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Amazon Music Viva Connections - Simply Explained
Quick answer: Viva Connections creates a branded employee experience in Microsoft Teams that brings together news, resources, navigation, and dashboard cards. This episode explains how it works, which employee needs it can address, and the governance decisions needed to make the experience useful over time.
Viva Connections serves as a powerful employee experience platform designed to enhance engagement and communication within your organization. This innovative tool integrates seamlessly with Microsoft Teams and SharePoint, placing essential resources and personalized news at your fingertips. In fact, organizations that implement digital workplace platforms like Viva Connections report a notable increase in employee engagement, with improvements ranging from 35% to 45% within just 12 months. By fostering stronger connections among employees, Viva Connections plays a vital role in creating a more engaged and informed workforce.
Key Takeaways
- Viva Connections enhances employee engagement by providing personalized news and resources, leading to higher satisfaction.
- The platform integrates seamlessly with Microsoft Teams and SharePoint, allowing easy access to your company's intranet.
- A personalized dashboard helps you organize essential resources, increasing productivity and reducing time spent searching for information.
- The News Reader feature tailors updates to your role, ensuring you receive relevant information without being overwhelmed.
- Resource centralization in Viva Connections creates a one-stop platform for emails, documents, and meetings, improving focus and efficiency.
- Setting up and customizing Viva Connections is straightforward, allowing you to tailor the experience to meet your organization's needs.
- Viva Connections promotes streamlined communication, fostering a sense of community and inclusion among employees.
- Robust security measures, including data encryption and compliance with regulations, ensure your information remains protected.
What Is Viva Connections?
Overview of Microsoft Viva
Viva Connections serves as a central hub within the Microsoft Viva suite, designed to enhance employee experience. In Microsoft’s words, Viva Connections is “a gateway to other Viva apps and services with the ability to curate specific content and tools by providing easy access to resources, tools, relevant news, announcements, and popular destinations.” This platform integrates seamlessly with Microsoft Teams and SharePoint, allowing you to access your company’s intranet directly from Teams.
- Viva Connections integrates SharePoint Intranet with Microsoft Teams.
- It allows users to access the Intranet easily through a button on the Teams panel.
- This feature enhances user experience by providing quick navigation to the Intranet.
By combining these powerful tools, Viva Connections creates a cohesive and branded experience that empowers you and your colleagues.
Target Audience and Use Cases
Viva Connections is suitable for various organizations and industries. It benefits companies looking to improve internal communication and employee engagement. Below is a table highlighting the types of organizations that can gain from implementing this platform:
| Industry Type | Description |
|---|---|
| Legal | Organizations in the legal sector can enhance knowledge management and productivity. |
| Professional Services | Firms in this sector benefit from improved internal communication and resource access. |
| Financial Services | Financial institutions can leverage Viva Connections for better employee engagement. |
| Insurance | Insurance companies can utilize the platform for efficient knowledge sharing. |
| Construction | Construction firms can integrate company communications effectively through Microsoft Teams. |
Common use cases for Viva Connections include:
| Role | Task | Objective | Success Criteria |
|---|---|---|---|
| Full time user | Access benefit and payroll information | Quickly check important information | Reduced requests for help with HR |
| Frontline worker | Clock in and out from mobile | Create efficiencies in workflow | Managed schedules and breaks from Connections |
| People manager | Onboard new team members | Grow and develop talent | Less time on standard onboarding functions |
| Sales representative | Access product training on mobile | Resolve customer issues quickly | Most issues resolved in real-time |
| HR specialist | Promote self-service benefits | Focus on unique user questions | All interactions are about critical scenarios |
Viva Connections not only enhances communication but also streamlines access to essential resources, making it a valuable tool for any organization aiming to foster a more engaged workforce.
Viva Connections Features
Personalized Dashboard
The personalized dashboard in Viva Connections serves as a digital toolset for you, providing organized access to essential resources. This feature enhances your user experience by allowing you to customize the dashboard according to your individual needs. Here are some key aspects of the personalized dashboard:
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| Digital Toolset | The dashboard serves as a digital toolset for employees, providing organized access to resources. |
| Dynamic Maps | Enables interaction with colleagues, allowing for collaborative tasks like reviewing information. |
| Customization | Employees can adapt the dashboard to their individual needs, enhancing personal productivity. |
| Integrated Apps | Industry-specific apps can be integrated, streamlining workflows. |
| Efficient Navigation | Custom navigation links simplify access to relevant information, increasing efficiency. |
| Personalized News Feed | Employees can tailor the news feed to their interests, ensuring relevant updates. |
This personalized experience simplifies access to information and tools, reducing the time you spend searching. It increases overall productivity and efficiency across the organization. Research shows that targeted communication through personalized dashboards leads to higher engagement levels. You can expect measurable improvements in retention, satisfaction, and performance.
News Reader Functionality
The News Reader in Viva Connections plays a crucial role in keeping you informed about company updates. It offers a customized stream of news and announcements tailored to your specific role and department. This personalization ensures you receive information that matters most to you without being overwhelmed by irrelevant content.
- The News Reader tailors content based on your role and department.
- It utilizes Microsoft Graph to determine relevant news articles.
- You see updates specific to your responsibilities, enhancing your engagement with company communications.
Analytics from digital workplace platforms indicate that strong news and announcement features significantly improve employee engagement. Metrics reveal how quickly information spreads and whether critical updates reach all employees. This functionality not only keeps you informed but also fosters a culture of transparency within the organization.
Resource Centralization
Resource centralization in Viva Connections improves your access to important company tools and documents. This feature creates a one-stop platform where you can access emails, collaborate on documents, attend meetings, and view company news—all from within the Viva Connections dashboard. Here are some benefits of resource centralization:
- One-Stop Platform: Reduces context-switching and improves focus by providing all necessary tools in one place.
- Integrated Workflows: Enables smooth integration with other tools, ensuring a continuous flow of information.
- Seamless Document Access: SharePoint libraries integrated into Viva Connections allow you to easily find documents, increasing the speed of document search.
By centralizing resources, Viva Connections enhances your user experience and ensures you have everything you need at your fingertips. This streamlined access not only saves time but also boosts productivity across the organization.
Configure Viva Connections
Setup Steps
To configure Viva Connections effectively, follow these initial setup steps:
- Navigate to the Microsoft 365 admin center and sign in with your credentials.
- Select Settings to expand the selection and choose Viva.
- Click on Viva Connections to open the admin center.
- Select Create and manage Viva Connections experiences.
- Choose to create a new Connections experience or build from an existing home site.
- Enable the experience to make it visible to your audience.
When you set up Viva Connections, consider the type of experience that best suits your organization. Decide which audiences should be associated with each experience. Think about who should have owner permissions to each experience. Finally, pick an icon and name for your app to enhance its visibility.
Customization Best Practices
Customizing Viva Connections allows you to tailor the platform to meet the specific needs of different departments. Here are some best practices to consider:
- Set up the experience: Access the Viva Connections admin center to create a tailored experience for specific audiences or the entire organization.
- Customize the dashboard: Personalize the dashboard to serve as a central hub for users, allowing for role-specific targeting of content.
- Optimize high-traffic content: Ensure that frequently accessed sites and pages perform well and are easily accessible.
- Test the experience: Before launching, conduct tests with a small group to refine workflows and gather feedback.
Additionally, apply a theme that reflects your organizational branding. Customize dashboard cards for specific roles and interests. Use audience targeting to ensure relevant content is displayed. This approach enhances user engagement and ensures that employees find the information they need quickly.
By following these setup steps and customization best practices, you can configure Viva Connections to create an effective employee experience platform that meets the unique needs of your organization.
Benefits of Microsoft Viva Connections
Enhanced Engagement
Microsoft Viva Connections significantly boosts employee engagement. By providing personalized content, you stay informed about what matters most to your role. This tailored approach leads to higher employee satisfaction. Research shows that employees with clarity about work priorities are 4.5 times more likely to be happy at their jobs. Here are some key improvements you can expect:
- Enhanced employee satisfaction
- Increased clarity about work priorities
- Streamlined communication processes fostering community and inclusion
These factors contribute to a more engaged workforce, which ultimately drives productivity and success.
Streamlined Communication
Viva Connections transforms how you communicate within your organization. Unlike traditional intranet solutions, it integrates directly into Microsoft Teams, creating a seamless experience. Here’s a comparison of how Viva Connections stacks up against traditional intranets:
| Feature | Viva Connections | Traditional Intranet |
|---|---|---|
| Integration | Directly integrated into Microsoft Teams | Standalone SharePoint sites |
| User Experience | Personalized and dynamic interface | Static portals with limited interactivity |
| Content Delivery | Curated and relevant content for users | Fixed information display |
| Accessibility | Available on Teams and mobile apps | Primarily desktop-based |
| Engagement | Enhances employee engagement | Limited engagement opportunities |
With Viva Connections, you access curated content that aligns with your interests and responsibilities. This streamlined communication fosters a sense of community and inclusion, making it easier for you to connect with colleagues.
Accessibility Across Devices
Accessibility is a crucial aspect of Microsoft Viva Connections. You can access the platform from various devices, ensuring you stay connected no matter where you are. Here’s how it works across different platforms:
| Device/Platform | Accessibility Features |
|---|---|
| Desktop | Access via Teams, SharePoint, or Viva Suite with a consistent experience. |
| Mobile | Mobile-friendly features ensuring access on the go. |
| Web | News reader experience available across all devices by April 2025. |
This flexibility allows you to engage with your organization’s resources anytime, anywhere. Whether you’re in the office or working remotely, you can stay connected and informed. The integration with Microsoft 365 further enhances this accessibility, allowing you to utilize tools like Microsoft Teams and Viva Learning seamlessly.
By leveraging these benefits, Microsoft Viva Connections creates a more engaged, informed, and connected workforce, essential for thriving in today’s hybrid workplace.
Security in Viva Connections
Data Protection
Data protection is a top priority for Microsoft Viva Connections. The platform implements several measures to safeguard your information. Here are some key aspects of data protection:
- Access Controls: Viva Connections uses robust access controls to prevent unauthorized access to sensitive information.
- Data Encryption: The platform employs encryption protocols to protect data during transmission. This ensures that your information remains secure while being transferred.
- Regular Backups: Microsoft conducts regular backups to prevent data loss and ensure recovery in case of incidents.
- Continuous Monitoring: The system undergoes ongoing monitoring for security threats and vulnerabilities. This proactive approach helps maintain a secure environment.
These measures work together to create a secure platform where you can confidently access and share information.
Compliance Considerations
Viva Connections adheres to major data privacy regulations, such as GDPR and HIPAA. Compliance is crucial for maintaining trust and protecting user data. Below is a table summarizing the compliance measures taken by Viva Connections:
| Compliance Measure | Description |
|---|---|
| Technical, Physical, and Administrative Controls | Implementation of robust access controls and information security policies to prevent unauthorized access. |
| Data Storage | Personal Identifiable Information (PII) and Protected Health Information (PHI) are stored securely in compliance with GDPR. |
| Data Protection Safeguards | Regular backups, audit controls, access controls, and encryption protocols are maintained for data protection. |
| Secure Transmission | Use of SSL technology to encrypt data during transmission, ensuring security. |
| Continuous Monitoring | Ongoing monitoring of systems for security threats and vulnerabilities. |
Additionally, Viva Connections has undergone various certifications and audits to validate its security and compliance standards. The following table outlines some of these certifications:
| Certification/Audit | Description |
|---|---|
| ISMS | ISO/IEC 27001 specification |
| PCI DSS | Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard |
| SOC 2 | Service Organization Control 2 |
By adhering to these compliance measures, Viva Connections ensures that your data remains protected and that the platform meets industry standards. This commitment to security and compliance allows you to focus on your work without worrying about data breaches or regulatory issues.
In summary, Viva Connections serves as a vital tool for enhancing workplace communication and engagement. It consolidates news, tasks, and resources into a single platform, allowing you to manage your work efficiently. Key benefits include:
- A centralized hub for communication.
- Improved navigation through clear information architecture.
- Seamless integration within Microsoft Teams.
By implementing Viva Connections, you can expect increased productivity, better talent retention, and enhanced organizational agility. As McCormick noted, engaging and inspiring teams is crucial for achieving growth. Consider how this platform can transform your workplace into a more connected and informed environment. 🌟
FAQ
What is Viva Connections?
Viva Connections is an employee experience platform that integrates your company intranet into Microsoft Teams. It enhances communication and engagement by providing personalized news and resources.
How do I access Viva Connections?
You can access Viva Connections directly through Microsoft Teams. Look for the dedicated app icon in the Teams panel to get started.
Can I customize my dashboard?
Yes, you can customize your dashboard in Viva Connections. Tailor it to display the resources and news that matter most to you, enhancing your productivity.
Is Viva Connections mobile-friendly?
Absolutely! Viva Connections offers mobile-friendly features, allowing you to access important information and resources on the go, ensuring you stay connected.
How does Viva Connections improve communication?
Viva Connections enhances communication by providing a centralized hub for news and resources. It fosters community and conversation among employees, making it easier to stay informed.
What security measures does Viva Connections have?
Viva Connections implements robust security measures, including data encryption, access controls, and regular backups. These measures protect your information and ensure compliance with regulations.
Who can benefit from using Viva Connections?
Organizations of all sizes can benefit from Viva Connections. It is particularly useful for companies looking to improve employee engagement and streamline internal communication.
How does Viva Connections integrate with other Microsoft tools?
Viva Connections seamlessly integrates with Microsoft 365 tools like SharePoint and Teams. This integration allows for a cohesive experience, enhancing collaboration and access to resources.
Last reviewed: July 2026.
What You’ll Learn
- How Viva Connections connects Teams with intranet content, resources, and dashboards.
- Which information architecture and ownership choices affect the employee experience.
- How to design a useful entry point rather than another unmanaged destination.
Who Should Listen
This episode is for Microsoft 365 administrators, architects, IT leaders, and business decision-makers who need a practical introduction to Viva Connections and its implications for adoption, operations, and governance.
🎧 You Should Also Listen To
- Viva Engage — Add community conversations and leadership communication to the employee experience.
- Microsoft Viva Learning — Surface learning as part of the everyday employee experience.
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Did you know Microsoft just renamed one of its most important employee tools?
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Most people didn't even notice.
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This isn't some minor app nobody uses.
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It's the tool that delivers company news, gives quick access to benefits and time off requests,
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and pulls everything together in one place.
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By the end of this episode, you'll understand what Viva Connections actually is,
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why the rebrand matters, and whether your organization should be using it.
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Let's dive in from the old problem to the new solution, the old internet problem.
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Imagine going back about 10 years.
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If you worked at a company with more than a few hundred people, you probably had an internet.
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It was that one website where HR posted the holiday schedule,
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IT put the password policy and leadership shared quarterly updates.
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For most employees, it was a place you visited maybe once a month, if you remembered the URL.
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The problem was, these intranets were static.
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They were one size fits all landing pages that rarely changed,
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so everyone saw the same content whether you worked in accounting or on the factory floor.
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Finding specific information meant hunting across multiple sites, portals and tools.
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The pension policy was on one page, the expense form was buried three clicks deep in another site,
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and the IT help desk link, good luck remembering where that lived.
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The result was predictable.
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You'd get low engagement, outdated content, and frustrated workers who eventually stopped trying.
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Classic SharePoint intranets were especially bad at two things,
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mobile accessibility and personalization.
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If you were on the shop floor or working from a coffee shop, forget it, the experience was terrible.
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Some organizations tried to fix this with custom development.
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They'd build a custom portal, hire consultants to maintain it,
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and spend a fortune keeping it current.
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That worked for a while, but it was expensive and hard to maintain.
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Then the pandemic hit and suddenly employees were working from anywhere,
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home warehouses, hospital floors,
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the old internet model wasn't just outdated anymore, it was broken.
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You couldn't expect someone to VPN into the corporate network,
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just to find the lunch menu or read a CEO update.
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So Microsoft looked at this problem and built something different,
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that something is Viva connections.
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What is Viva connections, the simple definition?
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So here's the simplest definition.
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Viva connections is an employee experience app that lives inside Microsoft Teams.
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And you can think of it as a digital front door.
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One place where employees go for company news, tools, and resources.
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Instead of opening five different browser tabs,
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they open one app inside the tool they already use all day.
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Now, Viva connections isn't a standalone product.
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It's built on top of SharePoint, specifically a SharePoint home site
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that access the foundation. The app pulls content from that site
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and presents it in a friendly and more personalized way.
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So while it's SharePoint under the hood,
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the experience feels completely different.
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The app has three core components.
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The news reader, a feed of company updates tailored to each employee,
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the dashboard, cards that link to tools like submitting time off
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or checking training progress,
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and resources, a curated list of links to important content
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like policies and benefits.
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We'll dig into each of these in a moment.
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Viva connections works everywhere, desktop, tablet, mobile.
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And the experience is consistent across all devices,
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which is a huge advantage for organizations
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with front-line workers who don't sit at a desk all day.
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Here's the part that surprises most people.
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The basic version is included with your Microsoft 365 subscription
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so you don't need to buy anything extra.
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There's a feature-rich version with targeted push notifications
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and premium analytics, but the core experience,
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the news reader, the dashboard, the resources,
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is already there waiting for you.
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But here's where it gets interesting and confusing.
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In 2026, Microsoft changed the name.
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The 2026 rebrand, Viva Connections is now SharePoint.
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So in mid-2026, between May and July,
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Microsoft renamed the Viva Connections app inside Teams to the SharePoint app.
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It happened quietly over a few months,
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and if you open Teams one morning,
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the icon that said Viva Connections now said SharePoint.
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Why did they do this?
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It actually makes a lot of sense when you think about it.
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Viva Connections was always powered by SharePoint.
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The news, the dashboard, the resources,
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all of it came from a SharePoint home site behind the scenes,
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but customers kept treating it like a separate product asking,
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"Do I need a Viva license for this?
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Is this something new I have to learn?"
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The answer was always no, but the confusion persisted.
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So Microsoft decided to just call it what it is.
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It's SharePoint.
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The new name clears up that confusion once and for all.
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Now, what actually changed?
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The app name in Teams, the branding,
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and the default experience all changed.
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If your organization hadn't customized the app name,
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your employees now see SharePoint where they used to see Viva Connections.
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The global navigation inside the app reflects the same change,
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and Search is now scoped to SharePoint content by default.
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When someone searches from inside the app,
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they only see SharePoint results,
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not the entire Microsoft 365 universe.
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But here's what didn't change,
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the functionality, management tools,
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and admin experience are all identical to before.
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If you already had Viva Connections set up with a custom name and logo,
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nothing changes for your users.
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The rename only affects tenants that hadn't customized the app name.
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There are some nice admin improvements that came alongside the rename.
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SharePoint administrators can now create home sites
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directly from the SharePoint admin center
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instead of having to go through the Viva Connections console.
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That's one less step.
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Two new web parts also became available.
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The resources web part and the announcements web part
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are neither requires an extra license,
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so they're available to every SharePoint customer.
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That matters because the announcements web part used to be locked
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behind a paid Viva license.
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The name changed, but the core experience stayed the same.
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So what exactly is that experience?
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Let's look at the three building blocks.
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Component one, the news reader.
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So let's start with the first component, the news reader.
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This is probably the piece most employees will interact with the most.
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It's a feed of company news, updates, and announcements
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all curated and personalized for each person.
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When you open the SharePoint app in Teams,
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the news reader is right there,
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showing you the latest posts from your organization.
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But here's what makes it different from the old internet news page.
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The news reader doesn't show everyone the same content.
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It uses Microsoft Graph to figure out what's relevant to you
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based on your role, your department, and the people you work with.
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If you're on the sales team, you'll see sales updates first.
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If you're in HR, you'll see policy changes and benefits news.
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The system does this automatically
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without anyone having to manually tag content for each department.
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Now there's a new announcements web part
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that came with the 2026 updates.
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This used to require a premium license,
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but now it's available to all SharePoint customers.
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Think of announcements as micro news.
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Short, targeted updates that appear in the feed
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and can even trigger a Teams notification.
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You can aim them at specific groups
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using Microsoft Android ID groups.
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So only the right people see the right content.
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A warehouse safety update goes to warehouse workers.
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A finance policy change goes to the finance team.
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Nobody gets flooded with noise they don't need.
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If your organization has the Viva Suite version,
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you also get targeted push notifications.
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That means when there's an urgent announcement,
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a planned closure, a system outage, a leadership change,
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employees get a push notification on their phone,
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not just a post in the feed.
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For frontline workers who don't check email regularly,
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this is a game changer.
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Here's a stat that really matters.
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After a week, engagement on any piece of content drops off a cliff.
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People don't scroll back through old news.
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They look at what's fresh,
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so if you're running Viva Connections,
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you need to keep the feed active.
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Multiple posts per week.
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Fresh content.
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Otherwise employees stop opening the app
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because they've already seen everything.
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Freshness is what drives the habit.
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News keeps employees informed,
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but they also need quick access to tools and tasks.
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That's where the dashboard comes in.
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Component to the dashboard.
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The second building block is the dashboard,
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and this is where Viva Connections starts
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to feel less like a news site and more like a command center.
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The dashboard is a set of cards.
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Each card links to a tool,
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an app or a piece of information.
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Think of it as a home screen for your work life.
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These cards aren't just static links.
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They're built on something called adaptive cards
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and the SharePoint framework or SPFX.
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That's a technical way of saying IT teams can build custom cards
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without writing a time of code.
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If your company uses a time off system
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and expands reporting tool or a training platform,
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someone can create a card that connects directly to it.
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One click and you're submitting that vacation request
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or checking your training progress.
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No navigating through menus,
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no remembering which URL goes where.
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Here's a concrete example.
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Imagine you're an employee who needs to request time off.
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In the old world you'd open a browser,
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find the HR portal, log in,
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navigate to the time off section
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and fill out a form.
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With the dashboard, there's a card that says request time off.
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You click it and the form opens right there.
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Same for expense reports,
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same for checking your upcoming meetings,
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same for launching a training module.
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Each card eliminates steps.
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Now here's something that changed with the 2026 updates.
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End users can now personalize their own dashboard view.
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You can hide cards you don't use,
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reorder them so your most important tools are at the top
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or even add your own cards.
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And this personalization is available to every end user,
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regardless of whether they have edit permissions
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on the SharePoint site.
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You don't need to be a site owner to customize your dashboard.
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It's your view, your way.
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There's also a see all experience
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that gives users a focused view of all their dashboard cards
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in one place.
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Instead of scrolling through a long list,
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you get a clean full screen view of everything available.
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And from there you can customize, hide or reorder
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to your heart's content.
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One stat from Microsoft's own research
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really drives home the importance of the dashboard.
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Dashboards with 10 or more cards
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achieve three times the engagement of dashboards
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with fewer than five cards.
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That's not a small difference.
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The takeaway is clear.
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Don't be shy about adding cards.
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Cover multiple user needs.
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Give people a reason to come back.
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A sparse dashboard tells employees
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there's nothing useful here.
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A rich one tells them this is where work happens.
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So you have news and you have tools.
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But what about finding the right links and documents?
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That's the third piece.
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Component three resources.
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The third component is resources.
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It sounds simple, but it might save your sanity.
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Think of it as your own digital filing cabinet.
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You have policies, benefits information,
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IT help desk links, training materials,
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all organized in one place.
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If you've ever managed a traditional internet,
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you know the pain of keeping links up to date.
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Someone changes the URL for the benefits portal
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and suddenly every page has a broken link.
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You spend hours hunting them down one by one.
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The new resources web part
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solves this with something called content reuse.
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You create a central list of resources,
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links to policies, forms, tools, whatever,
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and then add the resources web part
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to multiple pages across your sharepoint site.
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When you update a link in that central list,
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it updates everywhere.
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Every page that uses that web part
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reflects the change automatically.
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Update once and it's done.
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No more hunting down outdated links.
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This feature sounds boring
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until you've had to fix a broken benefits link
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on 20 different pages.
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Then it becomes your favorite thing in the world.
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You can organize resources by category,
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audience or topic.
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You might have a section for HR policies
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and other for IT support, another for training materials.
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You can target specific resources to specific groups
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using the same EntraID groups we talked about earlier.
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A factory worker sees safety procedures
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and shift schedules.
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An office worker sees travel policies
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and expense guidelines.
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Everyone sees what they need and nothing they don't.
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And with global navigation,
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those resources are accessible from anywhere in SharePoint.
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You don't have to be inside the SharePoint app
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in Teams to find what you need.
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The navigation follows you across the entire SharePoint experience.
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One click and you're back to your company's curated resource list.
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So those are the three components.
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News keeps you informed, the dashboard helps you get things done
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and resources help you find what you need.
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But here's the real question,
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does any of this actually work?
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Let's look at the numbers.
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The engagement stats that matter.
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Let's talk numbers.
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Microsoft has done a lot of research
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on Viva Connections adoption.
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First, the bad news.
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Organizations that deploy Viva Connections
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without a defined strategy
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typically see fewer than one in 10 employees
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using it weekly.
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That's 10%.
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And within eight to 12 weeks,
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there's a significant drop off.
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People open it, find nothing useful,
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and never come back.
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The app becomes a ghost town.
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So what separates the successful deployments from the failures?
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The biggest factor is pinning.
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Organizations that pin the Viva Connections app globally in Teams
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see 75% of their weekly active usage come from that single action.
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Three out of four weekly users only open the app
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because it's right there in their Teams sidebar.
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If you bury it somewhere, people won't find it.
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If you pin it, they use it.
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That's a low effort move that makes a real difference.
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Mobile is another huge factor.
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Mobile users have doubled the engagement of desktop users.
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You'd think people at their desks would engage more,
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but mobile fits into the flow of work differently.
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You check it on the bus, you glance at it between tasks,
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you open it during a shift change,
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and for frontline workers,
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the numbers are even more dramatic.
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They show approximately three times
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the weekly engagement of desk-based information workers.
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Frontline workers don't sit at a computer all day.
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Their phone is their primary work device.
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If the internet isn't on their phone,
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it doesn't exist for them.
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The overall impact is real.
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Organizations adopting Viva Connections report up to 30% higher
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employee engagement compared to legacy portals.
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That's a measurable improvement in how connected people
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feel to their company, but you have to work for it.
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The research suggests a healthy target.
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50% or higher weekly active users.
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60% or higher at six months.
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And 75% or higher monthly positive response on employee surveys.
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Those are the benchmarks you should aim for.
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One more stat worth understanding.
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43% of Microsoft 365 internet implementations
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need a layered solution within 18 to 24 months.
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That means nearly half of organizations
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eventually hit a wall where the out-of-the-box capabilities aren't enough.
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They need third-party tools for advanced governance,
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better search, or deeper personalization.
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That doesn't mean Viva Connections is a failure.
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It means you should plan for growth.
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Start simple but know that you might need to add more later.
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So the numbers are compelling.
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But is Viva Connections right for every organization?
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Let's talk about who actually needs this.
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Who actually needs this?
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Practical guidance.
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So who actually needs Viva Connections?
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The honest answer?
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Not everyone, but more organizations than you might think.
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Let's break it down by size.
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If your organization has under 2000 employees
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with simple communication needs,
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the out-of-the-box Viva Connections experience is usually enough.
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You set up a SharePoint home site,
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configure the newsreader,
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add a few dashboard cards, and you're done.
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No massive customization project.
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No extra license.
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It's included with your Microsoft 365 subscription.
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And if your employees already use Teams,
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this is a natural fit.
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They're already in the app.
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They just need a reason to open it.
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On the other end, large enterprises with 50,000 or more employees
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use Viva Connections as their single front door.
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With that many people, you can't have them
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navigating 50 different portals.
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You need one entry point that's personalized, branded,
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and consistent.
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Viva Connections delivers that.
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It becomes the home page for your entire organization,
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no matter the department, location, or role.
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Here's the key question.
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Do your employees already live in Microsoft Teams?
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If yes, Viva Connections is a natural fit,
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you're not asking them to learn a new tool.
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You're putting the internet inside the tool they already use.
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That's a much lower barrier to adoption
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than asking them to bookmark a new URL.
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There are two versions.
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The basic version comes with Microsoft 365.
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You get the newsreader, dashboard, resources,
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and audience targeting via intraID groups.
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That's enough for most organizations.
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The Viva Suite version adds push notifications,
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premium analytics, and AI features through co-pilot.
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If you have frontline workers who need urgent notifications
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on their phones,
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or if you want deep engagement analytics,
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the premium version is worth it.
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But here's the honest truth.
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Viva Connections is not a replacement for complex governance
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advanced search or deep workflow automation.
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If you need strict content lifecycle management,
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federated search, or complex approval workflows,
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you'll likely need a layered solution.
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That's where third-party internet platforms come in.
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They build on top of Microsoft 365
399
00:14:28,840 --> 00:14:31,320
and add capabilities that native tools don't provide.
400
00:14:31,320 --> 00:14:33,720
The 43% stat we mentioned earlier,
401
00:14:33,720 --> 00:14:36,120
that's the group that needs these additional tools.
402
00:14:36,120 --> 00:14:37,640
So here's the practical guidance.
403
00:14:37,640 --> 00:14:40,600
If you're a small, to mid-sized organization already using Teams,
404
00:14:40,600 --> 00:14:42,280
start with the basic version.
405
00:14:42,280 --> 00:14:45,640
If you're a large enterprise, use Viva Connections as your front door
406
00:14:45,640 --> 00:14:47,560
but plan for additional tools as you grow.
407
00:14:47,560 --> 00:14:49,560
And if you have complex governance or search needs,
408
00:14:49,560 --> 00:14:51,800
budget for a layered solution from the start.
409
00:14:51,800 --> 00:14:54,680
So now, you know what it is, how it works, and who it's for.
410
00:14:54,680 --> 00:14:55,960
What's the first step?
411
00:14:55,960 --> 00:14:56,760
Here's what you do.
412
00:14:56,760 --> 00:14:58,600
Check if you have Microsoft 365.
413
00:14:58,600 --> 00:15:00,920
If you do, you already have access to Viva Connections.
414
00:15:00,920 --> 00:15:02,040
No purchase needed.
415
00:15:02,040 --> 00:15:03,800
Then set up a SharePoint home site.
416
00:15:03,800 --> 00:15:05,880
That's the foundation everything else builds on.
417
00:15:05,880 --> 00:15:07,880
Without it, the app has nothing to show.
418
00:15:07,880 --> 00:15:10,440
Next, pin the app globally in Teams.
419
00:15:10,440 --> 00:15:13,880
That single action drives 75% of weekly active usage.
420
00:15:13,880 --> 00:15:15,880
It's the most effective move you can make.
421
00:15:15,880 --> 00:15:17,320
And keep the content fresh.
422
00:15:17,320 --> 00:15:18,600
Old news is ignored news.
423
00:15:18,600 --> 00:15:20,040
Publish multiple times per week.
424
00:15:20,040 --> 00:15:22,040
Target your content to the right audiences.
425
00:15:22,040 --> 00:15:23,080
Make it worth opening.
426
00:15:23,080 --> 00:15:24,280
So that's the system.
427
00:15:24,280 --> 00:15:25,160
Three components.
428
00:15:25,160 --> 00:15:26,200
One app.
429
00:15:26,200 --> 00:15:27,720
And a name that keeps changing.
430
00:15:27,720 --> 00:15:29,400
But the value stays the same.
431
00:15:29,400 --> 00:15:30,600
Start with your home site.
432
00:15:30,600 --> 00:15:31,480
Pin it in Teams.
433
00:15:31,480 --> 00:15:32,920
And keep the content fresh.
434
00:15:32,920 --> 00:15:34,680
Subscribe for more breakdowns like this.
435
00:15:34,680 --> 00:15:38,120
And drop a comment if you're using Viva Connections in your organization.
Founder of m365.fm, m365.show and m365con.net
Mirko Peters is a Microsoft 365 expert, content creator, and founder of m365.fm, a platform dedicated to sharing practical insights on modern workplace technologies. His work focuses on Microsoft 365 governance, security, collaboration, and real-world implementation strategies.
Through his podcast and written content, Mirko provides hands-on guidance for IT professionals, architects, and business leaders navigating the complexities of Microsoft 365. He is known for translating complex topics into clear, actionable advice, often highlighting common mistakes and overlooked risks in real-world environments.
With a strong emphasis on community contribution and knowledge sharing, Mirko is actively building a platform that connects experts, shares experiences, and helps organizations get the most out of their Microsoft 365 investments.
