Felix Schoeller: a global family business
Although vast in size, firms that produce goods can be slow to embrace new technologies. Even large producers use outdated systems that can put them on the back foot in a tough market. Others use modern solutions to make their business tick – companies like Felix Schoeller.
The global paper manufacturer has an eye on the future. Established in 1895, Felix Schoeller now uses up-to-the-minute digital processes to improve commercial results.
In 2021 alone:
Production hit 545,000 tons.
Products were bought by around 1,800 customers in more than 65 countries.
Sales rose to over 1 billion euros for the first time.
The scale of the business means that teams must be efficient. Speed, agility and transparency are not just words – they’re the keys to success. But this holy trinity of efficiency wasn’t always de rigueur in the organization. Before Felix Schoeller could reach its full potential, it had to embrace digitalization – and completely revamp its meeting culture.
The challenge: streamline meeting admin and improve efficiency
The average worker spends over an hour preparing for each meeting. In a team of 8 people, that’s a whole day lost before the first agenda point. The management team at Felix Schoeller recognized this scenario playing out on their own turf. An internal review revealed that too much time was being lost to administrative work: Outdated processes and rigid static documents were creating inflexible workflows, resulting in inefficiencies that zapped productivity. Additionally, unclear agendas, limited preparation time and ineffective tools were further hampering progress.
Traditionally, the team used Microsoft Word to create meeting agendas. The “official” agenda was owned by just one person, so items had to be requested from participants in advance. This added an extra step to an already long process that made it difficult to implement any changes.
The “owner” of the topic needed to reach out to the “owner” of the agenda to make adjustments, so that the new version could be shared with the team. The more changes that were needed, the more time it took.
Using Microsoft Excel to note action points created more problems, especially with the mundane copying and pasting of items by hand. After meetings, there was no way to track progress or communicate effectively in the tool, which meant that the overview was quickly lost – and following up manually was yet another drain on their time.
It was clear that the company needed a solution to make collaboration smoother. In September 2021, they found one. The Felix Schoeller Group initiated a pilot project with “MindMeister and MeisterTask” to boost efficiency and save time.
The solution: slashing administrative workflows by half
Although some at the company had doubts about the new tools, these were quickly put to bed. While mind maps may not always have the same depth as “old school” minute-taking methods, a two-month pilot revealed that the extreme detail of long-form notes had little benefit for the team.
Writing and even reading a long document takes so much time. It’s better for us when those summaries can be brief.”
Mechtild Kerkhoff
VP of Corporate Office, Felix Schoeller Group
Mind maps have now permanently replaced the static meeting agendas – only the meeting date is noted in advance. Before a meeting, everyone adds their items to create a collaborative agenda that can be edited at short notice. As a result, there’s more flexibility available to every team member.
During meetings, minutes are taken directly in MindMeister so that real-time updates appear for all participants. This keeps the team on the same page. As MindMeister’s mind maps are web-based, they can be accessed by all users from anywhere, at any time.
After each meeting, action items are assigned from the mind map to the person who should complete them – the party piece of MindMeister’s MeisterTask integration. From the team’s MeisterTask project, everyone can see who should do what, and by when. There’s no need for a meeting summary, leaving more time to get work done.
The outcome: rampant acceptance and greater success
Felix Schoeller used the MeisterSuite to streamline its meeting processes, and the numbers speak for themselves. Thanks to MindMeister and MeisterTask, the company has reduced operational costs and slashed time spent on meeting admin by 50%. Mechtild shares:
“With MindMeister and MeisterTask, we reduced time spent on meeting admin by more than 50%. I’m thrilled that we’ve found a way to boost efficiency with Meister’s collaboration tools.”
As the high acceptance rates for MindMeister and MeisterTask show, design and usability are key. Teams that use the tools straight away report higher overall success with long-term project management. In Mechtild’s words:
“The team was very excited about our new MeisterTask processes. More importantly, we’re very pleased with the results.”
