How Forum Virium Helsinki Built a Lean, End-to-End Digital Operations Platform with Podio Software

Scaling Without Adding Complexity

As the organization grew into a 60-person operation, managing partnerships and internal workflows across EU-funded projects, each with its own reporting requirements, stakeholders and timelines, became increasingly unwieldy—especially when considering the lean administrative team supporting HR, finance and a single person responsible for IT. It was quickly becoming apparent that the organization needed systems that could do more with less resources.

Early on, there was no single system everyone worked from. Teams relied on a mix of tools, between spreadsheets, shared drives and project-specific platforms like Trello, which made it difficult to maintain a consistent view across projects or track information in a structured way.

That fragmentation became increasingly difficult to manage alongside the organization’s broader responsibilities. In addition to project work, they needed to support HR processes, manage thousands of external contacts, coordinate events and meet strict EU reporting requirements—all without adding new systems or increasing administrative overhead.

As the organization grew, that model started to create friction. Keeping information aligned, workflows consistent and reporting accurate required more coordination than their structure could support.

Letting the System Grow Within the Organization

Forum Virium Helsinki didn’t replace everything at once. They started with a small number of use cases and built up from there. The Progress Podio platform was first introduced for project management and customer relationship management (CRM). Over time, as the team saw what was possible, they began using it across more parts of the organization, gradually turning it into the system that supports nearly every department and process.

Today, the Podio platform supports a wide range of operations, from project tracking and reporting to HR workflows, event management and internal coordination. And instead of managing work across multiple tools, teams now operate within a single, connected environment.

A few things made the difference:

• Bringing project and operational data into one place, so teams weren’t relying on separate tools
• Structuring workflows so processes were followed consistently throughout projects and departments
• Connecting systems and processes, so information flowed without needing to be re-entered
• Making it easier to see what was happening in different projects without having to track down updates

From there, the team continued building more advanced workflows.

HR processes, for example, are now managed entirely within the Podio platform. Development discussions, absence requests, education budgets and remote work approvals are handled through structured forms and automated workflows, with access controls in place to keep sensitive information secure.

Project and event workflows are also closely connected. Public registrations feed directly into the organization’s CRM, allowing them to track participation and relationships over time. With more than 20,000 contacts, keeping that information organized and usable is a key part of their day-to-day operations.

The Podio platform is also connected to other tools within the organization. Integrations with Google Workspace, email marketing platforms and web forms allow information to move between systems automatically, reducing manual work and helping keep everything aligned.

They also built automated reporting processes to support EU requirements. Project data, budgets and reporting timelines are tracked within the platform, with workflows and notifications helping teams stay on schedule and meet compliance expectations.

In some cases, that information is shared externally. In response, project data connects directly to public-facing visualizations on their website, allowing stakeholders to see progress without requiring manual updates.