The point of connecting Yammer and Viva is knowing who knows what

2 years ago 319

Between the Great Resignation and the Great Onboarding, worker acquisition is much important than ever; Viva is wherever Microsoft wants to present that acquisition by bringing info from everywhere.

Microsoft apps connected a compartment telephone screen

When Microsoft archetypal launched Teams, determination were a batch of questions astir wherefore anyone would privation some Teams and Yammer. Since then, it's go much evident that organizations request some the closed and unfastened conversations that the different services foster, and adjacent arsenic Teams usage has changeable up during the pandemic, Yammer has much than doubled successful the past twelvemonth arsenic well, said Seth Patton, wide manager for next-gen productivity and worker acquisition successful Microsoft 365.

SEE: The aboriginal of work: Tools and strategies for the integer workplace (free PDF) (TechRepublic)

"In a satellite where, close now, we're not each connected successful the aforesaid spot it turns retired that the value of community, the value of engagement, the value of engaging betwixt leaders and employees, and employees with each other, is greater than ever."

Yammer inside

Instead of conscionable being a abstracted endeavor societal network, Yammer is present integrated into different Microsoft 365 tools similar Teams, Outlook, SharePoint and present Viva, which Patton refers to arsenic the "social fabric" of Microsoft 365. "People are inactive going to Yammer, but a batch of that is coming done these different endpoints," helium noted. "A batch of Yammer usage is radical replying and reacting to Yammer conversations straight from Outlook."

You mightiness inactive spell to Yammer straight for an lawsuit similar a "town hall" gathering wherever you tin inquire executives questions, but that's not conscionable astir the unrecorded meeting, particularly when distant employees mightiness beryllium successful antithetic clip zones and connection needs to beryllium asynchronous. "[It's the] the conversations that pb up to that and conversations that proceed aft those episodic moments," Patton said. "That's however we tally Microsoft. Satya [Nadella, president and CEO of Microsoft], each month, has a municipality hallway gathering wherever employees each period agelong tin taxable questions and person on-going conversations and past helium addresses what's top-of-mind. Having that acquisition with speech and video and unrecorded meetings is beauteous powerful."

One mode you'll find retired astir applicable conversations that are happening connected Yammer is that the communities diagnostic successful Viva Connections is present Yammer communities nether the hood and uses the connections of the Microsoft Graph to prime retired conversations you're apt to beryllium funny in.

SEE: Research: Video conferencing tools and cloud-based solutions predominate integer workspaces; VPN and VDI little fashionable with SMBs (TechRepublic Premium)

"Viva Connections has a unified communications feed. I deliberation of it arsenic an worker app, truthful present it's the Microsoft app, wherever you don't conscionable get announcements and contented from your intranet, you besides get conversations and those are personalised utilizing the Microsoft Graph. So, I person a unified communications provender arsenic a portion of Viva Connections that includes Yammer conversations that are applicable to maine from crossed the organisation," helium explained.

"Connections is simply a azygous spot for an worker to get entree to the resources, the conversations, the content. And an important portion of that is conversations that are happening crossed the organisation and the communities that are participating."

Yammer is besides switching to usage the aforesaid topics taxonomy arsenic Viva Topics (previously, it had its ain list). Viva Topics uses the aforesaid artificial intelligence features arsenic SharePoint Syntex to make a taxonomy of the projects, products, customers, events, locations, divisions and different communal presumption that person peculiar meaning for a peculiar enactment from the documents, video and conversations wrong your Microsoft 365 tenant. If you enactment astatine GM, you mean thing antithetic from what idiosyncratic astatine NASA would mean erstwhile you speech astir Saturn and different institution mightiness usage that arsenic a codename.

Viva taxable cards already popular up erstwhile you hunt successful SharePoint, Word, PowerPoint, Outlook and Excel, and present they volition beryllium portion of conversations successful Yammer, truthful erstwhile you spot idiosyncratic notation to an unfamiliar task oregon a caller codename, you tin hover implicit it to spot the details scraped from each the contented that mentions it connected Microsoft 365. Employees inactive walk the equivalent of 2 weeks a twelvemonth conscionable looking for information; Syntex and Topics are intended to assistance with that, particularly erstwhile you don't cognize what you're looking for.

Although creating a ceremonial taxonomy of important accusation is inactive valuable, it takes a batch of enactment that needs to beryllium refreshed regularly. "That is precise hard to support and person it beryllium agile and dynamic, based connected however existent enactment is happening and the relationships and interactions," Patton pointed out; Viva tin make the "folksonomy" of what radical are funny successful and talking astir to seizure the implicit cognition contained successful individual documents and conversations and link that to the ceremonial top-down approach. "How bash we inactive supply immoderate level of structure, but usage AI to beryllium capable to marque that a batch much affluent and emblematic of different relationships and the enactment that's really happening successful our organisation."

Knowing what your ain squad is moving connected is critical; but topics and conversations mightiness assistance you larn from different projects and products elsewhere successful the organization. Patton precocious discovered that a squad successful different part of Microsoft was commissioning the aforesaid probe 1 of his teams was besides getting done. "I'm utilizing the 'dog food' mentation of topics successful Teams and topics successful SharePoint and Yammer. To beryllium moving connected a project, and past observe different task that's happening 1 org implicit that's precise similar, trying to lick the aforesaid problem, and it's similar serendipity. That wouldn't person happened adjacent conscionable 3 months ago."

SEE: Microsoft Power Platform and debased code/no codification development: Getting the astir retired of Fusion Teams (TechRepublic)

The operation of the enactment of Yammer and the relevancy of topics successful Viva lets leaders way what's going connected crossed ample groups of employees and agelong periods of time. "I virtually could not unrecorded without Yammer due to the fact that it is the mode that I get a pulse connected our full 40,000 tract community: feedback connected our products, marketing, our competition, what are trends happening successful their region, what are the needs that they have. These are radical I volition ne'er conscionable successful person; there's nary mode I tin standard to that."

That mode you tin look backmost astatine the decisions made erstwhile designing a merchandise to spot if they link the occupation a lawsuit is having adjacent if the task had a codification sanction oregon immoderate of the radical progressive person since near the company.

The Great Onboarding

Teams and Viva Topics person a Q&A feature; for Teams the absorption is connected getting answers during an lawsuit (you whitethorn person seen that astatine Microsoft events similar Ignite, and it volition beryllium disposable to customers soon). Viva tin retrieve that reply aboriginal if idiosyncratic other has the aforesaid question. "When you person a question and initially immoderate adept answers it wrong Yammer, aft that Viva knows the adjacent clip idiosyncratic asks that question that we already person the answer and the adept doesn't request to reply again."

It's besides going to beryllium utile for getting caller employees up to speed; thing that whitethorn beryllium adjacent much important this year. Patton mentions the thought of the Great Resignation. "According to our surveys and others, 40% of people, station pandemic, are looking to alteration their roles, either wrong their institution oregon altogether alteration companies." But though 4 cardinal radical discontinue their jobs successful the U.S. successful April alone, much than 6 cardinal radical were hired that month.

"We're reasoning of it arsenic the Great Onboarding, which is the flip broadside of that. How bash we assistance teams and organisations marque that acquisition a batch better? I person respective radical connected my squad who person joined, and they've ne'er met different Microsoft employee, they've ne'er been to a carnal office. How bash we get them the cognition that they need, but besides the transportation and the culture?"

Yammer and Teams are portion of that, but Viva is wherever Microsoft is trying to bring unneurotic each the cardinal pieces of the worker experience, from onboarding and staying connected to colleagues successful Viva Connections, to staying connected apical of enactment with Viva Topics. Even Viva Learning is astir connecting what grooming is disposable with what would beryllium utile for radical to larn to present what the enactment needs successful presumption of skills.

SEE: This open-source Microsoft benchmark is simply a almighty server investigating tool (TechRepublic)

"A batch of radical initially recognize the worth that Viva learning has arsenic conscionable aggregation: You person each these antithetic learning contented providers and learning absorption systems and LinkedIn Learning and your ain customized contented and contented successful SharePoint and truthful on. Clearly there's worth successful conscionable the aggregation of each of those into 1 acquisition wrong Teams. But wherever the existent worth comes is applying AI, knowing the discourse of each idiosyncratic and what roles and what projects determination are, truthful that you're surfacing the astir applicable grooming for them successful the discourse of their relation and their job, and based connected the societal folksonomy of different radical successful your organisation who person akin roles, who besides precocious either recommended that grooming oregon took that training."

That mightiness adjacent beryllium influenced by the fig of enactment tickets for interior systems that person predominant problems, oregon connected tract work and lawsuit enactment calls recorded successful Dynamics 365—which employees tin present spot accusation successful adjacent if they don't person a licence for it—whatever accusation employees request to person astatine their fingertips.

As good arsenic Microsoft modules successful Viva, determination are integrations with 21 platforms including ServiceNow, Workday, Headspace and Limeade.

That goes backmost to the thought of Viva arsenic "an worker acquisition platform." "How bash you enactment radical astatine the centre and make a unified worker acquisition that includes not conscionable productivity and collaboration tools, but each the different resources and accusation that they request to beryllium successful? That could beryllium your CRM data, if you're a salesperson, but it tin besides beryllium things similar a wellness cheque if I'm going backmost to the bureau oregon it could beryllium my clip and disbursal entry. Or it could beryllium these systems of record, whether that's HR systems oregon learning systems, that person this invaluable cognition and content, but they're underutilised, and it's a complicated, analyzable acquisition for users."

"Employee acquisition utilized to beryllium an HR priority: it is present a C-suite imperative. Every organisation realises for them to beryllium competitive, they request to absorption connected creating a large worker acquisition oregon their employees are going to leave," Patton said.

"Tools for helping link radical and make civilization and cognition sharing are exploding. Yammer is simply a halfway portion of that and a portion of our strategy, some successful presumption of the relation that it plays, and the maturation that it's had successful the past twelvemonth but besides wherever we're taking it—as that integrated societal cloth crossed Microsoft 365 and communities powering Viva."