Our blog series “Coffee Break: 5 Minutes With…” is a chance to get to know Via laurea team members a little better.
Today we are chatting with our brilliant project manager, Greta Šeštokė! Beyond her work with projects, Greta is involved in a wide range of Via laurea activities, from Odoo DEMO presentations to customer support, so many of our clients have already met her.
A fun question to start with – coffee or tea?
Definitely coffee, although I drink much more water with lemon than coffee. I take my coffee without sugar and choose it based on my mood - it might be an espresso, a cappuccino, or a café au lait. Just like in projects, balance is key.
What does a great workday look like for you?
For me, a good workday is one where I spend more time planning and making decisions rather than "putting out fires". When the team understands what they’re doing and why, and projects move forward smoothly and calmly. The best part is ending the day with a sense of peace - when the important issues are resolved instead of being pushed to tomorrow. Personal growth is also crucial - stagnation simply doesn’t work for me. Of course, receiving positive client feedback is always a nice bonus.
You’ve been part of the Via laurea team for over two years now –what do you like most about working here?
What I appreciate most is the strong sense of togetherness in the team. There’s a genuine feeling of teamwork - everyone contributes to the shared result, and no one’s input feels less important than anyone else’s. Via laurea supports a "flat" working structure: there’s no rigid hierarchy and all colleagues are valued equally.
I also really value how initiative is encouraged. If you have ideas and the motivation to act on them, you’re welcome to get involved with different teams, grow professionally, and help the company grow alongside you.
Via laurea presentation at Odoo Business Show in Vilnius, 2024
What’s the most important lesson you’ve learned in this role?
The biggest lesson for me was realising that not everything has to be done perfectly or done by me alone. I’m a perfectionist, but over time I learned that the best results come when you trust your team and delegate. Sometimes it’s better to do things faster, see what works, and only then improve - this “fail fast” approach really saves time and nerves. When you try to handle everything yourself, deadlines inevitably suffer and the client ends up receiving results too late.
Empathy toward the client and maintaining continuous communication are also extremely important to me. The relationship with a client shouldn’t end with a successful sale or the completion of a project - that’s actually where long-term communication begins. It takes real effort to make a client feel important and heard. When that happens, it naturally comes back around: the client is happy, returns with new needs, and we’re seen as true professionals in our field.
In your opinion, what sets Via laurea apart among Odoo partners?
I think Via laurea stands out for its very pragmatic approach to Odoo projects. A lot of attention is given to local client needs, their processes, and long-term cooperation - not just to “closing” a project. That level of maturity really distinguishes us from other partners.
You can also clearly feel the depth of experience with Odoo. Decisions are made based on careful evaluation, and a strong team of specialists allows the company to grow without compromising quality. As a project manager, this approach resonates with me a lot.
Greta at the Odoo Experience event in Belgium
What is the most difficult part of working on ERP projects?
In ERP projects, the hardest part isn’t the system itself, but adapting it to the client’s real business processes and employees’ expectations. The system can usually do a lot, but the biggest challenge is managing change on the human side: letting go of familiar ways of working, aligning internally, and accepting that not everything will stay the same. Sometimes it takes a lot of effort to convince the client that a new process will bring more value and that they need to trust us as experts in our field.
What question would you like to hear from clients more often?
I’d like clients to ask not only “what can the system do?” or “what will the budget be?”, but also “how will this actually change our day-to-day work after the project is completed?”. When systems are compared purely based on features and price, it’s very easy to miss the essential point - whether the solution will truly take root in the organisation and be fully adopted. The earlier clients understand this, the smoother projects tend to be.
You’re involved in many different Via laurea activities – how do stay organised to avoid burnout?
There’s only one answer - PLANNING. Planning activities, tasks, and meetings. When you have a plan, you can move mountains and avoid unnecessary stress. Work shouldn’t be a constant cycle of managing conflicts - that usually happens only when there’s no planning and no consistent way of working. Of course, force majeure situations sometimes happen inevitably, but with proper forward planning, they happen far less often than when you’re working without a plan and in constant chaos.
What trends in the ERP industry do you find most interesting right now?
What interests me most at the moment is how ERP systems are moving beyond purely operational and becoming part of broader business decision-making. You can also see artificial intelligence gradually evolving from a supporting tool into a real decision-making assistant. There are more and more solutions tailored to specific industries as well, and this is where I really like Odoo for its flexibility and strong partner ecosystem.
Selfie with Odoo founder Fabien Pinckaers
To wrap up – what achievement are you most proud of?
I’m most proud when, in complex projects, we manage not only to implement solutions but to see them actually being used in practice. When you see that people trust the system and work with it - that’s the biggest success for me.
Beyond professional achievements, I’m also proud of a personal one - I officially became a smooth fox terriers breeder, and in September I had my first litter. I approached this goal very systematically, treating it as another project: planning, preparation, risk management, and responsibility for the outcome. I apply many of the same principles in my professional work as well.
Greta with her first smooth fox terriers litter
