World and phrases like “digital transformation” and “collaboration” get thrown around a lot in IT. What do they actually mean, and how do they impact the day-to-day of running your business?
Collaboration can’t happen without shared goals. When departments don’t have common goals, priorities can conflict. People are doing their best but may be moving in a slightly different direction.
Digital transformation is using technology to better reach business goals. This involves moving from traditional ways of doing things and transitioning to tools that are more automated and connected.
Microsoft has been leading the global digital transformation and aiding collaboration in businesses. One of its products, Viva, aims to improve the employee experience. It uses AI, automation, cloud connectivity, and other technologies.
What Is Microsoft Viva?
Microsoft Viva is a line of employee experience applications. They are a part of Microsoft 365, and integrate closely with Microsoft Teams. Think of them as add-ons that can build on your business’ digital capabilities. There are currently seven apps within the Microsoft Viva line:
- Viva Topics: Allows businesses to harness knowledge and experience. It serves up relevant topics from the company knowledge base from keywords.
- Viva Connections: Gives employees a personalised and connected newsfeed. The company newsfeed serves up important news, conversations, and tools.
- Viva Learning: Consolidates employee training apps. Makes it easy for employees to gain new skills from inside the Teams application.
- Viva Insights: Improves employee wellbeing and corporate culture. Uses data-driven insights to provide productivity and well-being recommendations.
- Viva Sales: Reduces the data input needed from salespeople. Serves up helpful lead interaction recommendations.
- Viva Engage: Cultivates personal networks and community. Fosters engagement and knowledge sharing.
- Viva Goals: Enables clarity and alignment of corporate goals.
Viva creates a connection between Microsoft Office and Microsoft 365 apps. It also focuses on the people, rather than the tool. Microsoft designed Viva applications to use AI. This makes work easier and gives visibility into actionable data points.
What is Viva Goals?
Viva Goals is one of the newest Viva applications from Microsoft. It connects teams so they’re moving toward a shared set of goals. Business leaders can look at Viva Goals as a way to solidify company objectives, and make sure everyone is on the same page. They can then tie these objectives to meaningful targets for each department.
For example, a business goal might be to provide exceptional customer support. As an objective, that’s too generic. It doesn’t connect to what teams need to do to make it happen. In Viva Goals, that target can have directives for various teams. This could include customer support reducing ticket resolution by 8 hours. This brings goals to a meaningful level and allows businesses to track progress. Here are the key value-adds of using Viva Goals.
Aligns Your Team to the Same Goals
Get everyone on the same page, rather than departments pursuing different targets. When everyone is aligned, companies can more easily reach their goals.
Maintains Focus on Goals
Employees stay focused on goals. This is because goals connect to their daily work targets. Rather than being something they hear at a company event, goals get infused into the workflow. Image from Microsoft
Integration with Teams & M365
Progress towards goals isn’t kept on a spreadsheet, never to see the light of day. Instead, stats on goal achievement live in tools used daily. When goals are visible, businesses have a better chance to achieve them.
How Do You Get Viva Goals?
The entire suite of Viva applications currently costs £6.80 per user per month.
Questions About Microsoft 365 or Viva Goals?
Digital transformation with tools like Microsoft Viva is a necessity if you want to keep up. Old ways of doing things are giving way to the cloud, AI, and machine learning. Interested in leaning more? Have a chat with one of our friendly tech experts today.
