How has Haiilo has improved internal communication at ZU?
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500
Students, lecturers and employees
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%
Active users amongst students
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Dynamic partnership with Kronsteg
The ZU state-of-the-art campus sprawls out alongside Lake Constance in Friedrichshafen: Zeppelin University (ZU).
Founded in 2003, ZU is described as a state-recognized and accredited private foundation University that delivers an “open, inspiring, and research-oriented think tank” to its students. Onsite, teaching and research are conducted in business, politics and culture. The University emphasizes personal interaction among students, faculty and staff as one of its greatest values.
Stefanie Zeller, responsible for information technology and “Learning and Social Collaboration Systems,” and Jan Möller, head of IT applications, have set out to transfer this sense of togetherness to the digital world as well.
They set themselves a tricky goal of introducing a new digital hub in the form of a social collaboration platform within ONE semester. After choosing Haiilo, the two project managers enlisted the help of a certified Haiilo partner to keep them on target.
What were the requirements for the new intranet?
As a tool for Zeppelin University, Haiilo needed to …
– Create communication exchange among staff and students
– Bring content together and make it accessible to all
– Enable collaborations easily
– Effectively map onboarding processes for employees and students.
With Haiilo, we found a system that works reliably, is fun to use and connects everyone together.
A digital foyer: How Zeppelin University uses the social intranet
The vision with Haiilo was a digital hub from which to access everything for everyday life at the University.
Starting with digital onboarding of employees and students, information and notifications for the respective professional groups, and ZU events, as well as a communication channel for the President of ZU to employees and students. With Haiilo, networking is also easier among each other and communications are strengthened. In short: a digital hub which provides a starting point for all topics at ZU.
There were many factors to consider, both change management, technical processes, information architecture and structure, and that’s where we said before started, that we cannot consider something this complex without help.
Hand in hand: Maximizing with a consulting partner
Together with Haiilo partner Kronsteg, the first step was to analyze Zeppelin University’s existing software landscape and closely examine the existing communication channels. The goal was to harmonize the web-based IT applications. This included the integration of Microsoft 365 and other web applications. The Haiilo social intranet needed to be the central entry point and guide for all users. In addition, the most diverse professional groups had to be accommodated, from students to administrative staff to professors.
Kronsteg supported this implementation with dedicated change management. In the first weeks of the project, Kronsteg’s Haiilo experts were on site frequently, providing many interactive workshops. ZU upgraded to Haiilo with an interdisciplinary team; alongside IT, the International Office and Quality Management were also involved, among others.
During the development of a new dedicated communication structure, Kronsteg provided multiple tangible ideas, specifically praised by the project team under Stefanie Zeller. After only six months, Kronsteg and the ZU project team succeeded in making Haiilo the central entry point at the University.
You couldn’t ask for a smoother launch
Feedback has been positive all around, the new intranet looks better, more modern and easy to understand. Initially, there was a lot of project work by the students on Microsoft Teams, but after a short time the project team was able to watch the communities grow with the Haiilo platform. The employees and students were quickly hooked and accepted the new platform. The team is happy: “When they feel comfortable, they automatically reach a point where they themselves do more with the software.”
It was nice to have a partner such as Kronsteg, who provides new impetus, ideas and experience in digital implementation projects. That was important for us.
Zeppelin University and the Future…
On “Development Day,” a task force of students, faculty and staff discuss how Zeppelin University will position itself in the future, and how it will evolve. Haiilo is very much part of this future, and the faculty and students have made suggestions for using and expanding the platform.
And the consulting partner? The ZU project team remains in close contact with Kronsteg. The team’s valuable experience ultimately led to Haiilo quickly becoming an integral part of Zeppelin University’s culture.
The result: measurably higher employee engagement
Zeppelin University has managed to connect more than 1,400 students, faculty, and staff on its intranet ZUniverse, promoting solid communication exchange and making Haiilo a central digital and information platform. Everything from onboarding to scholarships to the dining hall schedule can be found in their new digital home. And the numbers speak for themselves:
– 30% faster onboarding for lecturers.
– 93% more blog articles written by employees
– 87% active student users
