protection. “Data security and data protection are top priorities, especially in public administration in a school context,” emphasizes Marco Wüste.

During the course of their research, Marco Wüste and his colleagues quickly came across Stackfield and were impressed after a 14-day test phase. Stackfield was not only outstanding in terms of data protection, but also offered a high degree of flexibility. In Stackfield's workspaces, known as rooms, tasks can be mapped in lists and boards as well as in Gantt charts. Various modules can also be added and prioritized, and content can be grouped and filtered in detail. Marco Wüste praises: “ I've never seen anything like this before.” Moreover, the intuitive user interface of the tool scored points with the team.

First steps with Stackfield

In the first few days with Stackfield, Marco Wüste and the team mainly proceeded according to the “trial and error” principle. The various features were tested and the platform was explored step by step. The team then focused on the rooms and built a structure that was as precise as possible in order to minimize later adjustments.

First of all, room groups were set up for various thematic groups so that the rooms could later be grouped accordingly in the sidebar, for example the “IT management” room group for system support, inventory and invoice processing. Then, the individual rooms were created and filled with specific content.

Managing requirements with Stackfield's task templates and reports

To provide first-level support, three colleagues are stationed in the schools and intercept the first wave of IT problems before they are forwarded to the responsible service providers. In addition to malfunctions and errors, requests are submitted as well - for example, when new devices are needed. These requests can be made on site at the school, by email or by telephone directly to Marco Wüste and other people in the office. Before Stackfield, tasks were therefore often noted down in different places and were occasionally forgotten.

Furthermore, the procurement of new devices involves a number of additional tasks. If a school needs ten new laptops, they not only have to be planned, put out to tender, ordered and delivered, but also inventoried, the invoice checked and filed and the end devices prepared for use. This pool of tasks from different schools had to be stored in a structured way in a central location and “that was clearly a job for Stackfield,” says Marco Wüste.

First, a separate room group was created for the procurement. Each of the ten schools was then given its own room in which all requests are recorded as tasks. Regardless of whether a request is received verbally or by email, it is immediately documented in the relevant room so that no information is lost.

As the individual steps involved in purchasing new devices are often similar, the IT team relies heavily on task templates. In a template, all the necessary steps are already predefined as subtasks. This allows new tasks to be created directly in a structured form.

In the rooms, the team can track the current processing status at any time. With just one click, Marco Wüste knows what has been delivered, where the invoice has been filed and what has been inventoried, because every step is documented in detail in the task and checked off at the end. “This simply saves us a lot of searching,” he praises.

For a quick overview of open requests from the various schools, Marco Wüste makes use of the reports function in Stackfield. Here he can call up a cross-room list of all tasks from the different rooms with the status “To do”. He can then go through and process the list step by step like a to-do list.

Collaborate from anywhere: chats, rooms and mobile app

Today, collaboration with colleagues at schools and in the home office is much more efficient thanks to Stackfield. Information can be exchanged quickly via private and group chats and in the rooms, tasks can be tracked and processes can be coordinated. “Thanks to Stackfield, we are definitely better organized when it comes to task planning,” praises Marco Wüste. He particularly appreciates the mobile app, which allows him to stay productive even away from his desk. In meetings, he can conveniently create tasks directly in the app without having to rely on pen and paper.

Semi-automated invoice processing with Stackfield's email integration

Before Stackfield was introduced in the Department of School Administration/Culture, invoices were sometimes sent to Marco Wüste, sometimes to other colleagues and sometimes in paper form. “At some point, you miss out on emails and information gets lost,” he explains.

To solve this problem, the team chose to rely on Stackfield's email integration. Marco Wüste set up the email integration in the room, including a generated target email address. He then informed the service providers and suppliers to send all future invoices to this email address. All incoming invoices are thus automatically recorded as tasks in the room set up specifically for invoice processing. “This creates a clear pipeline,” he explains.

In the room, the team now has a transparent overview of all invoices. Newly received invoices are checked once a week. Based on the task status, it is immediately visible which ones have already been completed and which ones still need to be processed. In addition, all documents are attached directly to the task so that all relevant information remains bundled together.

Marco Wüste also praises the new comments feature for PDFs. This allows him to edit and comment on invoices without having to download the document and leave the platform.

“My Week” as a favorite

Marco Wüste is particularly impressed by the “My Week” dashboard, which provides him with a daily overview of upcoming tasks and missed activities. “The My Week overview is really great. I've never seen anything like it before and I really appreciate it.” He emphasizes: “Stackfield has become indispensable for us.”