In every organization, there are teams
dedicated to improving
the experiences and tools your employees
have to do their jobs better
so that they can improve the experiences
your customers have with your business.
These often unsung heroes are the
business technology or I.T. teams
For us that Salesforce,
these mighty teams have completely changed
the way they work
so that they can change the way we work.
By deploying solutions that increase
employee productivity, automate
manual processes with workflows, improve
case response times, and so, so much more.
And what's at the center
of all these innovations?
Well, it's Slack, of course. Hey, I'm
Arinee and welcome back to the series.
In this episode,
Andy White, SVP of Business Technology,
is here to share how his team is using
Slack to reclaim their workday, automate
routine tasks and mitigate security issues
faster and a whole lot more.
He even has a few tips and examples
you can use for your business today.
Let's get started. Andy, take it away.
In 2020, my team deployed Slack
to all of Salesforce.
We needed a platform to collaborate, break down conversation
silos and improve connections. Using Slack,
we've been able to create a culture
that provides a more human experience
and enables our teams
to do the best work of their lives.
We're able to solve problems faster
helping Salesforce become the
world's number one AI CRM.
Today, I'd like to share with you
three tips for how Slack enables our I.T. teams
to be more productive,
innovate quickly and more securely
right in the flow of work.
Tip number one: “Reduce emails and meetings
and save time.”
Let's start with Slack channels.
This is where the work happens.
Unlike email or messaging apps,
which are your copy of the conversation,
everyone in a channel can participate in
one place, no forked or side conversations.
In addition to spending less time
digging through email inboxes.
Channels help cut back on meetings.
Instead of organizing lengthy status
report meetings at the end of our sprints,
we share progress in Slack channels.
I use channels to work with my direct
team, my global leadership
team, business
partners, project collaborators and more.
You can also have different channels
with the same members driven by topic.
my directs channel used to get clogged up
by a lot of conversation every quarter.
We would plan and execute our all hands.
Now we have a channel just for all hands planning.
Keeping the conversations clear
and in the right place.
Another great way to save time and
collaborate better is with Slack connect.
You can securely and easily work
and collaborate with people
that aren't part of your company.
At Salesforce,
we use over 100,000 Slack Connect channels
to collaborate with more than 40,000
different organizations.
By bringing together
all the right teammates, partners
and vendors in a single channel
for easy, transparent communication.
Slack Connect helps us accelerate work
and strengthen relationships.
Tip number two: “Resolve problems faster, as a team.”
worker knows that emails and meetings
can take all of your time in the workday.
Slack makes it easier for teams
to face challenges, obstacles
and bring the right people
to make decisions.
The end result is more capacity
to innovate.
Our I.T. teams make time for deep focus work
by automating
and managing tasks in Slack.
Slack has integrations
with over 2600 software tools and apps,
enabling all of the work
to be done in one platform.
We call our internal I.T.
support team “Tech Force.”
We created a company-wide
Help Tech Force channel that integrates
with service cloud for automatic ticket
creation and tracking.
Previously, it would take more than
24 hours to resolve an issue.
In Slack, initial response time is less than one
minute, and time to resolve
Why is Slack so much faster?
Because we're meeting employees
where they are working.
We can respond close to
when they submit the issue
and have their attention
to resolve the problem together.
No context switching and all
the data is logged and accounted for
Another great tool is Slack Huddles.
It's like tapping a coworker in the office
and saying,
“Can we talk about this for a minute?”
Huddles lets you connect live in Slack
through lightweight audio,
video, multi-person screen
sharing, message threads and more.
Huddles accounts for 26% of all video
meetings at Salesforce.
Huddles are mostly unscheduled meetings
and are shorter
than our regular video calls.
They average
15 minutes versus the normal 45.
Moving more conversations to huddles
has reduced our time in meetings
with our approvals app for Slack.
receive notifications and can view and act
on pending approvals in Slack.
Think of expenses, access approvals,
travel approvals, time off, so on.
When we process approvals in Slack,
our time to process approvals
has reduced from two days to 2 hours.
I've been told frequently
that people enjoy managing their approvals
because they're in Slack.
By automating
tasks and speeding up approvals,
we save time for deep work,
improve the flow of work
and the experience for our employees
and customers.
The combination is more innovation
and business impact.
And speaking of saving time.
If you're already a Slack customer
but you're not using command
K, I suggest you go Google it.
Tip number three: “Get the best work
from the best talent in the market.”
As a leader,
I want to stay connected, approachable
and engaged with my team
by fostering an environment that promotes
effective collaboration,
we attract and retain the best employees.
I use clips all the time to share
top of mind updates with my team
and live updates from the field
to share customer feedback.
Each clip becomes a recorded document
we can share across
Salesforce to boost visibility and transparency.
You can see employees engagement to the videos
where they responded with emojis, in real time.
It's also a great way for my team
to practice their presentation skills
and get recognized for their work.
There are many times where I'm starting
to write about something
and I think, “this would just be easier
in a clip.”
It's also a great way to send someone
a note of thanks or gratitude.
I also frequently ask for a clip
instead of a meeting or prep call.
the objective and eliminate a meeting
or make it more effective.
Clips are also great for sharing
sprint demos and getting feedback.
My last tool to highlight
today is Workflow Builder
a clicks, not code tool
that allows any Slack user
to streamline team processes
by creating custom workflows.
organization uses an automated workflow
to conduct a software at a station survey
to confirm the software assigned to
them is needed and provide an opportunity
Instead of sending the survey
to employees email inboxes.
We use the workflow
to conduct the survey right in Slack
within 45 days of launching the
software at a station survey workflow
response rates are above 70%, saving over
$800,000 in software
licensing in just 45 days.
My team balances many complex projects
with a lot of stakeholders every day.
The more we can automate
and simplify the flow of work,
the more enjoyable and innovative
our work becomes.
Business and information technology teams
form the backbone of every successful
enterprise, and Slack brings
all the applications and tools
you need to do your best work
on to one easily accessible place.
Thank you for watching “Salesforce on Salesforce.”
If you enjoyed this episode
and want to continue learning,
be sure to check out the “Take
a deeper dive” section down below.
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Just hover over the episode you want to
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Thanks for watching
and we'll see you next time.