Microsoft is positioning itself on the market with a pioneering Employee Experience Platform (EXP) that is geared towards the ongoing digitalization and realignment of the market and is specifically designed to meet these requirements. Building on Microsoft Teams, a platform is being created that integrates communication, learning, knowledge, resources and insights into a single world of experience.
What is Microsoft Viva?
Microsoft Viva is the technology company's response to a constantly growing demand for an integrated employee experience. This new employee experience is intended to unite and consolidate communication, the feel-good factor, knowledge and learning access and company processes in Microsoft Viva.
New corporate values and working methods are taking their toll on increasing digitalization. Economic and socio-political developments demand and promote the greatest possible involvement of the workforce in the corporate culture. This new way of thinking requires a solution that puts the employee at the center of day-to-day business. This new corporate strategy, which usually requires a change management process, makes the new way of working more tangible and to some extent transparent. In this respect, Microsoft Viva stands out from the previously common employee experience platforms, as for the first time it does not offer fragmented or complex tools, but an independent system within the employee experience. Microsoft Viva is precisely tailored to the needs of employees and offers a completely new application experience. This makes personal and professional appreciation and development more meaningful and reflects this in a visionary user experience. The increase in satisfaction and the simplified workflow minimize fluctuation in the company and thus strengthen the company's success. Working with an advanced solution such as Microsoft Viva also significantly promotes positive visibility both internally and externally.
The four applications in Microsoft Viva
Microsoft Viva combines user experiences in the areas of engagement, learning, well-being and knowledge. Building on Microsoft 365 and Microsoft Teams, these four pillars are combined to provide the best possible support for employees in their day-to-day business. Microsoft Viva offers a flexible and growing system that provides integrated solutions at the outset, offers the option of accessing partner solutions and supports the expansion of the platform. Existing employee experience applications are integrated into Microsoft Viva and are easily accessible within the system.
Viva Insights
In today's fast-paced world of work, where the balance between productivity and wellbeing is increasingly difficult to achieve, Microsoft Viva Insights offers a revolutionary solution. This part of the Microsoft Viva Suite harnesses the power of data analytics to help individuals and teams work better while promoting their wellbeing. Viva Insights provides personalized and actionable insights integrated directly into Microsoft 365, giving users seamless access to recommendations based on their own work habits.
For individuals, this means that Viva Insights offers personalized suggestions on how to make their work more efficient, for example by scheduling focused work time, minimizing interruptions and providing moments for relaxation and reflection. It promotes a culture where personal time is valued by helping to better plan working time while reserving blocks of time for breaks and rest.
At the team level, Viva Insights enables leaders and managers to identify trends in work patterns that could affect productivity or increase the risk of burnout. Through aggregated and anonymized data, it provides insights into team collaboration and communication, helps identify overwork and promotes a healthy work-life balance. This is complemented by recommendations on how teams can work together more effectively, for example by optimizing meeting times and improving communication flows.
Microsoft Viva Insights also supports the organizational level by enabling leaders to monitor and improve the well-being and productivity of their organization. With data-driven insights, they can develop strategies that promote a resilient and efficient work culture that prioritizes employee engagement and satisfaction.
In summary, Microsoft Viva Insights is a powerful tool that helps individuals, teams and organizations understand and improve the way they work by providing data-driven insights that drive both productivity and wellbeing. It represents a significant step forward in the way we think about work and wellbeing in the workplace, providing a platform that balances the two.
Viva Topics
Viva Topics offers usable knowledge without the employee having to actively search for it. Experience shows that the average employee spends around seven weeks a year searching for information. This factor increases with new employees, who need significantly more time for research work. In this area, Viva Topics relies on human experience and artificial intelligence (AI). Viva Topics automatically identifies company content and specialist knowledge and can be used in customer relations, projects and processes as well as for acquiring product knowledge. Viva Topics automatically displays a topic map that organizes content-related documents, conversations and videos and also allows contact with experts. The application is used in Microsoft 365 and Microsoft Teams. Viva Topics therefore offers the opportunity to make company knowledge usable for day-to-day business - the application used does not have to be closed during this process. Not only is information from Microsoft 365 integrated, but it is also possible to access knowledge from third-party providers such as Salesforce or ServiceNow. Viva Topics is available as an add-on for commercial use within Microsoft 365 - but only for English-language content for the time being.
Viva Learning
Viva Learning is a central hub that enables learning in Microsoft Teams. Content is recommended by artificial intelligence (AI) and presented at the right time. This feature allows a company to develop its own learning philosophy and make the topic of further training a natural and fundamental pillar. Viva Learning offers training units and entire courses that employees can use and recommend. Not only company content is integrated into Viva Learning, but the inclusion of Microsoft Learn, Linkedin Learning or providers such as Skillsoft, Pluralsight, edX or Coursera is also possible without any problems. Viva Learning is available in the private preview and the launch is planned for 2021. A connection to learning management systems that integrate Saba, SAP SuccessFactors or Cornerstone OnDemand is also offered.
Viva Connections
Users of Microsoft Teams are offered the actual entry point to the digital workplace here. Company information can be managed here in the digital workplace. Current content, news, company guidelines and employer services are displayed. It is possible to join communities or learning groups at the workplace and exchange information with them. This app, which is integrated into Microsoft Teams, can be customized and tailored to the individual employee. The Viva Connections app will be available from the first half of 2021. An app for mobile devices is expected in the second half of 2021.
Conclusion
Microsoft Viva is well thought out and groundbreaking. As an enterprise platform, the business software offers a completely new employee experience that is tailored to the needs and appreciation of employees. The digitalization process means that individual workplaces are becoming increasingly fragmented, but the targeted use of tools integrates the individual workplace into the company and supports the daily routine in a meaningful way.
As an open and expandable platform, applications from Viva partners can be seamlessly integrated, which offers a decisive advantage, especially for tools already in use. A network of global partners in the area of consulting services will support the optimal integration of existing investments in the area of Employee Expercience. Renowned service partners such as Accenture, EY, PwC and Avanade will accompany this process and ensure consistent integration with Microsoft Viva. Microsoft Viva offers a platform that takes employee satisfaction into account, ensures a motivated workforce and thus also a healthy corporate culture.
