ZEISS Group brings optical clarity and velocity to a global team with Smartsheet

The story of ZEISS Group began in 1846 as a small workshop in Jena, laying the foundations for what would become a global leader in scientific optics. Today, it operates in almost 50 countries—including 30 production sites and 25 development centres. Its tools and technologies shape some of the world’s most important work: from semiconductor production to e-mobility, from Nobel Prize-winning research to life-changing medical treatments, and from ophthalmology to award-winning filmmaking.

“The company was founded with the promise of seeing the world with more clarity and precision, whether it's a microscope in a lab or a lens on a camera,” shares Jarkko Niittumaa, Head of HR Portfolio & Project Management at ZEISS Group. “That promise still drives us today, not only in our products, but we are applying that same principle when it comes to driving intelligent work.”

Siloed tools, teams, and processes

With teams distributed worldwide and operating in highly specialised fields, the company had developed a fragmented project management landscape. More than fifty different tools and systems were in use within information technologies (IT) alone. Human resources (HR) faced the same inconsistent approach. As a result, visibility was limited, and collaboration was difficult. 

“Before implementing Smartsheet, everyone was using different tools, standards, and templates to deliver projects,” Niittumaa adds. “It was important to standardise HR project delivery to ensure that we had the same level of quality across the company.”

After a thorough evaluation that weighed security, compliance, and long-term scalability, Smartsheet’s Intelligent Work Management platform emerged as the clear choice to bring everyone onto one platform.

A shared playbook, in action

The first step was to create a unified HR project framework. The team produced a comprehensive 40-page guide that spelt out standards, processes, and principles—everything from how projects should be categorised to the standard phases each initiative would follow, complete with defined milestones and quality gates.

Governance was built in from the start. The framework laid out decision-making authority at each stage. Major strategic initiatives require sign-off from the HR leadership team, while smaller projects can move forward with approval at the functional level. It also clarified typical roles, steering committee composition, and even the quorum needed for valid decisions.

All these rules and guidelines were then embedded directly into Smartsheet, turning policy into practice. “The system makes sure the projects get approved by the right people and follow the same playbook. It gives us one enterprise-grade framework to work from. At the same time, it leaves room for flexibility, whether teams prefer agile, waterfall, or something in between,” shares Niittumaa.

An intelligent ‘cockpit’ for standardisation and velocity

Next, with Smartsheet Control Center, the team built a centralised hub called the “project cockpit” which has everything a project manager needs in one place, like budget trackers, status logs, stakeholder maps, and more. Live dashboards pull data straight from the underlying plans, giving an instant, colour-coded snapshot of progress, open tasks, and emerging risks.

Carl Zeiss ZEISS Group tailored separate cockpits to fit different roles. Project managers have a focused view of their initiatives. Program managers, who orchestrate multiple related projects, see the bigger picture across their streams. Portfolio managers, responsible for entire collections of programs and strategic efforts, get a high-level vantage point that spans the organisation. 

“The cockpit truly is the heartbeat of our team, whether it's risk management, budget management tools or just tasks that are coming up that are due,” shares Cheriece Williams, Senior HR Project Manager at ZEISS Group.

A globally aligned, confident team

Day-to-day collaboration, once slowed by distance and siloed habits, now flows more naturally. Teams in different functions can see the same status, share the same updates, and align without endless email threads. “Smartsheet gives us visibility, consistency and alignment on a global scale in HR,” says Niittumaa.

Decision-making has become sharper and faster. With live data replacing scattered reports, leadership can spot risks early, reallocate resources on the fly, and trust what they see. “Projects are easier to track, decisions are clearer, and we can see progress in real time. It helps leadership to make faster, better-informed decisions,” notes Niittumaa. “With Smartsheet, we can manage complex projects with the same accuracy and reliability that define optics.”

Smarter outcomes, faster

At the execution level, routine tasks are increasingly automated, and information is well-organised and accessible. The result is a noticeable increase in velocity. 

“Teams spend less time chasing information and more time focused on value-added work,” shares Niittumaa.

What started as a drive for standardisation has quickly become something larger: a calmer, clearer, more intelligent way of working that lets the company move with speed and confidence.