Why Microsoft Viva is the Next Step in Internal Communication

26 February 2021

Trends & Industry News

With SharePoint, Microsoft has shown that they understand the importance of internal communication for years. With Microsoft Viva, the company takes it to the next level. The new solution prooves that internal communication is way more than simply publishing a short message on the intranet.

Microsoft Viva has one goal: Increase the engagement of employees. Especially with the majority of people still working from home it can be tricky to stay in touch with employees and make sure they stay engaged. It's harder to see how your employees are doing and what they are struggeling with, but also to share knowledge and tips as coffee breaks and spontaneous talks during the breaks are gone. That's exactly what Microsoft wants to solve with Viva: It offers possibilities for education, knowledge sharing and well-being.

Integration with Other Microsoft Solutions

One of the biggest assets of Microsoft Viva is that the platform can be integrated with other Microsoft solutions. It's proof that Microsoft sees it the same way we do: Internal communication should not be a seperated thing anymore, but needs to be integrated. It needs to be part of the DNA of the company. Only when internal communication becomes part of the solutions that are being used on a daily basis anyways, it becomes less optional and more active.

'We are participating in the largest at scale remote work experiment the world has seen. And it has had a dramatic impact on the employee experience.'

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella

Communication Between Employees

Employees often have diverse ways to communicate with each other. Since working remotely, communicating with colleages was spreaded out over phone, messages, Teams, video calls and e-mail, just to mention a few. Knowledge transfer therefore became more complicated. With so many means of communication, it's hard to see how and when certain knowledge and important information has been passed on. Teams was supposed to solve this problem, but just as e-mail and SharePoint, it was not ideal. Microsoft Viva fills this gap.

Knowledge Database & Internal News Room

With Viva, employees do not longer have to search for internal news from their employer. And they can actually get active and participate, discuss and share. With its option for knowledge sharing and well-being, Viva is an allround tool for internal communications. Especially in a time where checking in on employees to make sure they are okay in this stressful situation is more important than ever.

But Viva also grows your internal communication infrastructure, and that is something you have to be able to deal with. It means that it's no longer enough to have a thought-through external communication plan. It means that you need to have one for internal communication, too. Only if you have one in place, you can effectively use tools such as Microsoft Viva to communicate with your employees and motivate them to use it actively, too.

Due to the Pandemic, Internal Communication Has Grown Up

Since the world has been hit by the coronavirus and we all had to start working from home, internal communication has grown up. Due to working remotely, it is now considered as just as important as external communication. But it's also still new to most companies: It's still hard to know where to start. Luckily, there are experts that can help companies to work out internal communication plans and strategies.

With the right strategy for internal communication, employees only receive the information that they are supposed to receive and that is relevant and interesting for them. It ensures that all your communication is at the right place, and can, if you want to, motivate your employees to change their behaviour in a certain way. Intrinsic motivation, engagement and a positive attitude towards your company and strategy is what internal communication is all about in the end. Microsoft recognizes that by introducing Viva, Funk-e has been saying it for years.

By the way, Microsoft is not the first company to put internal communication on the agenda. We see this kind of shifts in focus from external to internal communication often, and there are quite some parties participating. Look at an internal communication platform such as Poppulo that grew very hard and puts internal communications first. And the fact that a global player as Microsoft is now also focussing on internal communication solutions just shows the relevance of it worldwide.

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