What is Microsoft Viva?
Following the coronavirus pandemic and move to remote working, there has been a shifting emphasis on bringing colleagues together from afar. Microsoft embodied this shift into their principles.
As part of Microsoft’s response in helping businesses manage remote workforces and the wellbeing of their employees, they launched Microsoft Viva.
Viva is an employee experience platform and ecosystem to help to connect and engage with employees, as well as to improve wellbeing, drive culture change and upskill teams. Viva also enables you to access learning materials, data and insights.
We explore what Microsoft Viva is and how it benefits your business.
What are the different Viva modules and what do they do?
Microsoft Viva is split into eight modules, each covering core needs in your business:
Viva Connections
Viva Connections serves as a digital workplace for employees, with a central hub for company news, information and resources. It integrates seamlessly with Microsoft Teams, making it accessible to employees. Key features include personalised news feeds, company updates, organisational charts and quick access to important documents and resources.
Viva Engage
Viva Engage encourages community and connection among employees. It’s a replacement of Yammer and offers a more engaging social platform within Microsoft Teams. Employees can share ideas, collaborate on projects, participate in Q&A sessions and join interest groups. Viva Engage also supports company-wide campaigns, surveys and recognition programs.
Viva Insights
Leveraging AI, Viva Insights provides personalised recommendations to help employees improve their wellbeing, productivity, and work-life balance. It analyses work patterns and offers suggestions for focused work time, meeting optimisation and better time management. Additionally, it provides insights to managers on team dynamics and workload distribution.
Viva Glint
Viva Glint focuses on employee feedback and engagement. It offers a comprehensive suite of survey tools to measure employee satisfaction, wellbeing and engagement. The platform provides actionable insights to help organisations identify areas for improvement and take steps to enhance the employee experience.
Viva Pulse
A lightweight version of Viva Glint, Viva Pulse enables quick and easy pulse surveys to gather employee feedback on specific topics. It allows organisations to check in with employees regularly and address emerging issues promptly.
Viva Learning
Viva Learning is a platform for accessing learning content and resources. It integrates with existing learning management systems and offers tailored learning experiences based on employee roles, skills and interests. Employees can access training courses, videos and other learning materials directly within Microsoft Teams.
Viva Amplify
Viva Amplify centralises the creation, scheduling and distribution of internal communications across various channels like email, SharePoint and Teams. Using it, you can manage multiple communication campaigns, target specific audiences and measure the effectiveness of their messages.
Viva Goals
Viva Goals aligns teams and individuals with organisational objectives. It helps organisations set clear goals, track progress and celebrate achievements. The platform integrates with Microsoft Teams and other productivity tools, providing a seamless experience for goal management.
The benefits of Microsoft Viva
Working seamlessly with existing systems such as Teams, Outlook and Office, Viva is a highly accessible platform that has been designed to encourage learning, connections and better insight among your team members.
Here are the benefits it provides your business:
- Enhanced communication: Viva Connections creates a central hub for company news, culture and engagement so everyone stays in the loop.
- Streamlined processes: Viva Amplify streamlines the communication process, ensuring that employees receive the right information at the right time, while also providing valuable insights into communication effectiveness.
- Personalised insights: Viva Insights provides data-driven recommendations to your employees improve their work-life balance. These insights can help improve their time management and focus time for enhanced productivity too.
- Simplified learning: Viva Learning offers access to training and development resources directly within the workflow, so your staff can upskill themselves. This can also reduce your training costs.
- Knowledge sharing: Viva Topics helps employees find the information they need quickly and easily, reducing time spent searching.
- Mental wellbeing: Viva Insights includes tools to support employee mental health, avoiding burn-out and other wellbeing issues.
- Performance analytics: Viva Insights offers data on employee productivity, collaboration, and well-being, which can help leaders make smarter decisions.
- Improved employee retention: A positive employee experience can lead to lower turnover rates, saving money on recruitment and onboarding.
How do I get Microsoft Viva?
To use Microsoft Viva in your business, you’ll need a licence. Microsoft offers a variety of plans which package together different modules. These include:
- Microsoft Viva Employee Communications and Communities (£1.64 per user, per month): This bundles together Connection, Engage and Amplify to improve communication across your organisation.
- Microsoft Viva Workplace Analytics and Employee Feedback (£4.90 per user, per month): This brings together Insights, Glint and Pulse to help you gather employee feedback and data to improve your future strategies.
- Microsoft Viva Suite (£9.90 per user, per month): This comprises all eight modules for comprehensive benefits across your people processes.
Viva Engage and Insights are also included in all Microsoft 365 enterprise plans, including E3 and E5.
Getting started with Microsoft Viva
Viva is a comprehensive solution for any business looking to enhance their people strategy, with the aim of improving employee satisfaction, driving collaboration and enhancing communication. With several modules to choose from, you can build an employee experience which suits your specific goals.
With happier employees, you’ll gain increased productivity and retention, which can push your business forward.
If you are looking to deploy Microsoft Viva, we’re here to help. We are one of the UK’s largest independently owned Microsoft Partner, giving us expert knowledge when it comes to licensing, tailoring and implementation Microsoft solutions.
We use Viva ourselves internally, giving us a unique opportunity to share our experiences with you and ensure your deployment is successful.
