Microsoft licensing! Having worked in the Microsoft space for a number of years now one thing that almost always confusing the heck out of people is Microsoft licensing. Things are easier in some respects with M365 and the move to the cloud and everything going towards subscription models. However, it can still be a minefield to work out what licenses you need or more importantly what is included in your existing licensing that you may not even know you had. After all, making the most of your license investment is so important in this day and age.
On June 16th Microsoft dropped a new Viva announcement. A new module called Viva Sales. Below I’ll take a quick look at what it is, why it might be useful and what it can bring to the employee experience platform.
If you use Viva Insights with any regularity you will probably have come accross the relatively new feature within it called the “Inspiration Library”. This is a handy little feature that’s currently rolling out in preview mode. Much like a famous fence coating company the inspiration library does exactly what it says on the tin. It’s used to give you inspiration and ideas on how to better serve your employees and company or you as an individual.
Thought I’d mix things up a little and do a short demo video this time, showing Microsoft Viva Learning. What it looks like and how to share, track and keep learning within the flow of work in Microsoft Teams.
Something I have seen many businesses struggle with is a solid employee onboarding experience. It’s something that is so important but also can be tricky to get right. I have personally built an employee onboarding experience and it involved having the entire process mapped out within our PSA tool (or other project tool) right from the point of advertising a new role, through to the interview stages, contracts, equipment purchasing and building.
As with any part of M365, it’s important that we look to protect and govern the different apps, services and data it provides. That’s no different to Microsoft Viva so todays post is going to go in to some detail on the different permissions, management, and governance for each of the different modules within Microsoft Viva.
Back in October 2021 Microsoft acquired Ally.io – you can read about it here. What does this mean for the Microsoft Employee Experience platform (EXP)? It means we will be getting a new Microsoft Viva Module based around OKR (objectives and key results). Microsoft state it will “help revolutionize how organizations use technology to bring deeper connection to work, purpose and results in the hybrid world.” Firstly, lets explain some of this and then share some thoughts on its uses and how it could integrate into Microsoft Viva.
Topic cards are now available in OWA for Microsoft Viva Topics.
Microsoft announced in April that OWA now supports Viva Topics. What does this mean? Well, it allows users with a Microsoft Topics (or Viva Suite) license to now add topic cards to their messages and the recipients will then see these topics cards, if they are licensed.
What is it, why it’s important and how to deliver it.
What is it?
So, what exactly is the Employee Experience? There is no doubt that the employee experience or EX, within a company, right now, should be front and centre of any business that’s looking to succeed. Chucking some fruit in your office and maybe a pool table simply isn’t enough anymore (although they are welcome additions). Nowadays businesses need to look deeper at their Employee Experience (EX) and make sure they are offering great value for their employees to ensure they can attract but just as importantly retain great talent. Essentially EX is: How your organisation shapes the way people work and live, from productivity to flexibility, wellbeing, learning and everything in between.
