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Financial technology innovator PayPal is constantly on the lookout for new ways to modernise operations. The company\u2019s existing mix of communications solutions had resulted in siloed data and limited international collaboration. Standardising on Microsoft Teams, the company increased data discoverability and enhanced collaboration, both in meetings and between international coworkers. This success was guided by a comprehensive change management plan that resulted in wide-ranging employee enthusiasm.<\/span><\/p>\n To operate as a single global group, we needed to work from a single platform. Microsoft Teams gave us increased productivity and collaboration, along with the increased security of Office 365, the ability to do data archiving, data retention\u2014and the sense that each of us are equally part of PayPal, no matter where we work.<\/p>\n Dan Torunian, Vice President of Employee Technology and Experiences and Data Centers, PayPal<\/p><\/blockquote>\n The tremendous effect that PayPal has had, both upon the banking industry and how people manage their money, is one of the great successes of the digital age. A driving force behind the last 20 years of modernisation in its industry, this Fortune 500 company is constantly on the lookout for new ways to innovate. Over the years, this has meant that the company, which operates in more than 200 markets around the world, has adopted a number of communication and collaboration tools.<\/p>\n In 2018, PayPal conducted an employee survey to evaluate its communication tools. Whereas 89 percent of employees responded that they were committed to a culture of collaboration, only 39 percent felt that their existing tools met their needs. The company\u2019s mix of on-premises and cloud-hosted services worked well enough for localised employee groups, but lacked the cohesion, stability, and features of a unified collaboration and communication solution. The survey results also highlighted limited conferencing capabilities as a particularly pronounced pain point.<\/p>\n When you have such a global workforce, it\u2019s really important that they\u2019re able to connect face to face, even if they can\u2019t be in the same physical space, says Nora Grasham,<\/p>\n Senior Director of Employee Technology and Experiences at PayPal.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n PayPal needed to unify its communications through a modern collaboration platform that would empower employees to work together from anywhere, on any device. After studying the options available, the company concluded that Microsoft Teams, with its advanced features, ubiquitous accessibility, and integrated Microsoft 365 security, best met its needs<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cTo operate as a single global group, we needed to work from a single platform,\u201d says Dan Torunian, Vice President of Employee Technology and Experiences and Data Centers at PayPal. \u201cMicrosoft Teams gave us increased productivity and collaboration, along with the increased security of Office 365, the ability to do data archiving, data retention\u2014and the sense that each of us are equally part of PayPal, no matter where we work.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Orchestrating effective change<\/strong><\/p>\n Because of its well-documented history of embracing change, PayPal understands how complex modernisation efforts can be. \u201cIt\u2019s very important that our customers are not impacted in any way by our internal changes,\u201d says C\u00f3ra Garvey, Senior Manager, Organisational Change Management for Employee Technology and Experiences at PayPal. \u201cSo, it was crucial to make sure that we understood how our employees complete their work and what might adversely alter those practices.\u201d Before introducing Teams to its workforce, the company ran a full investigation into how employee groups would be affected, including how people of differing personas, residing in numerous countries with varied cultural backgrounds, prefer to communicate, and how they might feel about the change. Using the findings of this investigation, the company then established Teams use cases for multiple common workplace personas.<\/p>\n \u201cIn designing our change management strategy, we knew we needed to factor in different learning and communication styles,\u201d says Garvey. \u201cWe made a number of different learning channels available in order to allow people to learn their own way before our scheduled transition date.\u201d Among the learning tools employed by PayPal were on-demand video resources, short-term Teams immersion challenges, and role-specific support channels within Teams itself. \u201cWe even held a GIF day, where we challenged everyone to communicate solely via GIF during a meeting,\u201d says Garvey. \u201cSome of the GIFs were hilarious, and I believe the experiment brought an added layer of inclusivity and positivity to the workplace.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n