With the launch of Microsoft Viva today, we’re putting even more focus on employee wellbeing. Good thing though, as the previous “whip cracking, work work WORK!!” approach delivered a bunch of overworked, wine drinking crazies – like me. Not that “we’re” that bad, but it warms my heart that we might spare the future generations the unnecessary mental/work-stress we put ourselves (and were put) under. And not just that, how marvelous that at last, it’s ok to not be perfect, to be human, to need help AND to be vulnerable. #HumansofIT #MSFTViva #Microsoft365 #WellBeing #Office365 #DEX #EX #EXP

The world as we know it, has changed forever

Gerd Leonhard is someone I’ve followed for years. His vision and understanding of what (he thinks) the future holds has always been unbelievable, yet comforting to me. The video below was released 5 years ago, and now more than ever before, it’s so important that we start placing value on human traits again. Let the robots do the boring jobs, we have other more important things to focus on… 🙂

However, everything that cannot be digitized or automated will become extremely valuable. Human only traits such as creativity, imagination, intuition, emotion and ethics will be even more important in the future, because machines are very good at simulating, but not at being. Yes, robots and software will do some of our work. But this will allow us to focus on things that cannot be automated. To imagine change squared, you’ve got to start engaging more with what might be, not just with what is. Immerse yourself in the immediate future, 5 to 7 years out from today. We need to go beyond technology & data, to reach human insights & wisdom. Technology represents the HOW of change, the Humans represents the WHY. [11 May 2016]

Microsoft Viva

DEX:  Digital Employee Experience
EX:   Employee Experience
EXP:  Employee Experience Platform

Breathe life into work

People aren’t one-dimensional productivity machines. We’re unique, complex, and full of life—and that doesn’t change at work. It’s time to reimagine employee experience, creating work cultures that embrace our differences and empower people and teams to be their best. 

Microsoft Viva is an employee experience platform that brings together communications, knowledge, learning, resources, and insights. With Viva, foster a culture where people and teams are empowered to be their best from anywhere. Read more…

According to their e-book, Microsoft explains that the employee experience consists of 6 elements:  Wellbeing | Connection | Focus | Empowerment | Growth & Purpose. And I absolutely ❤ this!

In their White Paper, DecisionWise, a company focusing on employee engagement refers to the 5 Keys of Employee Engagement: Engagement Magic, which is similar, with a pretty cool acronym:

Why is this important?

Now we still have to see how this will work exactly, and yes, I’m excited. What is super important though is that you realize products alone won’t fix problems. People fix problems, with products (platforms). While we’re waiting for Microsoft Viva to roll out, perhaps we should take a step back and evaluate the real purpose behind using a platform like this. It’s about doing the right thing, for the right reason.

You’re not going to switch this on and suddenly have angels singing while playing on harps. There are reasons why people are unhappy & leave companies, and also reasons why they’re happy & stay with companies. And no, it’s not just about money. Platforms like Microsoft Viva will definitely facilitate the process and enable your employees – but you have some homework.

When companies ask me to help them with their Microsoft 365 strategy, the first thing I look at is their Mission statement / Values as well as their Strategic Objectives over the last couple of years. If you want your company to evolve and digitally transform, that needs to be represented in the job descriptions / KPI’s of your employees. If they only have time for “doing” and no time for “evolving”, then your objectives will stay that: objectives.

I found this interesting from the Microsoft e-book (and also incredibly sad). Management in general are worried about the impact of the lack of skills on their bottom line, but they’re not giving employees time to actually learn & evolve.

Please people, if we want different results, we need to start doing things differently.

Start preparing your company for wonderful technology like this to help you achieve more. Do the right things, for the right reasons, and if that doesn’t come natural to you, then surround yourself with a team of people who will be good at that.

Also keep in mind that employees who have a low “IT self-esteem” will struggle with self-learning / self-help environments. Start working on that by rolling out basic digital literacy programs which are more hands-on / instructor led, to break down the fear they have of technology.

And if you think the majority of your employees are digitally literate…. you’re wrong. And no, it’s not their fault.

Resources:

Disclaimer: I create content about Office / Microsoft 365. Content is accurate at time of publication, however updates and new additions happen daily which could change the accuracy or relevance. Please keep this in mind when using my blogs as guidelines. And yes, I change my mind all the time as well, because “The only thing that is constant, is change”.
My life mission is to “Facilitate the evolution of human capabilities”: Reach out on: Website > LinkedIn > SlideShare > Twitter > Medium > YouTube > MVP Profile > Contact Me