DER STANDARD unifies daily work and strategic goals with Asana

Highlights

Challenges

• Fragmented Tools: Information was siloed, as departments used a patchwork of Excel, email, Mooncamp and even pen and paper.

• Lack of the big picture: With the old approach, it was impossible for leadership to track how many projects were running, who owned them, or how they were progressing.

• Priority Misalignment: There was no visibility into how project delays would affect or hinder broader strategic goals.

Solutions

• Centralized Platform: Asana is the single tool of record for task, project and goal management.

• The "Mother of All Roadmaps" (MOAR): DER STANDARD created a centralized portfolio view in which every strategic project is multi-homed, providing visibility into the timeline, plus accountability.

• Strict Governance: A Code of Conduct requires that all cross-functional tasks be created in Asana.

Outcomes

• Eliminated Internal Email: Inter-company communication has shifted entirely to Asana and Teams.

• 100% Executive Visibility: All leaders use Asana to track progress and set priorities with one click.

• Rapid Innovation: Departments like subscription management embraced the power of Asana Forms, becoming one of the most innovative teams in the company.

Success is when everyone in the company understands the goals, can see why projects exist, and can connect their daily work to the bigger 'why' behind their own initiatives.”

Asana for Strategic Execution and OKRs

Connecting the "Why" to the "How". When DER STANDARD adopted an OKR framework, it lacked an automated way to see how daily tasks supported its objectives. Replacing Mooncamp with Asana enabled the company to merge project work and goal management into a single system.

• One-Click Dashboards: Asana dashboards enable people at all levels to view project priorities and progress instantly.

• The "Mother Of All Roadmaps": This tracks 40–50 major strategic initiatives on a single timeline, providing a top-down view of dependencies and highlighting potential resource conflicts.

• Strategic Alignment: Every project task is now linked to a high-level goal, making the purpose of all projects understandable for everyone.

Success is when everyone in the company understands the goals, can see why projects exist, and can connect their daily work to the bigger ‘why’ behind their own initiatives. I work closely with the executive board to ensure that the vision we are creating is understandable to all employees.”

Asana for Cross-Functional Collaboration

Breaking Silos and Eliminating Email. Before Asana, collaboration was fragmented across different tools for every department. DER STANDARD introduced a simple rule: if a task involves another person, it must be managed in Asana.

• Streamlined Intake: For example, the subscription department uses Asana Forms to manage requests from other teams, converting them into authorized work items with assigned leads and clear statuses.

• Bridging Editorial and Commercial: While journalists use specialized editorial tools for production, they rely on Asana to collaborate with various departments across the organization to deliver projects such as website features, data‑driven reporting, and cross‑functional workflows.

• Productive Communication: Asana has eliminated time-consuming internal meetings and email by shifting context to tasks. Asana integrates seamlessly with Microsoft 365 tools, including Teams and SharePoint, ensuring a single source of truth for all company data.

Internal emails have dropped to almost zero as everything is on Asana. Email is now almost exclusively used for external communication. We are working together more productively than before - and we are much faster.”

Asana for Innovation and AI

Accelerating Work with Intelligence. DER STANDARD is systematically integrating Asana AI to maintain momentum and transparency across large-scale projects.

• Automated Status Updates: Major projects are updated every two weeks. Consistently, the Asana project office receives praise from DER STANDARD teams because Asana AI generates these updates instantly, based on project activity.

• AI Teammates: Der Standard is deploying Asana AI teammates to assist with project management and workflows.

• Meeting People Where They Work: Deep integrations with Outlook and Teams enable employees to capture action items instantly and bring them into Asana, as an intuitive extension of their existing workflow.

We ran some Asana roadshows and demonstrated how fast status updates can be generated using AI. Users were very impressed, and use it extensively.”

Conclusion

DER STANDARD has already deployed Asana companywide and is well on track to complete the full rollout. The next phase of the journey focuses on finalizing the Now/Next/Later roadmap structure across all departments and deepening the integration with SharePoint.

Asana has become mission-critical: "We are constantly evolving with Asana, and we look forward to deepening our adoption of new tools and capabilities, especially as we roll out Asana AI," says DER STANDARD Project Expert Stefan Novotny. 

For DER STANDARD, Asana is no longer just a tool. It is the common language that connects every employee's daily effort to the company's long-term mission.

Asana is the first software we've introduced that people love to work with, because it has a widespread impact and accelerates their work. We are working together more productively than before. If I were to start over, I’d accelerate the Asana rollout, because the more people who are on Asana, the better they work together.”