AYANA Estate reduces processes by up to 18 days with Asana

Highlights

• Time savings 594 workdays saved by reducing email and streamlining workflows

• Reduced manual work Through automated processes and intake forms

• Boosted collaboration Across departments by bringing work into one place 

Anyone who’s considered traveling to Bali has likely heard of AYANA Estate. A destination with four luxury resorts, fine-dining restaurants, and stunning views of both the jungle and sea. 

The AYANA Estate team takes pride in delivering unforgettable experiences. But during COVID-19, there were no guests to cater to. Team members like David Djokopramono, Project Manager of Digital Transformation, responded by focusing on internal innovation with plans to build a custom online booking system, conduct a website upgrade, and more. 

The newly remote team, however, was struggling to make progress on these initiatives due to workflow inefficiencies. Tracking work through email and spreadsheets led to double work and critical information was lost in long message chains. In response, David embarked on a digitisation project to move work into the cloud.

Choosing Asana to connect work in the Cloud  

It was one thing to move work to the cloud, but the team also needed a platform that would connect work for effective collaboration. 

Recommended by a company director, Asana promised to: 

• Centralise work to improve project management and break down silos 

• Create transparency around projects and tasks to facilitate collaboration 

• Automate manual work to save time and reduce email 

Back and forth emails became too painful to manage. We looked for a new way to manage our work and came across Asana.”

A phased approach to implementation 

Asana was first introduced to tech and product teams at AYANA Estate. Accustomed to working with digital tools, the team of over 30 employees easily adopted the platform and started using it to plan their product roadmaps and sprints. 

Once the estate re-opened to guests, Asana was rolled out to operational teams. Members from the finance to the spa team started using Asana. David held training for employees new to work management platforms, focusing onthe benefits of working within Asana. Overall, 10 departments started using Asana with champions on each team helping embed the platform into daily workflows. 

Huge time savings with Asana 

The way the team at AYANA Estate works has completely changed thanks to Asana. Work is stored in the cloud and managed through Asana with impressive results.

The Anatomy of Work Index reveals workers can save 4.9 hours per week with better work processes. According to David, the biggest ROI of implementing Asana has been the time savings and efficiencies created by improved their workflows. So far, the team has saved 594 workdays and counting using Asana and completed over 11,000 tasks.  

Here are some of the workflows that have been improved with Asana. 

• Approvals are much faster with Asana. Whether it’s a final banner design, a menu approval, or a stock order, team members can request approvals using Asana tasks and track progress through the platform. Critical approvals are no longer lost in long email chains. 

• Refund processes have been reduced by 75%, from 28 to 7 days, thanks to better collaboration. Previously, refund requests would be printed and sent for approval across different teams. Now as soon as a refund is requested, a task is auto-generated in Asana, assigned to the account team, and re-assigned as needed. This process also helps the account team ensure the right amount of money is in business bank accounts to fund returns. 

• Graphic design requests are no longer managed through email. Now, staff from all departments request design support using an Asana form. Requests are automatically sent to the PR manager who assigns them to the design team and ensures work is manageable, spread fairly, and delivered on time. 

• Tech sprints are easier to manage with an Asana board clearly segmented into sprints with different tasks set up as ‘work tickets’ the team can tackle. 

• External vendors are kept in the loop by joining Asana as a guest. This reduces external email and ensures everyone is on the same page, no matter where they work. 

Asana has helped us work more efficiently, increase transparency and boost accountability, three things that have led to impactful time savings across the company.”

Building a sustainable future 

The team at AYANA Estate now use less paper, an achievement that helped the company obtain a hotel sustainability certification. Now, the company plans to get more operational users into Asana, like front-of-house staff, so they can use Asana to send through requests, update projects, and keep up-to-date with project changes. David and the team look forward to the increased efficiencies getting even more employees into Asana will bring.