When a company faces the digitization process, it means minimizing paperwork and digitizing physical records. Especially in the administrative sector, this is a pain point for many companies that have built up an immense archive of files over the years. However, the Legal Department of 'HPM Die Handwerksgruppe' has successfully taken on this mammoth task and introduced the electronic file. The Handwerksgruppe received support from Jodocus GmbH, Germany's first and only cloud-native process optimization provider in the Atlassian environment. This enabled the integration of the essential tools for implementing electronic files, taking another step towards digitization.
Supporting Handicraft Businesses: HPM Service und Verwaltung GmbH, based in Hamburg, is a service provider for businesses, offering support in various areas, including human resources, accounting, controlling, marketing, IT, and legal matters with experienced lawyers and extensive expertise in the construction industry.
This often involves comprehensive support for construction projects, contract reviews, and assistance in contract negotiations. In case of disputes, businesses can rely on legal assistance, both internally from experts and, if necessary, in collaboration with external lawyers. Furthermore, the Legal Department of the Handwerksgruppe provides template letters and sample contracts that serve as templates for the businesses. However, to ensure individual legal advice for each business, there must be a file for every legal case containing all the essential legal information and contacts. For many years, this was done in the form of physical files, the standard at that time. But with the group's growth, now comprising more than 150 businesses, the desire for process digitization has been growing steadily.
HPM Die Handwerksgruppe is a family-owned business group and one of the market leaders in the construction trade, consisting of successful, locally rooted craft businesses in Germany and Austria. Since 1989, HPM's success has been based on the acquisition of craft businesses that are looking for an entrepreneurial home for their life's work. HPM continues to grow and is now a strong network with over 150 top-quality businesses in three sectors: Painting, Facade, Interior, Technical Building Equipment, as well as Windows and Facades.
Industry: Construction Trade
Employees: 1.000+
Location: Hamburg, Germany
Website: handwerksgruppe.de
The Legal Department of HPM recognized that physical files quickly reach their limitations in today's world and considered digitizing their records. For the implementation, HPM brought in Jodocus GmbH, a company also based in Hamburg, specializing in process optimization and digitalization in the Atlassian Cloud. In addition to technically flawless migrations of tools like Jira or Confluence, the digitalization experts prioritize tailor-made solutions for process digitalization and optimization. Thus, they swiftly had the right tool at hand for HPM's electronic file implementation: Jira Service Management (JSM).Jira Service Management (JSM).
From the self-service portal to a clear, intuitive service desk and comprehensive reporting, JSM offers numerous features to digitize nearly all processes in the Legal Department. Jira Service Management functions as a central, open service platform to process inquiries quickly and provide exemplary employee and customer support – or, in the case of HPM, employee and member business support. Tim Janke, Head of the Legal Department at HPM, describes the implementation, saying, "While Jira is not tailored to legal activities, it is highly adaptable. Over time, the specialists at Jodocus have customized JSM to work even better for our Legal Department's activities." As a result, JSM provides all the benefits of the electronic file and offers additional features to make processes in the HPM Legal Departmenteven more efficient.
Jasmin Ewert, a legal assistant at HPM and involved in the transition to the electronic file, summarizes the advantages: "Through the introduction of JSM, we now work virtually paperless and with secure revision control. Administrative efforts related to space and archives have significantly decreased. Communication within our department now runs even more smoothly thanks to JSM since targeted instructions or information can be transmitted in the electronic files.” Everything can be found in 'one place,' and the service desk offers businesses a simple and transparent entry point for communication with the department. Additionally, HPM's businesses benefit from the electronic file in other ways: they receive immediate notifications of inquiries, can access the current status at any time, and easily and quickly upload their own documents. This significantly streamlines collaboration between the Legal Department and businesses on both sides.
Furthermore, JSM offers a range of useful out-of-the-box features for legal activities, such as setting reminders and deadlines, some of which are completely automated. With JSM, requests for deadline extensions can now be better tracked, especially in the case of vacation or illness. Equally useful are the file access rights that administrators at HPM can now customize and change at any time. The ability to work with the files from anywhere complements the advantages of JSM at HPM, as opposed to the archive-dependent workflow. Access to electronic files from anywhere simplifies team collaboration, as every department colleague can open the files of others from anywhere. JSM is also a great help during year-end closings or other evaluations. The clear benefits of the electronic file for HPM have led Tim Janke to this conclusion: "I am glad that our Legal Department was able to be the pilot project for the implementation of JSM. It makes our work much easier, more transparent, and more efficient. I would never go back to paper."
In addition to the versatile process design options, JSM can be expanded with apps. Christopher Mohr, Consultant Lead at Jodocus and the initiator of the electronic file at HPM, quickly found a suitable solution for time tracking per case: "We simply integrated a time tracking app, so employees can now accurately record their working hours on individual cases. This streamlines the process and ensures cost-effectiveness in this area."
The transition to the electronic file demonstrates how the digitization of records leads to a more efficient and transparent way of working, significantly enhancing the company's legal services.
Jira Service Management is designed for enterprise-wide process optimization, and this vision is also pursued by the Atlassian experts at Jodocus. They offer their customers enterprise-wide process optimization by becoming part of the teams, identifying actual needs, and developing the appropriate solution based on the Atlassian Cloud. Collaboration on equal footing is the focus of these process optimizers, as Tim Janke confirms wholeheartedly: "We always felt that someone at Jodocus was taking care of our concerns as quickly as possible. Moreover, working together as a team was always extremely pleasant."
