Gavlefastigheter brought all case management into one system

From a scripted custom solution with dual systems to a unified standard solution in Pythagoras.

About Gavlefastigheter

Gavlefastigheter is a municipal company that owns and manages properties such as schools, preschools, recreational facilities, cultural buildings, and office premises in Gävle municipality. With their own operations department, they handle the management of their approximately 500 buildings entirely in-house. Since 2021, they have been using the Pythagoras property management system with the modules Building, Component Register, Contracts, Planned Maintenance, and Case Management.

Challenge: two systems with the same purpose

The operations department was added through a merger and brought with it its own work order system called Rekyl. The systems were synced, which sometimes created challenges and duplicate work as Customer Service needed to look in both systems to check information.

The case management in Pythagoras was also a scripted custom solution, tailored specifically for Gavlefastigheter. It worked, but every time something needed to be adjusted or further developed, it was costly. The result was that the organization had to adapt to the system rather than the system adapting to the needs of the organization.

The goal: to streamline operations

Gavlefastigheter wanted to consolidate everything into a single system, streamline workflows between departments and towards customers and suppliers, and over time increase customer satisfaction and reduce system costs (by eliminating one system). But equally important was not losing what was already working well.

The solution: consolidating property management into one system

Ever since Gavlefastigheter started working with Pythagoras and heard about the new standard solution for case management that was in development, they had been waiting for it. Despite being a standard solution, it is flexible and configurable, which was important for Gavlefastigheter so that they can adapt and build on it themselves without requiring costly custom development.

At the same time, they also took the opportunity to add the Inspection and Maintenance module, so that the operations department could fully work within Pythagoras and the old parallel system could be phased out.

With the standard solution for case management, Gavlefastigheter gets a system they own and can develop themselves, rather than being dependent on us for every change. Anna Haglund, Pythagoras AB

How it happened: the implementation journey

Gavlefastigheter chose to drive the change as a project and brought in an external project manager. This freed up time from the regular organization and ensured that meetings were scheduled, decisions were documented, and progress was followed up.

A thorough current-state analysis was an early and important step. By mapping out what was working and what was causing friction, the project established a baseline to measure against – a way to verify that the outcome was actually better, not just different.

Gavlefastigheter established a project plan with a timeline, risk analysis, and a project group with participants from across the company. Configuration meetings were held with Pythagoras to lay the foundation: which case types to include, which categories, which permission groups, and more. The solution was tested, adjusted, and tested again – with broad staff involvement throughout the entire process.

It took more time than we had anticipated, but it was the right way to go. Involving everyone from the start meant that the change was well received across the organization. Linnéa Kastemyr, Gavlefastigheter

Lessons learned that Gavlefastigheter shares

Allow for more time than you think you’ll need. It’s not just meetings and preparations – it’s also time spent on your own to fine-tune configurations and make decisions. The standard solution is flexible, and that is a strength, but the flexibility also means many choices to be made along the way.

Drive it as a project. An external project manager takes the load off the organization and keeps the pace up, without the core team drowning in administration.

Talk to industry peers. Others who have made the same journey often have concrete tips on what works and what isn’t worth spending time on.

Results

It is still too early to draw any definitive conclusions as the implementation is recent and the change is still ongoing. The overall picture is nonetheless predominantly positive: most employees feel that the work functions well in the new system, and the willingness to embrace change within the organization is high.

System costs have temporarily increased during the transition period as two systems are being run in parallel – but once the old system is phased out and everything is consolidated on one platform, costs are expected to decrease, which was one of the goals of the consolidation.

There are employees who prefer the previous system, and that feedback is taken seriously. Change management is a process, not an event, and the ongoing work is about ensuring that more employees find their footing in the new way of working.

Customer satisfaction is monitored continuously, but it is too early to see clear results in the measurements.