10 Years of FotoŠkoda at Freelo: They Deployed It in Just a Few Days and Processed Nearly 74,000 Tasks

FotoŠkoda FEST and the team were growing, but Excel couldn't keep up

Shared spreadsheets were a great help for a small team. But as the copywriting team began to grow, Excel was no longer enough. Then came FotoŠkoda FEST, bringing with it hundreds of tasks and the need to coordinate a larger team—and it became clear. The spreadsheets had to be replaced by a tool that would track deadlines and keep track of who was responsible for what.

They looked into Trello, Basecamp, and Asana. Freelo came out on top.

When FotoŠkoda was looking for a new partner, they didn’t just wing it. They signed up for several project management tools, tested them, and compared them. They had several non-negotiable requirements, and every tool fell short on at least one of them. With Trello, they didn’t like how deadlines were handled; Basecamp didn’t suit them; and Asana was ruled out because of the price. Freelo was the only one that met all their requirements.

3 Requirements That Other Tools Have Failed to Meet

• Keep a close eye on deadlines For each task, the date and the person responsible
• Don't Pay Per User Get the whole company on board for one price
• A Warm Welcome for Everyone an intuitive tool that they can set up on their own

”Let those who will be working with the tool choose it”

At FotoŠkoda, there was no order from above. The new tool was chosen directly by the people who would eventually use it. And according to Martin Škoda, this is precisely the key to ensuring that the new tool truly takes root in the company.

And so they boarded the Freelo

What Helped Ensure a Smooth Rollout at FotoŠkoda

After a trial run, they launched the FotoŠkoda FEST 2016 pilot project. They drew up a set of ten guidelines on how to use Freelo so that the system wouldn’t”fall apart” right from the start at ”” , as they put it. Then they went to meet Freelo co-founder Karel Dytrych to check if they were doing it right.

The 4 pillars on which the deployment was based

• Start with a smaller pilot team. ”First, identify a smaller team that will use it. Only then should you add other departments and functions, advises Martin Škoda at”.
• Clear—and, most importantly, concise—rules. The Ten Commandments had to be concise and easy to understand, but short enough for every single employee to read them. Otherwise, chaos would ensue.
• The tool is chosen by those who work with it. The people who implemented Freelo were the ones who chose it themselves. Their own choice = much more willing adoption.
• Patience during expansion. The rollout was quick, but adoption throughout the company has been gradual. To this day, there are still a few people who use paper forms.

My own Ten Commandments, which might help you, too

The FotoŠkoda pilot team knew exactly what they had to do. To avoid getting overwhelmed by the new tool, they had to set their own rules for using Freelo. Vachi says their”Ten Commandments” may have been inspired by Freelo’s official guidelines for effective collaboration. But he doesn’t remember exactly. ””Are you testing me now? I hope I don’t have to quote it,”” says with a laugh.

Compared to ”, changes are more readily accepted on”

The biggest concern? Yet another tool to log in to…

The whole team’s biggest concern? That another system would be added—one where people would have to log in and enter data. All those concerns vanished the moment our colleagues began to see the added value of Freelo—namely, that information stopped getting lost and ended up exactly where it was supposed to be.

”This silly thing convinced everyone that Freelo is great”

Convincing a team to use a new tool can sometimes be a bit of a challenge. At FotoŠkoda, a playful approach worked. Every month, a specific theme was announced, and the entire team changed their profile pictures to match the chosen theme. One month, for example, birds were passing tasks back and forth (and our TuDů is quietly jealous). They’ve been keeping up this little tradition since 2016. And it works for them.

3 Practices That Keep FotoŠkoda Focused on Performance

Martin Vachata ( ”Vachi” ) shared with us his three strategies that help the FotoŠkoda team maintain morale and keep a better track of their work — from the morning dashboard to the launch of a new camera.

1. Checking the burners on the dashboard

At FotoŠkoda, they start the day by reviewing their own dashboard. Main filter: ”. "” " is trending. Vachi is showing tasks that are overdue or due today. ”It looks daunting—ten items, but in reality, there are only two tasks”. Other filters track which tasks they’ve assigned to others, what’s awaiting management approval, and what lacks an assignee or a deadline.

2. Template for listing each flagship camera

When FotoŠkoda launches an expensive, major product (Canon, Sony, Nikon), no one has to figure out what needs to be done. The copywriter simply copies a prepared task template with about 20 subtasks and checks them off one by one.

What the template covers: The entire launch. A blog post, a product review, social media posts, and the basic SEO elements they want to follow. One copy, zero missed steps.

3. Conceptual Design for Website Development

There are always more ideas for website development than can be implemented. That’s why the FotoŠkoda team logs them— without a deadline or an assigned person—into the ”idea bank for the” project. Every so often, they review the list, select the most interesting tasks, and only then pass them on to the development team, where they are assigned a person in charge and a deadline.

Freelo—just one of many, or a tool the company can’t do without?

In addition to Freelo, FotoŠkoda uses a number of other tools , such as a calendar and Outlook. And that’s exactly why Freelo has gradually become the place where all these systems come together. This ensures that all information is consistent and in one place. That’s also why Martin Škoda and Vach closely follow Freelo AI news—so they can see where their tool ecosystem can go next.

FotoŠkoda + Freelo = a real tailwind

And how does Vachi sum up his 10 years at Freelo?

”After the rollout, we realized that—even with the same number of people — we suddenly had time to do things we hadn’t even thought of before.” Martin Škoda adds: ”We’re starting to get things done that we couldn’t even discuss before.”

Features that FotoŠkoda users love

Dashboard and Filters

Vachi's favorite tool in recent years. His custom dashboard with filters ( ”Urgent”, Assigned to Others, Awaiting Decision) drives his entire day. ”"I've been hooked on this dashboard for the last few years,"” he says enthusiastically.

Dates and Red Date

”I’ve used shared Excel spreadsheets before, but that red date next to a specific task and person is a total game-changer,” says Vachi. You can see right away what’s urgent.

Labels and Templates

Honza manages projects using tags. This gives him an immediate overview of the status of each item. The marketing team, in turn, saves time by using templates for relaunching products.

Click on ”Done”

”My favorite part is seeing the smiley face pop up after I click "Done."” A little reward for a completed task—something the team says never gets old.