Microsoft Viva Engage
Microsoft Viva Engage fosters employee connection and communication by providing a social platform for sharing insights, recognising achievements, and collaborating within organisations.
What is Microsoft Viva Engage?
Microsoft Viva Engage is a part of the Microsoft Viva suite designed to enhance employee experience by fostering community, connection, and engagement within organisations.
Launched as an evolution of Yammer, Viva Engage integrates seamlessly with Microsoft Teams and other Microsoft 365 applications, allowing users to engage in meaningful conversations, share content, and access social networking features within a familiar environment.
Key functionalities include threaded discussions, community building through groups, and features for sharing stories and knowledge across teams — encouraging a culture of collaboration and transparency.
The platform also prioritises user experience with a mobile-first approach, enabling employees to stay connected and engaged on the go.
Additionally, Viva Engage leverages insights and analytics to help leaders understand engagement levels and sentiment within the organisation, allowing for more informed decision-making around employee experience strategies.
Overall, it aims to empower employees, break down silos, and create a vibrant workplace culture where everyone feels valued and heard.
Post COVID-19 ways of working
Following the COVID-19 pandemic, workplaces have had to adapt significantly to the changing world, and remote and hybrid working models are increasingly being implemented in favour of traditional office-based working. Many workplaces are now saying goodbye to office-life entirely and have chosen to conduct business digitally.
While the option for remote working and hybrid working has been a saving grace in many ways, the ability to connect with others and feel ‘present’ at work can be lost when you’re not physically in the office. A lack of individual and organisational engagement can negatively affect work performance as well as business outcomes.
Stay connected at work
Viva Engage is a social app which is part of Microsoft Viva. It’s experienced through Microsoft Teams and Microsoft 365 apps and can be accessed via web or mobile devices.
Viva Engage has been designed to improve employee experience and foster more positive working environments, so that employees feel more engaged and connected at work – whether they’re in the office, working from home or working away. Viva Engage features plenty of exciting new tools which help promote stronger team relationships, self-expression and collaborative working.
What are the benefits of Viva Engage?
Viva Engage has been designed to re-engage employees in their work and bring teams together in their Microsoft 365 apps. Whether you’re working from home, at the office, it’s easier than ever to stay connected.
Facilitates Remote Working
Viva Engage gives you access to digital communities at your fingertips, so you won’t feel like you’re missing out on the action when working from home. It’s easy to feel disconnected from your workplace when working remotely, however, Viva Engage drives participation by empowering you to share contributions and engage with your digital communities.
Strengthens Team Bonds
Staying connected with your team is vital when working remotely. Viva Engage offers a great sense of partnership, helping leaders and co-workers to feel more connected to one another. Relationship-building is a key component of Viva Engage, with tools to help you collaborate, communicate and share ideas more easily while in the flow of work.
Enables Self-expression
When you’re not physically in the office, it can be difficult to feel seen and heard. That’s why personalised employee experiences are so important for self-expression. To help you feel more valued at work, Viva Engage includes a great set of features which let you share personal updates and celebrate your important achievements with your company.
How is Viva Engage Experienced?
Everyone in your organisation can benefit from Viva Engage. Viva Engage integrates social networking, learning and collaboration into your daily work flow with new tools and functions which encourage engagement and connection within the workplace.
Here are the different ways that leaders and employees experience Viva Engage:
Benefits for Leaders
Share news and strategies with employees seamlessly while in the flow of work, without having to navigate between browsers.
Create and develop positive company cultures in Viva Engage with team-building features such as Virtual Events and Announcements to engage your entire workforce.
Easily weigh in on team discussions, speak with employees, access pinned conversations, and receive message notifications in Microsoft Teams, Viva Connections and Outlook.
Benefits for Employees
Keep up to date with what’s going on at your organisation in real time, and share news and updates with your team.
Enjoy more social and educational work experiences. Build communities and professional networks where you can share content, conduct Q&A sessions and discuss topics.
Get the most out of your digital working environment, with exciting new features like Storylines, Stories, @mention, Best Answers, and Topics.
The Storyline Feature
The Storyline feature is one of the most enriching features of Viva Engage, enabling employees to express themselves and build stronger work relationships.
The Storylines tab offers an AI-powered feed of Storyline posts from your network – this is where you’ll be able to share your posts with others as well as view and interact with followers’ posts.
You’ll have access to content-sharing tools to help you create personalised posts, making it easier to celebrate your achievements and milestones, notify others of any important updates, and share your personal thoughts with your team.
The Story Feature
The ‘Stories’ feature allows you to share short videos and images which are featured in a carousel.
This feature is very similar to the ‘Stories’ features you’ll see on other social media platforms such as Instagram, Meta and Snapchat, however, the benefit of using Viva Engage’s Stories feature over other platforms is that you can share and view content from within your work apps.
Your stories will be visible and easily discoverable by your team in Outlook, Microsoft Teams and Yammer, so engaging with others will happen naturally in the flow of work. You won’t even have to switch browsers!
Get in touch with CompanyNet
CompanyNet are the leading experts in Microsoft 365 and we would be happy to guide you through your journey with Microsoft Viva Engage. The CompanyNet team has more than 20 years’ experience of creating Microsoft digital workplaces that really work. We’re a tight-knit team that delivers results for customers including Scottish Water, Mencap, the Student Loans Company, Walt Disney, Tesco Bank, the Scottish Housing Regulator and many more.
If you’re keen to take the next step with Microsoft Viva Engage, drop us a line today.
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What you’ll get from the assessment:
- An understanding of how your business can develop a Modern Workplace
- Clear advice on any challenges your business may face and how to overcome them
- A clear pathway for your business to take, with guidance on adoption and deployment