30% less time spent in meetings: how Swiss Tennis got time back

We live in a fast-paced world where information is abundant and instant, requiring companies to rethink their information-sharing processes. In 2016, Swiss Tennis began using Sherpany’s meeting management software to embrace some of the opportunities brought about by digital transformation and also to adapt their meeting culture to meet the realities of modern business. 

Sending a large volume of physical documents was a necessary part of the preparation for the board of directors, commission and committee meetings at Swiss Tennis. The costs and waste associated with printing these documents was in contrast with the organisation’s sustainability vision, and it became clear that this needed to change. ‘When we calculated our costs when it comes to printing and sending out masses of paperwork over the year {...} it was evident that an electronic solution with Sherpany was the best option for our Federation and for the communication with its target groups’, explained René Stammbach, President of Swiss Tennis.

Swiss Tennis’ board of directors meets 5 times a year, the management does so once a month and when including  commissions and committees this equates to more than 50 meetings a year.

A quick and easy software adoption in a diverse group of board members

With a diverse group of board members when it comes to language, age, gender, education, and even interests, it was necessary to opt for a solution that could be understood and managed by everyone. Another requirement was the geographical coverage: Swiss Tennis is spread across 19 regional associations and more than 850 clubs in Switzerland.

Sherpany was the best match to all these criteria and so the transition from paper to digital meetings began. When this transition started all of the board or management members had different levels of IT skills, and yet the process was handled in a ‘quick and easy’ way, according to Mr Stammbach.

The ideal tool to prepare and conduct meetings at Swiss Tennis

After an initial period using Sherpany’s meeting management software, the organisation noticed the first results: cost reduction, less use of other resources such as paper, and a general simplification of their communications and distribution of information. ‘The savings equal or even exceed the required investment for Sherpany’s software, which is a determining factor’ explains Mr Stammbach.

For board members, one great advantage is the easy handling of documents, which can be reviewed securely in any place and at any time. ‘Rather than travelling with impressive amounts of paperwork, all necessary information is now accessible from a laptop, tablet, or smartphone.’

In his personal experience, Mr Stammbach highlighted the time efficiency gains achieved with the adoption of the software: ‘I observed that my preparation time for meetings has dropped significantly, I would say almost 50%.’ This time gain is due to some of the app features that allow users to add notes, define topic priorities in the meeting agenda, and handwrite as if with paper.

These and other characteristics of Sherpany are reflected in the time spent in meetings, with Mr Stammbach commenting: ‘The program has also shortened the length of meetings - I would guess a figure 30% of duration saved.’ These results are positive and overall the organisation considers Sherpany’s software to be the ideal tool when preparing and conducting meetings at Swiss Tennis.