How Ad’s Up Consulting is using Workplace to optimize collaboration
Ad’s Up Consulting was an early adopter of Workplace. So we caught up with Maud Baerenzung, Head of Communication, to see how using the platform continues to transform how people work.
Ad’s Up is an independent digital firm specializing in search engine Marketing strategy and social media ads.
The team is building partnerships with high-level brands by combining advanced technology and the best consultants in their respective fields.
You can find Ad’s Up in the FT’s Europe’s Fastest Growing Companies 2018.
It’s been a busy few years at the agency – since starting up in 2012, it’s expanded from 2 to 49 people in just six years. The team also expects to continue hiring at the same rate in the future which can come with communications challenges.
Challenges that Workplace by Facebook is uniquely able to meet. Maud picks up the story.
1. Why did you choose Workplace?
“Before deploying Workplace, we used another online messaging solution. But as our team grew it became clear we needed more. The lack of conversation history in our previous platform was a problem,” says Maud.
“As was the inability to control and follow the exchanges of our teams. “And when an employee was absent, we wanted them to be able to find missing information as quickly as possible.”
The lack of conversation history in our previous platform was a problem. As was the inability to control and follow the exchanges of our teams
Maud believes that deploying Workplace has given Ad’s Up the right solution for all of those things. And it’s now the de-facto platform for all information sharing between cross-functional teams.
2. How did the launch go?
Workplace is a tool the whole Ad’s Up team uses every day. It’s the first thing that people check when they arrive in the morning. And it’s such an ingrained part of the culture that people check Workplace before they consider checking emails.
“It’s also company policy that people stay in Workplace all day,” says Maud.
And because Workplace is mobile-first, it’s enabling better communications across the organization. Not just for the important daily interactions between people, but for bigger and far-reaching announcements too.
Workplace is better than email. And it’s helping make communication two-way, not top-down
“Workplace is also a great tool for our internal communications and company announcements. We recently set up a newsletter on the first Monday of each month and we share it easily with our open company group for maximum visibility.”
And using the rich media in Workplace Chat and various groups is helping strengthen a sense of community and company culture.
“It’s better than email!” Maud says. “Using GiFs, emoticons and the simple ‘thumbs up’ helps make communication more two-way not top-down. We think that using Workplace is a great way to make every company more human and more employee centered.”
3. How is using Workplace is helping change the way you work?
With more than 370 clients, Ad’s Up needs top-class organization to stay customer focused. Better communication between teams is a crucial part of that.
Organizing work through Workplace Groups is ensuring people receive the project information they need to get the job done. And it’s connecting teams in different locations too by facilitating better communication between the different offices.
Maud also gives the example of challenges around training and product presentations. Prior to Workplace, scheduling difficulties made it hard to reach people from different offices. The Workplace deployment has changed that.
We now broadcast briefings using Live Video. It means we can share effectively with everyone instantly from right within Workplace
“Thanks to Workplace, we can now broadcast these briefings using Live Video. It means we can share effectively with everyone instantly from right within Workplace. Even to employees in different offices.”
And it all comes back to building community. “Using Workplace has become increasingly important in organizing the social-side of Ad’s Up. Our teams often share photos, surveys, events as well as tips and advice to people across the business.”
Bringing people closer together is another reason that Workplace has become a crucial part of life
Bringing individuals and teams closer together is another reason that Workplace has become a crucial part of life in Ad’s Up.
4. What would you like to see next in Workplace?
It’s really important for people to keep up to date with the latest articles and developments in the world of digital advertising. And Maud thinks this could be a great next step for Workplace.
“It would be interesting in the future for Workplace to integrate some news applications. This would allow us to centralize how we gather information and save us even more time!”
We think that’s a great idea. And the good news is, we’ve already started.
The growing Integrations Directory now contains over 50 integrations with the work tools people use every day including news aggregators like Reuters and Bloomberg. And there’s more in the pipeline!
What’s really exciting is that organizations like Ad’s up can build their own custom integrations. You can also request the integration you’d like to see. And we also love to hear from developers who’d like to build an integration with Workplace.
Merci beaucoup à Maud Baerenzung, Head of Communications, Ad’s Up Consulting.
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