What is Microsoft Viva?

Microsoft Viva is an all-in-one employee experience platform providing tools related to learning, knowledge, communications and insights — and that’s just the beginning. Accessed through Microsoft Teams, Viva is designed to create a culture that encourages teams and individuals to collaborate.

How does it work?

In true Microsoft form, Viva is designed for users of all experience levels. Like Microsoft Teams, Viva was designed with usability in mind, so that anyone can jump in quickly and develop a sense of comfort working in it.

One of the primary benefits of Viva is its adaptability. Like Microsoft Teams, Viva is meant to adapt to your organization’s needs. Here are the basic foundations on which you’ll build:

Thanks to AI and SharePoint Syntex technologies, you can now automatically turn internal content such as documents and discussions into usable knowledge. Implement a new kind of knowledge management system, linking meaningful resources and key people to any important project in your organization.

Viva Connections is designed to streamline internal communication, helping to keep all employees engaged and informed by enabling them to easily discover relevant communications and communities You will be able to leverage your existing SharePoint Intranet as well as your Yammer communities but Viva Connections aims at becoming the single point of connection of your employees to important organization news.

Learning, training, teaching — Viva Learning is designed to help employees learn while they’re working by enabling discovery, sharing, and engaging with content that is seamlessly integrated with Microsoft Teams. With top-notch content from LinkedIn Learning, Microsoft Learn, and third parties in one centralized location, Viva Learning simplifies learning. Plus, you can add your own, company-specific content.

With Viva Insights, you’ll never again have questions about productivity and employee wellbeing. Insights relies on MyAnalytics (free) and Workplace Analytics ($6 per seat per month) to deliver actionable data and recommendations customized to your organization, empowering employees and teams to achieve balance and create better work habits for improved productivity and better business outcomes.

As you become more familiar with Microsoft Viva — and its four foundations above — you can customize it to suit your team and workflow.

How can Microsoft Viva help with employee engagement?

Microsoft Viva provides a company-branded experience that shares curated content. For example, it can bring together internal conversations and news into an easy-to-follow dashboard. This is a personalized destination for relevant news, conversations and tools. Because different employees in different departments care about varying things, the dashboard presents an opportunity for internal communications professionals to segment what employees see based on their specific work, departments and communication needs.

Additionally, Microsoft Viva can help with engagement across your entire organization. For employees, Viva allows people to converse with their peers, find the information they’re looking for, and share their thoughts and knowledge. Fostering an atmosphere of collegiality in this way doesn’t just lead to more synergy across organizations; it also helps to bolster employee retention, as people are more likely to stay in jobs when they feel connected to their fellow employees and understand where the organization is headed.

Viva can additionally be used as a tool for professional development. By providing insights to individuals and identifying opportunities to tweak their work habits to maximize value, Viva can help people climb the career ladder.

For managers, Viva gives company leadership the opportunity to form a stronger bond with their teams by reaching everyone in a clear and concise manner, as well as tailor messages for different employee groups to ensure that everyone feels seen. It also offers the ability to see when after-hours work is being performed, when individuals may be overloaded with meetings or when other issues may be arising that impact performance and productivity. That translates into the ability to address work-life balance while helping employees maximize their productivity.

Since Viva is included in Microsoft Teams, implementing its use is easily done if your organization is already on Teams. Additionally, first-line workers who don’t spend their days in front of a computer can use the Teams app on their phones to stay connected to important information on the go.

How can Tryane help companies get more out of Viva?

Microsoft Viva is a powerful platform with no shortage of tools and features. Understanding how to best use it can help you create a more collaborative, well-informed workforce. Tryane Analytics provides deep insights into how individuals across your organization are using it to give you a strategic advantage.

At Tryane, we make it easy to know what communication channels are or aren’t working for different employee groups. Since we’re already monitoring internal communication channels, we’ll be able to show if Viva boosts engagement or not, making it easier for internal communication professionals to choose the right channel to reach the right audience.

There’s more to Microsoft Viva than meets the eye. Given today’s climate — where more teams are distributed and working remotely — Viva is a way to ensure that everyone understands how what they do is one piece of a puzzle, and keep them connected to the people and systems that matter. The idea behind Viva is that to meaningfully bolster productivity, organizations have to reimagine the employee experience, as people are any company’s greatest asset. By focusing on employee well-being, team cohesion and trust, Viva can help teams level up in creativity, innovation and resilience.

Like Viva, Tryane is a company that understands that knowledge is power. We give company leaders valuable insights into how their employees use Viva, allowing them to get the most out of the platform — leading to happy, well-informed and productive employees. For more information, contact us today.