Workplace is helping people innovate more, work faster and make connections on a truly global scale.

The It Gets Better Project (IGBP) was an early adopter of Workplace and has been using the platform since October 2016. We caught up with Brett Peters, Director of Media & Strategic Partnerships, to see how long-term use of Workplace is helping transform the way people work.

"In 2010, Dan Savage and his partner, Terry Miller, uttered three words that would give rise to a global movement focused on the empowerment of LGBTQ+ youth – it gets better."

Since then, IGBP has evolved from a social media campaign into a major multi-media platform. The mission? To uplift, empower and connect LGBTQ+ youth around the globe. They do this through storytelling and global community building. Here's the IGBP Workplace story so far…

Communication in the world before Workplace

IGBP has a huge network of affiliate organisations all over the world. Different time zones, different languages, busy schedules. Before Workplace, IGBP staff found it difficult to talk to each other and collaborate on projects.

"We joined Workplace the week it was announced. We were thrilled that it was being offered free of charge to registered charities."

And that wasn't from a lack of trying. As Brett explains, "We'd tried other platforms and all of them felt clunky and like an extra step – rather than a way to streamline."

So when the team heard about the Workplace mission to give everyone a place to work together, they thought that it was the right solution for them.

Connecting everyone, everywhere

IGBP deployed to over 100 staff and volunteers. The launch had an immediate impact by joining every single person together for the very first time. The staff could use Workplace tools such as Org Chart and rich, real-name profiles to visualise the whole organisation. It also gave people a way to communicate quickly with each other via Workplace Chat with just a simple click.

As Brett recalls, "For a lot of people, this was the first time that they realised just how big our organisation is. And how many people it takes to make it successful."

Even better, there was little or no training required. The familiar Workplace features and tools meant that everyone very quickly understood how to use Workplace because of how similar it is to the Facebook platform.

Better productivity helps solve global challenges

Brett believes that using Workplace has greatly improved the productivity of IGBP and helps people achieve their goal to uplift, empower and connect LGBTQ+ youth around the globe. And with Workplace, they can do that better than ever before.

"Workplace has improved the productivity of our organisation immensely."

One particularly thorny challenge for IGBP was translating content into multiple languages. Using Workplace, people were able to establish and implement a system of processes to solve the problem. Which means that global affiliates can now share content on their channels more quickly than ever before.

"By using Workplace, we can identify key dates and social moments that we want to take part in and create coordinated efforts with our affiliates to create maximum impact."

Before Workplace, it was really difficult to create these kinds of efforts. But now it's easy.

Communication 2.0: Getting more work done

Groups have been incredibly helpful. IGBP has set up working and project groups for all its global affiliates. It has groups for every region so that local teams can collaborate on coordinated efforts with each other.

"We'd been using a different video conferencing platform before and it was incredibly difficult to get all the necessary participants on board."

This means that IGBP can keep the board up to date in real time. Even better, it gives the board an open and transparent way to give feedback and offer help when people need it. Opening these new communication channels have been instrumental in making sure that everyone is on the same page. And the organisation is reaping the benefits.

Live video is another feature that is helping IGBP get more done. Prior to using video in Workplace Chat, teams had been using a different video conferencing platform. They'd found it incredibly difficult to get all the necessary participants on board. The HD video (with group video for up to 50 participants) enables IGBP teams to have better conversations directly via the desktop or mobile app.

"We use events to schedule monthly meetings with our affiliates. The video conferencing feature makes it one seamless process."

Integrations and sophistication

The way that IGBP is using Workplace is evolving. Connecting the entire organisation gave people quicker and smarter ways to share ideas and collaborate. This, in turn, gives teams ways to solve difficult business challenges.

And there's one final example of how using Workplace can enable organisations to find smart new ways to work. Workplace integrates with the business tools that people use every day. And this allows companies to start using Workplace as the control panel through which they get everything done.

"Having Workplace as the central hub to send files to one another is faster than using email!"

It's a sophisticated way of using the Workplace platform, and the benefits for IGBP have been clear. As Brett notes, "the consolidation of third-party storage apps such as Dropbox and Google Drive has been helping us work smarter. Having Workplace as the central hub to send files to one another is faster than using email!"

We're absolutely delighted that using Workplace is helping It Gets Better to deliver its mission to build a global LGBTQ+ movement. We can't wait to see what the next step of the Workplace journey looks like.

With thanks to Brett Peters at The It Gets Better Project.