While the pandemic might seem over, businesses, managers, and individuals alike, are still to this day feeling its effects. For many who had to work under remote conditions, that mode of work has proven popular, efficient and is clearly here to stay. Although working in a hybrid and remote workplace has its benefits, it also has its costs. Many employees have reported feeling disconnected from their co-workers and teams, others are finding it hard to establish a balance and separate work life versus home life with everything all in one location.
That is where Microsoft Viva Engage comes in. The platform was created to tackle these problems and improve the sense of connection workers feel all while still maintaining the remote or hybrid workplace model, creating the perfect compromise. It was built on the foundation of Yammer, and brings people together, helping them find their voice. Designed to help meet your employee’s social needs, it has everything to keep your staff feeling engaged and included no matter where they are.
Essentially, it is a social app that allows for conversations and self-expression. It is an extension of the existing features seen on Teams and Microsoft 365 with the purpose of connecting employees and empowering everyone in the organisation to contribute and express themselves, regardless of location. With Viva Engage, distance is no longer a barrier. As an integral part of the Microsoft Viva suite, Viva Engage contributes to Viva Connections and Viva Topics. Over time, it will extend community, conversation, and knowledge experiences into other areas of Viva.
For management, Viva Engage is a place to share news and strategies, model culture, speak with employees, and weigh in on conversations. It contains features like virtual events, pinned conversations, and announcements with notifications across Teams, Outlook, and Viva Connections.
For employees, Viva Engage enables people to build communities and professional networks, share their work and perspective, and find answers to their questions. Features like storyline and stories, Best Answers, @mentions, and topics help drive participation and build communities and relationships amongst co-workers.
Share your experiences with storyline and stories
Viva Engage introduces a new way to share your unique perspective at scale through your storyline. Storyline, similar to apps we are all familiar with like Instagram and TikTok, consists of posts and stories; avenues with which you can share your adventures.
Create rich posts that include links, files, photos, and videos. These posts reach and engage followers and colleagues in Microsoft Viva Connections, Outlook, Teams, and Yammer. A feed of storyline posts from people you follow, and recommended colleagues can be found in the new Storylines tab, all within your organisation.
You can create or upload a story to share a quick update, capture an experience, celebrate a milestone, or amplify existing content. Stories land at the top of the storyline in a carousel. They also show up in popular Microsoft apps like Outlook, Teams, and Yammer for easy discoverability. Communicate across teams and build friendships with people you may not have ever interacted with.
For nearly ten years, Yammer has been a leader in employee engagement, and now we are delivering these superpowers into the Microsoft Viva platform to empower people and teams to be their best, have a voice, and feel included in the workplace. We know communities, conversations, cross-company relationships, and personal expression are critical to any thriving culture and organization – and essential pieces of employee experience.
Viva Engage will continue to show the same network, home feed, and communities that you see today in Yammer. Any content created in Yammer.com or mobile – including community conversations, storyline posts, and stories – will be viewable in Viva Engage. Likewise, content created in Engage will show up in Yammer native experiences. Viva Engage will also continue respecting any custom branding done for the Communities app. To use Viva Engage an organisation must be licensed for Yammer.
Spanish Point can help you get set up with Viva Engage and shape your very own social network for your enterprise. Give your employees the sense of belonging that is crucial for your success, support them so they feel inspired by the mission of your organisation and mold the online culture of your institution by unlocking communication and engagement opportunities for everyone. If you are already using Yammer, we can aid with the adoption and management process for this positive transition.
Learn more about the Microsoft Viva ecosystem by registering for our upcoming workshop!
