KOKE GmbH: the digital signage experts
Founder and MD Dirk Koke has been at the helm of KOKE GmbH since 2011. The full-service provider for digital signage specializes in consulting clients on digital advertising, VR, and AR technology. Today, KOKE GmbH is well established in the German market for digital signage – digital media content for the purpose of display advertising and interactive touch systems. From concept creation to software distribution, installation to on-site maintenance of the end devices: Dirk and his team take care of it all.
Our team of 25 manages over 4,000 displays for companies of all sizes across Germany and provides them with high-quality content.
Dirk Koke
Founder and Managing Director, KOKE GmbH
It’s no wonder demand for the company’s services is so high: Dirk’s expertise in innovative communication systems, particularly virtual and augmented reality, is regularly requested for lectures. In 2023, he was recognized by ERFOLG magazine as a “Top Expert in Digital Communication“. Two of Dirk’s secrets to success? MeisterTask and MindMeister…
The challenge: keeping an overview of tasks and projects
KOKE GmbH was growing steadily before the pandemic, with 40 colleagues collaborating on tailored digital advertising and communication projects. As the expanding team worked on multiple tasks across various projects, it became incredibly difficult to keep track of progress. Dirk knew this would eventually lead to time delays, cost increases and resource bottlenecks, so he decided to get ahead of the problem.
Dirk’s team began entering all tasks in an Outlook calendar while handling updates and administration in face-to-face meetings. Dirk anticipated that employees would complete all tasks after the meeting and report back when they were done. However, this process wasn’t as efficient as Dirk had hoped. The team needed a clearer way to track and document tasks, and they looked to Microsoft’s Task List as a solution. This helped individual employees organize their work, but the team still lacked a full, transparent project overview.
A Project Manager at KOKE GmbH was tasked with finding a better, more collaborative solution. Trello – along with many other tools – were put to the test, but the team agreed MeisterTask was the one to beat. The reason was clear to Dirk:
“We chose MeisterTask because it was one of the most flexible and scalable solutions – we’re not restricted to one single way of working. We like that MeisterTask is continuously being developed and optimized, and it has a lot of useful integrations. We also save a lot of time with MeisterTask’s automations.”
The solution: agenda for improved focus, maps for better ideas
KOKE has been using MeisterTask since 2018. The pace of work has only increased since then, but thanks to the clear overview in MeisterTask, they’re always in the driver’s seat. Dirk explains how he keeps his to-dos under control:
“I pin all of my tasks from all project boards to my Agenda in MeisterTask. This helps me keep track of what I need to do without having to go through every individual board.”
Dirk has created a “Focus” section in his Agenda, where he adds tasks he wants to work on throughout the day.
“During my focus time, I turn off notifications so that I can work through tasks uninterrupted. I don’t take calls during this time either.”
In every project board, priority tasks are added to the top of each section. Automations are set up so that team members cannot have more than four tasks assigned to them at once. This ensures their workload remains manageable and deadlines are met.
When the Purchasing team needs to order new hardware for a customer project, they add a task to their project board in MeisterTask. When a Task is added to the “Requests” section, the assigned team member receives a notification. They can quickly check and approve the order request and move it to the next section on the board.
“Everyone in the team can track which requests have already been ordered or released and by whom. All important information is immediately visible on the task.”
Dirk explains how – alongside MeisterTask – the team also uses MindMeister in their day-to-day work:
“We also use MindMeister intensively to develop new ideas and visualize how objectives and initiatives are connected.”
Marketing and Sales collect all their signage ideas for different industries in the following mind map, assigning colors to each industry. They also use Connections to show relationships between ideas and make their maps easier to read.
The result: over 50% fewer meetings per week and time saved with automations
Today, KOKE GmbH has automated repetitive parts of their workflows by connecting their own software with MeisterTask. This saves the team time and effort and ensures nothing slips through the cracks.
“If a customer initiates a project in our signage software, we get a notification in MeisterTask. We can immediately check if the customer has the correct license for the new project or if we need to contact them about upgrading.”
The KOKE team also uses Meister software to collaborate with external parties on individual tasks easily.
“The beauty of working with external collaborators in MeisterTask and MindMeister is that we don’t need to introduce multiple new tools or constantly get to grips with new, complicated interfaces. Meister software is reliable and easy to use.”
But it’s not just collaboration with customers and partners that has improved. Meister software has also sped up the onboarding process for new employees, helping them reach productivity faster.
“MeisterTask is the first thing we provide training on during the onboarding process. As we do everything in MeisterTask, it’s a top priority. New employees can easily find the information they need as all our projects are managed transparently in one central place.”
Dirk enjoys it when new employees who have never worked with MeisterTask before reach that “aha” moment with the tool.
“The Agenda helps new employees get to grips with the tool quickly. They don’t have to click through all the project boards to find what they need. They can clearly see which four things need to be done today and which tomorrow, so getting started is less overwhelming.”
Recently, an employee who had been handling an urgent ad for a client was off sick, Dirk recounts. A colleague stepped in and found everything they needed – including all the working files – in MeisterTask.
“MeisterTask makes our work so much easier. There are fewer questions around what needs to be done or the current status of our projects.”
Although he is an advocate for face-to-face meetings, Dirk is glad that they no longer need so many. Just a few years ago, he was meeting twice a week with each of the five departments, which meant very little time for focus work. Since implementing MeisterTask, Dirk has managed to reduce his meetings by at least 50%.
“Meetings are no longer the default for our team as discussions and updates are managed quickly, easily and transparently in MeisterTask.”
That said, they continue to hold creative brainstorming sessions regularly as these meetings are incredibly valuable for the team – and the business.
“Our brainstorming meetings are here to stay. I rely on the ideas and spontaneity of my colleagues to achieve the best possible results. With all our best ideas stored and accessible in MindMeister, it’s easier to put these ideas into action.”
