What does your day-to-day work look like? Especially if you work digitally, in a home office or remotely, you need to be able to structure yourself independently, do research at times and not forget the most important to-dos among all the meetings. Furthermore, continuing education is an essential aspect of the working world. Constant changes in our digital world mean that it is no longer possible to rely entirely on traditional knowledge. More and more companies are using Employee Experience Platforms (EXP) for training and personal development of their employees. With the help of this software, the potential of employees can be used much more comprehensively and the necessary change in corporate culture in today’s world can be advanced. To tie it all together, Microsoft has launched its own digital, holistic employee experience platform: Microsoft Viva.
Microsoft Viva – what is it exactly?
This is the Viva platform from the Microsoft 356 Suite was created not for companies, but for their employees. Here, communication, knowledge, learning, resources, and insights are combined. The integrated system thus directly addresses the needs of employees, strengthens their individual and professional development, and is thus also intended to improve satisfaction.
Especially in the wake of the Corona pandemic, more and more companies have become aware of how important all these aspects are. The world of work cannot remain “business as usual” forever, but must continue to develop with new perspectives such as New Work.
The Microsoft Suite makes it possible
Viva, the Employee Experience Platform, is open and extensible. Accordingly, there are constant new developments for individual toolkits and modules. In February 2021, Microsoft introduced this EXP, at that time still reduced to the four key features Insights, Topics, Learning and Connection. Meanwhile, there are still Viva Goals and more feature. Microsoft Viva Suite is available in monthly and annual subscriptions for individual users and teams. Some apps, like Viva Connections, are also fully included in the Microsoft 365 suite.
Connect: Viva and other Microsoft products
In order for this new platform from Microsoft to realize its full potential, it can be linked with other products in the 365 Suite. Especially important: Microsoft SharePoint and Microsoft Teams. SharePoint is a web-based application for storing and sharing data within an organization. Learn more in our blog article: Microsoft SharePoint – What you need to know. Especially the Viva Connections feature (see below) makes ideal use of this connection. For example, managers can offer a landing page for company news, HR forms, relevant apps, or IT help thanks to the app.
Microsoft Teams as chat and (video) telephony app from Microsoft offers an incredible number of possibilities to simplify your digital workday. Read more about the main features and benefits here. All the features described below can be integrated into MS Teams and are therefore accessible from one place.
The top 4 Microsoft Viva features
- Viva Insights
- Viva Topics
- Viva Learning
- Viva Connections
1. Viva Insights
Working time optimization is an important topic in companies. Both in the office and in the home office, there are distractions, and some people struggle to get the most out of the workday.
With Viva Insights, it is possible to provide insights to develop better work habits, such as maintaining focus time for uninterrupted and individualized work. These insights are gathered by aggregating existing data on emails, meetings, calls, and chats from Microsoft 365. With the tool, you can get personal insights and stay connected by AI-based task suggestions, reminders for 1:1 meetings, and similar features to stayon top of collaboration with colleagues.
Another feature of the Insights app is to block time slots and reserve focus times. Occasional pauses for breath are just as important! Take a break in between – with the one-minute “pause” feature, you can actively listen to your needs within the workday and take a breath. This can also be wonderfully combined with guided meditations from Headspace or adjustable frequencies for self-reflection, where you can analyze your own emotional state.
Feedback is important not only for yourself, but also for colleagues – send praise to your team members via Microsoft Teams, either in a Teams channel or a 1:1 chat.
Viva Insights is linked to other Microsoft applications such as Teams or Microsoft To-Do. This allows you to view your tasks for the day in the Insights app and work in a more structured way.
2. Viva Topics
Did you know that people spend an average of 7 weeks a year searching for information? Especially, new employees need a lot of time for research. Viva Topics helps to reduce this time. The tool combines artificial intelligence with human expertise and automatically organizes company-wide content as well as expertise, e.g., on ongoing processes, various projects, products, or your clientele.
Users will automatically see topic cards in conversations and documents in Microsoft 365 and MS Teams, eliminating a lengthy search. This is where information from your company unites with third-party services like Servicenow and Salesforce.
3. Viva Learning
Create a central hub for learning and training for your business with Viva Learning. Microsoft also relies on AI in this feature to recommend the right content at the right time. With Viva Learning, you create an active learning culture in your company and ensure that continuing education and training courses become a natural part of daily work. In the feature, the company’s own learning content can be inserted, as well as courses from third-party providers such as LinkedIn Learning, Microsoft Learn, Skillsoft, Coursera and others.
4. Viva Connections
Everything in one place – that’s what Viva Connections is all about. This app helps you integrate all of your organization’s internal resources into Microsoft Teams for better team collaboration. In particular, this simplifies entry into the digital world of work. Employees can find curated content, news from their own company, guidelines or even an overview of company benefits thanks to Viva Connections. Switching to the intranet is no longer necessary – you can find and search for all relevant content in MS Teams.
Find your Flow
The concept of Microsoft Viva is not new. It is the enhanced, digital version of other projects, making it ideal for overcoming the hurdles of remote work. In the digitalized world of work in particular, EXP are helpful for training new employees, communicating important information via short channels and internal communication, maintaining a healthy work-life balance, and establishing a culture of continued education. The connection with Microsoft products that are often already established in the company, such as MS Teams is also a great advantage. This way, you don’t have to switch between different programs, but have everything at a glance. The integrated AI suggests additional content to existing company information and facilitates the handling of company knowledge.
Microsoft Viva puts employees at the center – the platform makes it easier for users to find a flow in their daily work, not to forget themselves over their activity and to keep a good overview of everything important.
Are you curious? We at Dinotronic are happy to advise you on these and other Microsoft products.
