Project Albert: Oto Hausmann

No project is without its major or minor obstacles. This is doubly true for a collaboration of such scale as the partnership between Albert and Logio. What were the biggest challenges that you, and by extension the entire team, had to overcome on this project?

I jumped into the whole project about a year after it started, and I have to say the initial challenge was to change the reputation of a rather unfortunate project into something that made sense to work on and that all participants could be proud of. The second challenge was maintaining a certain level of commitment and team concentration, and last but not least, perhaps shifting people's mindset to a winner's mindset. It might sound like a cliché, but when you work on something this demanding and successfully pull it off, it gives you a huge boost of new self‑confidence, provided you can realize it. And that was something we all really needed.

When someone says Albert, everyone imagines something slightly different – what comes to your mind first? Could you identify the feelings it evokes in you?

I definitely have to say courage. And that goes for everyone who participated in the project. The courage on Albert's part to go with Logio's solution in the Czech Republic and give us a chance, even when their "sisters" took the safe route of a solution recommended by the parent company. The courage to accept, develop, and share our original vision. It was also the courage of Etnetera, who helped us on the software side and believed in a partnership approach right to the end. The courage of our team not to give up despite repeated setbacks, or conversely, the courage to honestly admit that there was something we didn't know or couldn't handle yet.

I haven't formally studied Albert's corporate values, but I think teamwork and joy in work must be among them, because you could feel it in everything they did. This similarity in the human and corporate values of everyone involved brought us closer together. It was definitely the biggest project I have ever managed in my life. And my feelings? The first thing that pops into my mind is the feeling of a job well done by a huge number of people at Logio, ETNetera, Atreo, U‑Sluno, and of course, Albert.

The platform that Albert now has at its disposal is in many ways a revolutionary tool. That can sometimes sound very theoretical – could you please explain what has changed from a practical standpoint for Albert's customers? What will shoppers in the store appreciate?

Today, goods are much more likely to be available to customers the moment they want to buy them. The freshness of the products has also improved. However, I believe the most crucial changes are the ones that aren't visible in the store but have improved behind the scenes. This ultimately benefits both Albert as a company and, in the long run, the customer, for whom the people at Albert now have more time. Naturally, Albert has been running other parallel projects that continuously improve and advance all their stores, so I firmly believe that customers must have noticed the positive changes in Albert stores over the last few years.

You spent a total of 2 years on the project – looking back now, can you say what the project taught you, what it took from you, or conversely, what it gave you?

The courage to be open and direct. To cast aside the fluff and speak frankly – both myself and the whole team. Simply put, calling things exactly as they are. For me as a project manager, it was also amazing to collaborate with the project manager from Albert. Unlike me, he had been with the project the entire time and withstood all its ups and downs. He is a professional dedicated to Albert with his heart in the right place.

In fact, Albert's entire approach was a bit "eye‑opening" for me. I used to think that at this level, you just had to be a tough negotiator and buyer. I didn't believe that Albert would give us such huge room to fix things and see them through to the end, or that even in such high‑stakes games, you could play by fair rules. I appreciate that immensely.