Organization and communication as a clear mission
The architectural firm Lindner Lohse Architekten BDA, based in Dortmund, has around 50 employees who mainly work on educational buildings, office and administrative buildings, and cultural and event venues.
Since early 2022, Ivonne Fischer-Krapohl has been part of the company as office manager. Her role: to improve office organization and team communication.
Right from the start in her new role, it was clear: there's still potential here to simplify processes and create transparency. That’s what led her to MeisterTask.
A lot of team coordination
Before MeisterTask was introduced, project coordination mainly ran through meetings, Microsoft Teams, and emails. This took time and meant team members kept having to check in on the status of individual tasks.
The constant back-and-forth and all the questions about project status showed us how important an efficient flow of information is — especially on large projects.
IFIvonne Fischer-Krapohl
Office Manager, Lindner Lohse Architekten BDA
For Fischer-Krapohl, one thing was clear: they needed a central, visual system where everyone could easily track tasks, responsibilities, and progress.
She had already had positive experience with similar Kanban board software, so it made sense to look in that direction. However, that provider stores customer data on servers in the U.S. — which ruled it out for Lindner Lohse Architekten BDA. From the start, it was clear that any new tool had to do more than work well. It also had to meet high European security standards.
It was especially important to us to work in a GDPR-compliant way. That means the servers storing our data are located in Europe, not the U.S.
IFIvonne Fischer-Krapohl
Office Manager, Lindner Lohse Architekten BDA
In her search for a European, GDPR-compliant alternative, Fischer-Krapohl comes across MeisterTask. Two things stood out to her in particular: secure data storage on servers in Frankfurt and the platform’s intuitive usability.
Easy to adopt: MeisterTask was up and running quickly
Before MeisterTask was introduced to the team, Fischer-Krapohl first tested the tool herself. The freely available tutorials were especially helpful: they explained the key features clearly and quickly, and the rest felt intuitive.
Together with management and selected project leaders, she then developed initial templates: she set up column structures, automations, example tasks, and tags so that new project boards could be duplicated and adapted with just a few clicks.
The rest of the team was introduced to the tool in short, low-pressure workshops lasting around 15 to 30 minutes.
We held short mini-workshops in smaller groups, which helped ease people’s concerns about whether MeisterTask was right for them and whether they’d be able to use it.
IFIvonne Fischer-Krapohl
Office Manager, Lindner Lohse Architekten BDA
Fischer-Krapohl collected questions and feedback, looked at which boards were working well, and adjusted and optimized details – without reinventing the basic structure each time. This created a set of board templates that works for all teams while still allowing teams to work in their own way.
The rollout was largely managed internally. Except for a few follow-up questions, the team managed without intensive external support.
MeisterTask brings structure to everyday work
Keeping large architecture projects on track
MeisterTask today forms the central basis for daily project work in the architectural firm. For each larger construction project, the team creates its own board that is structured around the relevant project phases – from early planning through the construction phase to approvals. Priority columns and clear responsibilities ensure important tasks are visible early enough and nothing gets left behind.
Internal administration and cross-departmental collaboration
Internal topics are also organized in MeisterTask – such as business development, internal communication, data protection, and the internal newsletter. Different teams collaborate across departments in shared boards, bundle task lists and checklists in one place, and can better track information.
Personal organization — even beyond the workday
In addition to project and team boards, employees use individual boards to structure their own tasks – sometimes with a mix of professional and private to-dos. This helps them keep track of their week and connect recurring tasks with larger blocks of work.
An important factor here is mobile use: project leaders and colleagues access their boards directly from the construction site or on the go with tablets or smartphones. This helps them stay up to date and mentally switch off.
Many people find it reassuring that if they have an idea in the evening or over the weekend, they can simply add it to MeisterTask. That way, nothing gets forgotten and they can sleep a little easier.
IFIvonne Fischer-Krapohl
Office Manager, Lindner Lohse Architekten BDA
For many people on the team, MeisterTask has become a kind of external memory that noticeably lightens their mental load day to day.
Fewer emails, more focused meetings, smoother handovers
Since the introduction of MeisterTask, communication in the office has changed significantly. Many coordination tasks now happen directly in the project boards, making in-person and team meetings much more efficient.
Instead of asking about the status of a task, everyone involved can see the status directly on the board – including comments and history. This makes discussions and meetings more targeted and and also makes it easier to cover for colleagues and hand work over during vacations or sick leave.
Ongoing Improvements Planned
Today, Ivonne Fischer-Krapohl is more than satisfied with the decision to use MeisterTask. The tool helps her do exactly what her role was created for: continuously improve organization and communication across the office and make day-to-day work noticeably easier for the team.
