Kangaroo Care Harnesses Hidesc for Hybrid Team Management
Kangaroo Care, an Australian NDIS disability support agency, implemented Hidesc to unify operations across Melbourne and Sydney. The platform’s OKR alignment, automated workflows, and analytics improved efficiency by 40%, reduced miscommunication, and enabled 30% business growth without added management overhead.
Company Overview
Kangaroo Care is an Australian NDIS disability support agency with Melbourne and Sydney offices. The company arranges important services for people with disabilities (such as Supported Independent Living plans and support coordination), enabling clients to work toward their goals. Kangaroo Care has gained a reputation for prompt turnaround on approvals and referrals, efficiently setting up support once a client's funding is established. Nonetheless, prior to implementing Hidesc, the team used Microsoft Planner for managing tasks and projects. As the business grew to encompass numerous teams and locations, Planner's limitations became evident.
Challenges Prior to Hidesc
When Kangaroo Care grew, they faced some challenges with their old project management arrangement (Microsoft Planner). The available tool had a basic board-based interface but did not have the features to support intricate, multi-team activities in a hybrid work culture. Some of the principal limitations were:
Limited Customization
Planner was not configurable to suit Kangaroo Care's workflows (no custom fields or templates).
Limited Reporting
It did not have sophisticated reporting or time-tracking features, providing managers with minimal insight into project status.
Limited Access Control
It did not include fine-grained permissions; confidential client information could not be adequately limited to certain staff.
No Hierarchical Task Structure
Planner had no subtasks or task dependencies. Multi-step operations had to be broken down into discrete tasks with no parent-child relationship, making it difficult to view the overall picture.
Multi-Project Visibility
Each team's plan was segregated, so there was no one view of all projects, particularly problematic with two offices.
Manual Workflows
Approvals and process workflows were managed through email and could not be automated, resulting in delays in sign-offs.
Recurring Tasks
Recurring tasks (daily or monthly) needed to be manually recreated, as Planner did not provide genuine recurring task support, resulting in additional work and likely omissions.
Communication Gaps
Planner did not have any comment threads or chat, so conversations regarding tasks were dispersed in emails or external apps, and details were lost often.
These pain points established that Kangaroo Care had surpassed Microsoft Planner. The business required a more robust, integrated platform that could combine the simplicity of formal project management with the agility of flexible collaboration. Simply put, they desired a platform to have everyone on the same page regarding who's doing what on all teams, monitor objectives such as OKRs, and keep goals on target – without adding stiff processes that would hinder them.
Deciding on Hidesc as the Solution
After evaluating several options, they chose Hidesc, a modern productivity and project management platform, for its unique combination of features designed for complex team structures. Hidesc stood out because it is built to handle hierarchical organizations while still supporting agile collaboration.
Hidesc offered a comprehensive solution to these issues, combining features that addressed each of Kangaroo Care's pain points. It provided robust role-based permissions aligned with the company hierarchy, multi-project and multi-team management from a single dashboard, and even an integrated OKR system to tie daily work to strategic goals. Importantly, Hidesc allowed custom workflows with flexible approval chains to match different project needs, so processes like client referrals or internal approvals could be streamlined. Its ability to integrate with existing tools and use AI-driven automation meant Kangaroo Care could connect Hidesc to their Microsoft 365 environment and let the platform handle repetitive tasks intelligently. This blend of hierarchy-friendly structure and agile features convinced Kangaroo Care that Hidesc was the right fit for their hybrid organization.
Key Features & Solutions in Action
Since they had Hidesc in hand, Kangaroo Care utilized some of the key features to address their issues and enhance operations:
Granular Role-Based Permissions and Hierarchy
Hidesc's fine-grained role-based access controls enabled Kangaroo Care to specifically determine who may view, edit, or approve each task, along with their company hierarchy. Sensitive client information (e.g., doctors' notes) was only accessible to permitted staff members, while maintaining confidentiality without impeding teamwork. This provided managers with comfort that the appropriate individuals had the appropriate access, which was paramount for a healthcare provider.
Multi-Project & Multi-Team Management
Hidesc offers a single workspace for all teams and projects of Kangaroo Care across both the Melbourne and Sydney offices. Having a single-dashboard system eliminated silos: everyone can view overall progress and workloads by location, thus simplifying coordination and sharing resources. Managers are able to monitor several projects simultaneously and immediately identify where one office can support the other, significantly enhancing cross-team cooperation.
OKR-Driven Goals Alignment
Hidesc's built-in OKR (Objectives and Key Results) module enabled Kangaroo Care to connect everyday work to long-term goals. Management defined objectives (such as enhancing client satisfaction or shortening response time) and assigned tasks and projects to related key results. Everyone could view how their tasks supported these targets, ensuring transparency and responsibility that concentrated everyone's efforts on attaining the organization's objectives.
Custom Workflows and Flexible Approvals
Hidesc no-code workflow designer enabled Kangaroo Care to streamline complex approvals and processes. They set up a referral flow, for example: when a support coordinator initiates a new client referral task, Hidesc automatically sends the relevant manager for approval. Even urgent referrals generate an immediate alert to senior staff through conditional rules. These auto-chains replaced slow email approvals and resulted in faster decision-making and transparency. The system also provides reminders and notifications so no request for approval is missed, allowing Kangaroo Care to keep its quick response times.
Task Templates and Recurring Tasks
Recurring tasks and templates supported by Hidesc meant key routines were never forgotten. Kangaroo Care eliminated repetitive work by scheduling tasks to create on set intervals – e.g., monthly invoice preparation tasks now repeat automatically for each client. The team also developed pre-built task templates for recurring workflows (such as new client signups or daily care routines), so staff can no longer start from scratch but instead fire off a standardized sequence of subtasks in seconds. This is not just time-saving but also ensures consistency in how every process is performed.
Group Tasks and Communication
Hidesc enhanced teamwork with group tasks and included chats. Now, multiple employees can be tasked to one task (like a support coordinator, nurse, and admin all working on one client's case) and work in parallel. They post updates in one location and everyone knows who is working on which sub-item. Each task also has a native comment thread and @mentions, so discussion and decisions regarding the work remain tied to the task itself. This real-time interaction has accelerated problem-solving and minimized miscommunication. Kangaroo Care also established a tailor-made request form in Hidesc for internal requirements: when a staff member places a request (for a document or assistance), it generates an automatic task for the corresponding manager. These requests are monitored and resolved within the system and not lost in the emails, thus solving the issues on time.
Reporting and Analytics
Hidesc gave Kangaroo Care robust real-time dashboards and reports that were not possible with their previous system. They even built a "Client Notes" report, for instance, that aggregates daily progress from all departments for each client, providing an overview, at-a-glance, of the status of each client. Their live report (posted on a large screen in the office) keeps everyone current with client progress without the need for an hour or so of meeting time. Hidesc's tracking also lets the team compare estimated versus actual work hours on tasks. In the sample chart above, each task's estimated effort is shown alongside the actual hours spent, immediately revealing any overruns. Insights like these help Kangaroo Care pinpoint where extra effort is being used and adjust plans or resources accordingly. With such analytics, the organization has become more data-centric, identifying bottlenecks and trends early on and making informed decisions to continuously optimize their service.
Results and Benefits
Since implementing Hidesc two years ago, Kangaroo Care has experienced dramatic enhancements in their business:
Enhanced Efficiency
Templates and automation cut administrative work by about 40% in terms of time. Employees have less time focusing on monitoring tasks and more client care; approvals, which took days via e-mail previously, now complete within hours.
Improved Collaboration
All task data and conversation within a single system removed miscommunications by a great margin. Working from two offices is now seamless, as everyone's working from the same source of truth for projects and news.
Transparency & Accountability
Managers have complete visibility into in-progress work through Hidesc dashboards. Behind-schedule tasks and waiting approvals are clearly visible, never to be missed. Every activity is tracked, which helps in compliance audits.
Consistent Quality
Standardized templates and routine tasks guarantee important processes (such as client onboarding and daily checks) are performed consistently each time. This consistency enhanced service quality and client satisfaction.
Scalability
Improved organization enabled Kangaroo Care to serve ~30% more clients in two years without increasing more management overhead. Hidesc's design and automation facilitated scaling up much more easily than it would have been on the previous system.
Compliance & Security
Fine-grained permissions and audit history made compliance with regulatory needs simpler. At audit time, they instantly supplied task and approval history, and sensitive information stayed limited to the appropriate staff.
From the staff's side, the transformation has been enormously beneficial. A support coordinator can now instantly view a client's whole record of tasks and notes – something that was not possible earlier – improving continuity of care. Managers are able to monitor both offices from a single app and step in early if something is on the wrong track. Essentially, Hidesc has enabled the organization to concentrate on achieving results, rather than chasing them, since regular admin tasks are automated and all details of every project are managed.
Conclusion
The journey of Kangaroo Care shows how embracing Hidesc facilitated a contemporary, streamlined approach to managing a complex support organization. By combining formal structure with flexible collaboration, the firm has transcended the limitations of its previous tools and attained higher clarity, alignment, and velocity in its operations. With two years on Hidesc, Kangaroo Care has enhanced its performance and established a solid foundation for future development. With Hidesc serving as the nexus that ties its teams, tools, and data together, the company is poised to maintain its high-quality support provision as it grows.