Operations Digitalization
Overview
Utopic Villa is a company specializing in the acquisition and rental of luxury villas in various locations around the world. Its extensive operations involve property search and analysis, negotiation, purchase, interior design and remodeling, as well as preparation and listing for rental. Previously, these processes were handled asynchronously and largely outside the digital space. The goal of this project was to digitize the entire workflow.
My contribution
➝ Service Design ➝ Process Automation ➝ Project Management
The team
➝ Business ➝ Finance Department ➝ IT Department ➝ Design Department ➝ Ops Department
Year
2022
Process
Scoop Project
We began by analyzing the project scope through interviews with all stakeholders to identify their pain points, which can be summarized as follows:
- Business:
- Long lead times between negotiation, purchase, and putting the property on the rental market
- Multiple open projects that are difficult for the General Manager to track
- Lack of a unified view of the project status
- No metrics to measure time or progress
- No standardized project templates with necessary protocols
- Design:
- Difficulty coordinating multiple contractors and respective stakeholders (Finance, Operations)
- IT:
- Need to control smart housing projects on the same platform as Operations
- Operations:
- Communication and project tracking across Finance, IT, Design, and Business
Problem Definition:
Utopic Villa faces challenges in optimizing its internal processes due to the lack of a digital platform that enables effective communication between stakeholders and the ability to track projects and their respective protocols.
Solution Definition:
- Stakeholder Map: Identification of key stakeholders and their roles
- Process Diagram: Visual representation of critical phases
- State Machine: Management of transitions between operational states
- RACI Matrix: Definition of responsibilities and roles for each project participant (Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, Informed)
Solution Implementation:
ClickUp was chosen as the central platform for digitizing Utopic Villa’s operations, involving a team of 25 people. The project structure implemented includes:
- Property negotiation and purchase tracking
- Interior and exterior design tracking (purchases and contractors)
- Finance approval workflows and communication for financial forecasting
- Tracking installation and testing of smart housing systems
- Gantt view for tracking project milestones and timelines
- Dashboard for monitoring workloads, pending tasks, and responsible parties
- Documentation management
Outcome
The implementation of this solution led to significant improvements in operational and project tracking times during the business expansion. The chosen structure served as the foundation for the acquisition, renovation, and launch of 20 properties, valued at approximately $10M. The average time from purchase to rental was reduced to less than 6 weeks, a 25% decrease compared to previous timelines. Additionally, the number of project managers required was cut by 50%, with only one manager now overseeing the entire operation. The number of issues throughout the project also decreased by 12%.