Strong communication and collaboration are essential for success in any organization. Without them you’re setting yourself up for failure, especially in today’s fast-paced and competitive world. Many organizations only scratch the surface, if at all, when it comes to creating a culture of communication and collaboration that fosters innovation, learning, and growth.
That's why Microsoft created Viva Engage, a solution specifically intended to help build and nurture communities of interest within your organization. These online social communities are the foundation of this platform, providing employees with tools to build culture and thrive at work together.
With the mention of online social communities, one might initially think of platforms dedicated to pet lovers, such as those for dogs and cats. While these types of communities have their place when creating culture at work, that is just one piece of the puzzle.
The trick is to create communities centered around shared passions that not only enrich cultural identity but also serve as key areas for driving organizational change, knowledge sharing, fostering professional connections, and enhancing the workplace impact on employees. These communities help employees discover, share, learn, and collaborate with their peers and leaders.
There are several different features that Viva Engage brings to the table. Do you wish to grow leaders, focus on culture and team building or build new connections across different teams in your organization?
Viva Engage offers the following key features:
Get involved
Easily create or join existing communities based on your interests, roles, projects, or challenges. You can also invite others to join your community, or request to join a private community. Browse and search for communities that match your needs and preferences, and see the number of members, posts, and activities in each community.
Share knowledge
Learn best practices from employees that have been there and done that. Their expertise and feedback are essential for new employees. Access and create resources that are relevant to your community, such as articles, videos, podcasts, webinars, and courses.
Asking and answering questions
The answers feature is the perfect tool to moderate employee questions in a safe environment. These can be related to your community topic, and to get help and guidance from your peers and leaders. You can also vote for the best answers and mark them as accepted solutions. Viva Engage ensures that your questions and answers are moderated and reviewed by community leaders, who can edit, delete, pin posts, manage the community settings and its members.
Share praise and recognition
Peers and leaders can share their feedback in an open way to celebrate employee achievements. Active team members can earn badges based on their participation and can rank on the community leaderboard. You can also see the feedback and recognition that other members have received and appreciate their work.
Device and platform support
Viva Engage can be accessed from a variety of devices and platforms such as your desktop, laptop, tablet, or mobile phone, and from any browser or app. You can also integrate Viva Engage with other Microsoft products to access your communities from within them. Notification preferences can be set up to help you stay updated on the latest posts and activities in your communities.
Related Article: Discover how to showcase the ROI of community development to your C-suite with Viva Engage.
While Viva Engage offers many benefits for employee communication, it won’t solve all your collaboration problems on day one. Change takes time and implementing Viva Engage is no different. As with any new solution, it’s important to have a roadmap with realistic milestones for your team to follow.
There are several different features that Viva Engage brings to the table. Do you wish to grow leaders, focus on culture and team building or build new connections across different teams in your organization? Here are some practical scenarios that can have the largest impact on your organization and focus on those areas first.
Engage Leadership from the Start: Schedule initial meetings with C-level executives to discuss the strategic benefits of Viva Engage. Highlight how it aligns with the company’s goals and vision.
Demonstrate Immediate Value: Present case studies and data showing the positive impact of Viva Engage on similar organizations. Use metrics like increased employee engagement and improved internal communication.
Quantify the Benefits: Provide concrete examples of how Viva Engage can save time and resources. For instance, show how streamlined communication can reduce email overload and meeting times.
ROI Focused Presentations: Create detailed presentations that outline the return on investment (ROI) of implementing Viva Engage, including potential cost savings and productivity gains.
Identify and Empower Champions: Select enthusiastic and influential employees to act as Viva Engage ambassadors. Provide them with training and resources to effectively promote the platform.
Create a Launch Plan: Develop a comprehensive launch plan that includes training sessions, promotional materials, and a timeline for rollout. Ensure team champions are actively involved in each step.
Lead by Example: Encourage leaders and team champions to actively participate in Viva Engage communities. Their involvement will inspire others to join and engage.
Highlight Key Communities: Identify and promote specific communities that align with business objectives, such as innovation hubs or project-specific groups.
Case Studies and Testimonials: Regularly share success stories and testimonials from other organizations that have successfully implemented Viva Engage. Highlight the challenges they overcame and the benefits they experienced.
Best Practices Webinars: Host webinars or workshops where leaders from other organizations can share their experiences and best practices with your team.
Data-Driven Insights: Generate and share detailed reports on employee engagement and community building within Viva Engage. Use analytics to highlight trends, successes, and areas for improvement.
Monthly Updates: Schedule monthly update meetings with leaders to review the reports and discuss strategies for further enhancing engagement and community building.
The trick is to create communities centered around shared passions that not only enrich cultural identity but also serve as key areas for driving organizational change, knowledge sharing, fostering professional connections, and enhancing the workplace impact on employees.
Richard Plantt / Creative Lead & Sr. Consultant
Define the purpose and scope of each community. Align them with organizational goals, and review regularly. This can be achieved by thinking through each of these aspects:
Viva Engage offers a lot when it comes to building community, creating a connected workforce, fostering a culture of learning, innovation, and growth. We hope this blog post has inspired you to take a closer look or even try Viva Engage.
If you are interested in exploring what Viva Engage has to offer your employees, please reach out. We would love to chat with you. If you have any questions or feedback, please contact us, your trusted Microsoft partner with 10+ years of helping organizations like yours thrive.
