COVID-19 upended the way many of us work. This shift has brought major changes in how employees relate to each other and their organization. Office onboarding moved online and co-workers who once shared an office shifted to the virtual workspace. Microsoft has designed a platform to address virtual challenges as organizations redefine how they work and relate with their employees. What is Microsoft Viva? Here’s how to get started.
This platform, Microsoft Viva, leverages Microsoft 365 to embolden aspects of how employees work with each other and their organization. Total Solutions is Microsoft certified to plan and launch Viva for your organization, so your team won’t have to ask questions and evaluative whether Microsoft Viva is the right solution for them. Learn about our Viva Jumpstart package as our unique Adopt & Enhance phase ensures long-term success engaging employees.
An Introduction to Microsoft Viva
Microsoft Viva is an Employee Experience Platform, a solution designed to bring employees closer to the variety of resources they need to succeed in their work and beyond. S&P Global Market Intelligence found that 78% of businesses are concerned with how to support remote workers moving forward. Microsoft Viva is built to remedy these concerns through a combination of streamlining offerings and building out new capabilities altogether.
Additionally, Viva is designed to bring the workforce engagement tools an organization may offer under one roof, strengthening their adoption along the way. Microsoft hosts a network of third-party Viva partners to incorporate into its ecosystem, in addition to fleshing out integrations with the Microsoft 365 stack.
Microsoft announced Viva in March at its 2021 Ignite conference. This announcement came with the unveiling of the platform’s four launch modules: Topics, Connections, Learning, and Insights, and since the launch, Engage. These modules function independently under the larger Viva umbrella, and deliver on the promise to connect virtual communities.
What is Microsoft Viva Connections?
Viva Connections is designed to be a central hub for internal communications, resources, policies, and more. This module can provide a modern, branded employee engagement space that bridges the gaps between different platforms that provide these assets now while making it easier for employees to access the range of engagement content that their job and organization rely on too.
This module bridges gaps between SharePoint, Teams, and the Microsoft 365 ecosystem to create a robust system for collaboration and knowledge-sharing across an organization. Viva Connections makes it easy to consolidate the different ways your team relies on Microsoft 365, allowing your organization to continue using the platform while amplifying content.
Viva Connections is now available to all Microsoft 365 and SharePoint users, regardless of license. The module is available on desktop and mobile for no extra cost to users.
Microsoft Viva Topics
Viva Topics enables information discovery that brings organizations closer together. Organizations can use this module to aggregate and consume different information threads across platforms. Viva Topics can bridge M365 content with data from third-parties to create robust pages about the work your organization is doing.
This module leverages AI and user input to create information repositories out of the different content threads your organization already manages. Instead of relying on disparate information threads across tools and mediums, Viva Topics makes it easy for users to find and digest content related to those threads posted by users across the organization.
Viva Topics is now available for all Microsoft 365 users to try or purchase. The module costs $5 per user monthly, regardless of Microsoft 365 license.
What is Microsoft Viva Learning?
Viva Learning focuses on strengthening professional training and development opportunities across organizations. This comes through a combination of dedicated learning platforms and automated AI experiences that Microsoft Viva can build for organizations. Personalized training materials, curated by Viva Learning, are specialized for each user to make these opportunities more accessible.
Viva Learning provides training from providers like LinkedIn Learning and Lynda.com, along with third-party partners like Pluralsight and edX. Viva Learning can also use AI to identify and curate training material based on content within Microsoft 365, making training material from disparate sources easier to discover in a single place.
Microsoft Viva Insights
Viva Insights provides employees with analytics and recommendations around how teams spend their time. This module goes beyond productivity and focuses on helping teams achieve a balance between work, breaks, and professional development. In addition, analytics on an individual and team scale enable holistic recommendations depending on the context.
The behavior data from Microsoft 365 applications with third-party tools like Zoom, Slack and Workday, helping to draw a more holistic performance. Users accustomed to MyAnalytics on Outlook and Teams will find that Insights builds off the Stay Connected and Protect Time features while being accessible within a dedicated Microsoft Teams app.
In addition, personal guidance is available from the Viva Insights Teams app. Microsoft has launched public previews for both an advanced personal offering and the module’s Manager/Leader offerings.
Viva Engage
Connections are hard to maintain in the post-pandemic norm. It’s more important than ever to engage both internally and externally from different locations while maintaining healthy boundaries. Microsoft Viva Engage makes it easy to create communities, eliminating the distance between coworkers. Viva engage takes Microsoft 365 apps like Yammer and builds upon its communication capabilities. Express yourself through stories and timelines while engaging with the leaders and coworkers also sharing their passions and informative content. Keep everyone across the company informed and engaged via Viva Engage.
Why Total Solutions?
Total Solutions offers a customizable Viva Jumpstart plan to engage employees long term. During our plan phase, Total Solutions leads educational workshops and staff surveys to better understand your companies’ culture. With these insights your Viva endeavor has a solid structure in place and the training can begin. Finally we arrive at the adopt and enhance phase to circle back to collect feedback and recommendations. Schedule a consultation with Total Solutions today to learn how to get started with Microsoft Viva and what it can do for your company.
