Microsoft Viva: The Program You Didn't Know You Needed

We all carry memories of keystone moments with us, whether it’s learning about when Elvis died or the moment your company held a meeting saying you were working from home for a week or two while this COVID thing calmed down. Elvis’ legacy is still being debated decades after his passing, and some experiences that COVID brought us abruptly, like working from home, are definitely still a part of our day-to-day lives.

Nothing says 2022 like hybrid work. We’ve talked about it before... plenty... But seriously, according to nine out of ten executives polled by McKinsey, the hybrid work model is what to expect moving forward, and 35% of workers responding to a Qualtrics survey say they’re more likely to search for a new job if they are required to return to the office full-time.

But along the other blade of this double-edged sword is the lack of connection teams are now experiencing. Sure we’ve grown accustomed to working from home in some ways, but we’re missing the little moments that office work provides.

Supporting small moments of connection requires subtle shifts in how managers work. Nearly all executives surveyed recognize that managing remotely differs from when all employees are on-site, but other subtleties may not be as apparent. These moments surely aren’t for everyone everywhere, but for those who need human connections and those who didn’t realize they did, they’re a critical part of work life. Hybrid work is often missing these moments – but it doesn’t have to.

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Living la Viva Loca

If hybrid work is missing a personal connection to your coworkers, what is the solution? Microsoft Viva!

Microsoft Viva is an employee experience platform (EXP) that brings together communications, knowledge, learning, resources, and insights to one place where your team can focus on working together. Powered by Microsoft 365 and experienced through Microsoft Teams, Viva is a program that fosters the culture of empowering your employees and teams to be their best from wherever they call an office this week.

EXPs like Viva exist to update the front end of your current applications and systems without influencing or changing the back-end functioning, meaning your team can customize your work experience the same way you can buy a house with “good bones” and renovate it to make it more ‘you’.

With Viva, you’re doing a lot more than that, too. You’re building on a solid foundation of functionality and security provided by your existing Microsoft software, creating a whole new experience that makes working every day feel modern, optimized, and easy.

Beyond updating the way your software looks and how people interact with it, the Employee Experience Platform drives a ton of value for your HR and TA objectives.

How Does Microsoft Viva Work?

• Viva Connections
  • Viva Connections is the framework through which you can deliver your group’s intranet within Microsoft Teams, acting as a “Home App”. Access communications and resources like internal policies and workplace benefits, and participate in community discussions all from a single customizable app Viva Topics
  

• Viva Topics
  • Viva Topics helps people put shared knowledge to work by utilizing AI to surface expertise in the apps they use every day. The extension automatically organizes content across all of your apps and teams with built-in security and compliance features.
  
  
• Viva Learning
  • Viva Learning empowers your teams to better themselves with regular training naturally and without constant disruption. Learning typically encourages a culture of growth that helps everyone around you reach their potential.
    
• Viva Insights
  • Viva Insights encourages your team to follow personal well-being best practices and build organizational resilience with insights and actions in the apps people use every day. Build better habits with big data!
  
• Viva Goals
  • Viva Goals is … you guessed it … a goal-setting and management solution! It aligns teams across your business to the proper strategic priorities, driving results and a thriving business by tracking their goals through “Objectives and Key Results” (OKRs).
  
  
• Viva Engage
  • Remember those water cooler moments? Viva Engage is the latest addition to Microsoft’s Viva employee-experience platform, acting as a social-community app with its roots in the Communities app for Teams. While you still have regular conversations with your closest colleagues, you are still less likely to interact ‘too much, keeping your teams on-task AND connected.

So, Is Viva Right for Your Team?

Depending on the needs and makeup of your business, Viva is either perfect or terrible for you to use. But that’s the beauty of such a customizable platform – it’s more than likely going to fit your needs because it can do so much.

And while no one can say what tomorrow will hold exactly, the personalized platform brimming with utility features has a bright future. In one of the promotional videos, the delivery of an important remote presentation to a boardroom takes place from home, while another video positions Viva addressing some of the challenges of hybrid work.

Ultimately, programs like Viva will continue to help put training in the hands of the life-long learners at your business, reinforcing the use of Viva as an activity that employees want to engage with rather than have to do every day.

Put bluntly, Microsoft Viva is a set of experiences designed to guide your team through their day while engaging regularly and robustly with all of the other Microsoft programs. Keeping everyone together on one convenient platform, Viva is the most powerful water cooler of all time.

Interested in learning more about Microsoft Viva and other Microsoft apps? Give us a call at(864) 552-1291 and we'll help you evaluate capabilities and options. Also, sign up for PTG Tech Talk for bi-monthly tech news and consider following us on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter!