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Slack Enterprise Grid Transforms Silverline’s Communication and Collaboration

By 07.06.22
Reading time: 3 minutes

Here’s some irony for you: the story you are about to read was fully developed and created within Silverline’s Slack workspace. Our #slack_blog channel is where we collaborated on all the details of this article.

But we haven’t always relied on Slack for our internal collaboration.

Back in 2017, Silverline had been using Skype for its communications. Silverline’s technical and development architects realized the company needed a better user experience for its informal chats and to rely less heavily on email for communication. That’s when Slack made its debut at Silverline.  

Silverline’s leadership decided we would be a Slack-first organization. This directive meant that all corporate communications intended for the entire organization would be posted in the #announcements channel in Slack instead of sending through email. Employees followed suit and soon used Slack as their preferred platform for communication and collaboration. We even voted on a name for our social discussion channel, and #slacking_off has been our most trafficked channel since. 

As Silverline grew and expanded, we realized the need to scale our usage of Slack as well. 

A new acquisition expands the Silverline family

A key turning point was in July 2021 when Silverline acquired Shift CRM, a Toronto-based company specializing in building solutions on the Salesforce platform for media and entertainment organizations. This acquisition meant a new practice of 40 employees needed to be merged and integrated into the Silverline family.  

The Silverline media team (formerly Shift CRM) conducted much of its business within Slack. They wanted to ensure their team would still have access to all the necessary information and resources for deal reviews, client communications, and more. 

Silverline soon realized that the standard Slack platform was not conducive to the media team’s evolved needs. Angie Lingk, the Senior Vice President and General Manager of Silverline’s Media and Entertainment division that inherited the Shift CRM team, shared the user experience challenges of integrating the two teams in Slack. 

“It was fairly detrimental because it was two completely separate workspaces that you had to get invited to,” Lingk said. “It was like the new media team was in their own building, and Silverline was in another. In order to talk to the other team in Slack, it was as if you had to leave your building, go to their building, have the conversation, and then leave and go back to your building.” 

Enter Slack Enterprise Grid, an enhanced solution for Silverline

Slack Enterprise Grid was the solution to Silverline’s integration challenges. Enterprise Grid is designed for large or complex organizations and is intended to mirror how the company is structured. At Silverline, we have offices across the globe that not only include Media and Entertainment, but also the Healthcare and Life Sciences plus Financial Services practices.

Enterprise Grid provides Silverline’s merged media team with dedicated, focused workspaces while allowing them to connect with the broader Silverline organization around projects and conversations in channels. 

Lingk appreciates how Enterprise Grid is breaking down the barriers to collaboration. She said, “I love that I have my media workspace and my Silverline workspace. I equate it to being able to either stay in my media office or choose to go out and interact with my colleagues in the Silverline community.”

Some of the reasons why Silverline selected Slack Enterprise Grid include:

  • Security: There is an additional layer of security and data loss protection in Enterprise Grid which is important because the organization works with many highly regulated industries and shares sensitive information with clients in Slack.
  • Productivity: Cross-functional team members can easily share, find, and ask for information across Slack workspaces with filters and search features, rather than sorting through isolated emails and folders.
  • Cultural: Enterprise Grid helps lay out the welcome mat for new team members and makes them quickly feel like part of the organization with shared channels built around areas of affinity.  

Communication and collaboration are amplified

Silverline saw immediate results in elevated communication and collaboration among the integrated media team. 

Lingk summed it up that Slack Enterprise Grid “humanizes the way we work. We no longer feel like we have to leave our building to interact with our fellow team members. We’re all working together seamlessly on the same platform, and our sense of belonging has soared.”

Based on the success of the media team, Silverline rolled out Slack Enterprise Grid to the entire organization in March 2022. There are plans to leverage Slack Enterprise Grid further as part of Silverline’s overall business systems strategy, including workspaces for each industry and corporate team as well as for capabilities and shared services. Ultimately, Slack Enterprise Grid will be embedded into all of Silverline’s day-to-day interactions with each other, our partners, and clients.   

Silverline has your back when it comes to Slack

Silverline saw the opportunity to improve its collaboration platform. By shining an internal lens on its own practices, Silverline used its consulting expertise to make a successful migration to Slack Enterprise Grid. 

Making a move to Enterprise Grid is not as simple as “lift and shift.” You need a trusted partner who has been down this road themselves and can help you navigate the intricacies of adoption. Silverline is a certified Slack services partner and can deliver a Slack transformation solution to meet your specific needs, from strategy and implementation to managed services. Learn how Silverline can help transform your business with Slack.

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