Municipality Spraitbach

Spraitbach’s Journey Toward a Digitized Local Government

Simplifying Processes and Collaboration

A project management solution simplifies administrative workflows and team collaboration, providing clarity on tasks, timelines, and resources while enabling the planning of large-scale projects.

The municipality of Spraitbach, located in the Ostalbkreis region of Baden-Württemberg, Germany, is now able to manage tasks and projects more effectively and streamline both internal and external communication thanks to the InLoox project management solution.

Since 2018, Spraitbach has been undergoing a gradual digital transformation to modernize and simplify administrative processes. This initiative was launched after the newly elected mayor found a largely paper-based administrative system upon taking office—an inefficient setup with significant room for improvement. Johannes Schurr, who was just 29 at the time and formerly employed by the local savings bank (Sparkasse), brought a strong affinity for digital tools. As someone coming from the banking sector—an industry he believes is about a decade ahead of local governments in terms of IT and digitization—he was well-equipped to drive this transformation.

Limited Staff and High External Dependency

“Spraitbach faces the same three challenges as many small towns,” says Mayor Schurr. The local government operates with minimal staff, despite a wide array of responsibilities. In addition, they rely heavily on higher-level authorities like the district administration for matters such as building permits or traffic regulations. Finally, the municipality depends extensively on collaboration with external service providers such as architects and engineering firms.

Standardizing and Optimizing Processes

Beyond working with external partners, Mayor Schurr identified a range of inefficient internal workflows that required restructuring. These included reporting procedures between departments, internal communication, daily work organization, and even how the mayor managed his own duties and staff. “From morning to night, I was preoccupied with figuring out how we could do things differently—and what digital tools could help,” Schurr recalls.

For instance, time reports for the municipal maintenance crew were still being handwritten and submitted to the town’s finance officer. Or consider the inefficiency in managing construction projects: both the mayor and the head of the construction office spent a great deal of time sorting through email threads to understand the current status and next steps.

Task Transparency and Cross-Team Collaboration

Early on, Schurr recognized the need for a task management tool: “As a small-town mayor, you juggle an incredible number of different responsibilities, and you’re constantly trying to keep track of where things stand.” Outlook’s built-in task management just wasn’t flexible or robust enough for his needs, so he began looking for alternatives.

What he really needed was a true project management solution—something that would support collaborative work across the entire administration. “To me, task management, collaboration, and project management go hand in hand.”

“InLoox’s Integration with Outlook Was the Game-Changer”

After testing a range of tools, Schurr chose InLoox because it was the only platform that met all his requirements for transparency, communication, documentation, and collaboration—thanks in large part to its seamless integration with Outlook.

That integration also offered a major advantage: external collaborators could participate in municipal projects without having to install the software or even know they were working within a project management tool. This made things far easier for architects, planners, and engineers.

The administration team has been using InLoox since 2022. In 2024, the local kindergarten staff also joined the user base. In addition to organizing community events like the local nature market, the town is currently using InLoox to plan the construction of a new fire station.

Wide Range of Visual Tools and Features for Flexibility

Because each municipal project has its own characteristics and timeline, Schurr appreciates the software’s flexibility and wide selection of visualization tools. Users can choose from different project views based on their individual needs and work styles.

^{Image: Project overview in InLoox; Gantt-chart of the schedule for the new building for the local fire brigade. ©InLoox, Inc.}

For example, Schurr typically starts his projects in Kanban. The head of the construction office prefers Gantt charts to align with time-based planning. Meanwhile, the kindergarten team often begins with brainstorming sessions, using mind maps to organize events. Since the software integrates these various perspectives, every user can return to their preferred view after a meeting and continue working without friction.

Simplifying, Digitizing, and Reusing Processes

The shift to project-oriented work has sparked new momentum across the administration. Project management helps staff work across departmental boundaries and adopt new, flexible approaches to problem-solving—key prerequisites for successful digitalization.

“As I simplify or even delegate processes, it doesn’t mean I’m making myself obsolete,” says Schurr. “Once we’ve optimized a workflow, we can focus on new tasks that truly benefit the community.” One way to achieve this is by documenting and digitizing employee knowledge or creating reusable templates that others can build on.

This approach allows towns like Spraitbach to create breathing room and better address the looming skilled labor shortage. “There are so many cool things to do in a local government—things that no one has had time for until now. Thanks to InLoox, we finally have the time, and nobody wants to give that up,” Schurr concludes.