“No one had experienced a shift in the way we work at this scale before. We had to consider every team member who transitioned to remote and hybrid work across regions, time zones and teams,” recalls Hetal B., a Product Manager on the enterprise products team, on the challenge of building Helpdesk Chat to support Meta employees during the pivot to remote work. As Meta navigates the hybrid, global workforce, ensuring employees receive technical support no matter where they’re located is critical. That’s why teams across the enterprise engineering organization developed Helpdesk Chat to scale existing remote support. “Helpdesk Chat saves so much time and frustration for employees when they experience technical challenges,” says Shivi S., an Enterprise Support Engineer on the enterprise engineering engagement team that manages the Helpdesk. “The opportunity to talk to a live technical operations person is right at their fingertips. So rather than spending time trying to solve problems like a broken laptop or licensing issues, they can focus on building and shipping products that bring people closer together.” Building a product that supports global employees and spans several internal teams requires a high level of collaboration. 4 enterprise engineering team members in APAC share how they’ve come together to drive meaningful impact across the organization.

“Everyone went to the in-person Helpdesk for technical support, so we knew we needed to develop a digital solution that would bridge that gap,” shares Hetal. “Our goal was to make it intuitive, easy and efficient to use, so it would integrate seamlessly into people’s ways of communicating. We drew inspiration from Workplace Chat, since most people at Meta used it already, and merged the Helpdesk Chat environment with other internal platforms so workflows were uninterrupted.” “Self-service has also been critical to the success of Helpdesk Chat and was a priority for our team from the start,” says Shivi. “We wanted to empower people to solve their own problems, which has led to lower wait times for them and fewer cases for our team.”

Ning T., an Enterprise Engineer, agrees that Helpdesk Chat powers the value at Meta of “Move Fast.” “If someone is blocked by their device, account or network, they can’t do their job. By unblocking the issue, we help teams and the company move faster,” he says.

Mayank S., an Enterprise Engineering Manager, is excited to make an ongoing impact with Helpdesk Chat at scale. “It’s easy to deliver a product 5 people will use, but when you build technology that will be used by hundreds of thousands of people with different needs, you have to think differently,” he shares.

The success of the Helpdesk Chat project was made possible by close, cross-functional collaboration between enterprise engineering engagement and enterprise products teams. “EE (enterprise engineering) engagement provides real-world experience and insights that equip engineers to build the most helpful, efficient products possible,” Shivi explains. “From ideation to design, we are working in sync.” “We’re in constant contact with EE (enterprise engineering) engagement to understand how they use products every day,” Ning adds. “We brainstorm technical solutions together, run A/B tests and manage customer implementation together. This calls for a lot of open communication.”

Hetal agrees that the partnership between teams is critical for creative problem-solving. “It’s important to listen to engineers, especially with this project,” she offers. “Product team members need to deeply understand a problem in order to solve it.” This level of synergy and trust exists at both the leadership and team levels, according to Mayank. “Engineers at some other companies might be treated strictly as coders,” he shares. “But enterprise engineers at Meta think about how the code will be used by people. This empathetic approach pushed us to be proactive about building the best possible solution.”

The launch of Helpdesk Chat is only the beginning for enterprise engineering as the future of work continues to evolve and Meta employees embrace new work choices. “The scale of our ‘problem’ — helping teams with technical issues — is ongoing, so scaling our services is essential,” explains Hetal. The team is continuously seeking feedback to develop new solutions that make experiences even more efficient. “We’re constantly asking ourselves, ‘How can we make this better? We consider everything from tools and hardware to security and support,” Shivi explains. There are abundant opportunities for innovation across the enterprise engineering teams in APAC. “We work on solutions that drive a positive impact for a lot of people. Meta has developed global teams that are encouraged to be a part of the larger solution,” Mayank shares. Ning echoes Mayank’s enthusiasm for the future being built in APAC. “Our teams own impactful projects and solve complex global problems,” he says. Together, enterprise engineering is powering the future of hybrid work and digital support, ensuring teams at Meta are empowered with the technical expertise and problem-solving they need to move fast, innovate and push the boundary forward.