Published 30 August 2023
The Viva updates have slowed down recently as the world of AI takes over, but this month there are updates worth talking about. Microsoft are all about improving what’s already available, so we’ve re-capped the top 5 updates announced in August that we think will bring you value.
1. Viva Connections: Announcements
What’s new?
Announcements are coming to Viva Connections and will allow you to create and share time-sensitive messages. You can set up, manage, and schedule announcements from your organisation’s SharePoint home site or the Viva Connections app in Teams desktop.
Why is this important?
Communication is key in any organisation, so with users being notified of new announcements through the Viva Connections app you’ll be more connected than ever.
When is it coming?
- Targeted release: Rollout to begin in late August and expect to complete by mid-September 2023.
- Standard release: Rollout to begin in late September and expect to complete by end of October 2023.
2. Viva Connections: Dashboard Cards in Dark Mode
What’s new?
Microsoft have been working on enriching the Viva Connections platform and will soon introduce Dark Mode support for Quick Views on both iOS and Android devices.
Why is this important?
Dark mode helps some users to focus and absorb information. With most of M365 offering dark mode, Viva Connections is finally catching up. You will have the opportunity to test your existing card Quick Views in Dark Mode and we encourage you to do this to ensure a seamless transition, regardless of the theme preference.
When is it coming?
Rollout will begin in early November 2023 and is expected to be complete by mid-November 2023.
3. Viva Goals: Roll-Up Expected Progress From Child Key Results to Parent
What’s new?
Currently in Viva Goals, while you can set up phased targets at the level of the child key result, the targets do not roll up to the parent key result or objective. This has caused confusion to both the child and the parent objective owners resulting in incorrect progress and status calculations and incorrect depictions of the expected progress values in the progress graphs.
With this update, if the child key result has phased targets, then the targets are rolled up from the children to the parent. If there is more than one key result, then the expected progress is rolled up based on the contribution of the key result to the parent.
If in case, the parent objective owner decides to set up targets at the level of the parent, then those targets override the rolled-up targets.
Why is this important?
When this feature rolls out, the phased targets set at the level of the child key result will roll up to the parent. There can be instances of progress and status being different from earlier based on the rolled-up targets. The summary graph and the OKR list widget will also reflect the targets rolled up from the children to the parent OKR.
When is it coming?
Rollout will begin in late August 2023 and is expected to be complete by early September 2023.
4. Viva Goals: Share an Update (Broadcast) Feature
What’s new?
The ‘Share an Update’ feature will allow leaders to share updates of their team goals to the members of their organisation directly from Viva Goals. Updates are sent to users via email.
Why is this important?
By sharing updates directly to the whole team, it will save time informing large teams individually and will ensure everyone is aware of the future goals. Admins and owners of teams will have the ability to share an update to their teams via a new button visible in the UI.
When is it coming?
Rollout will begin in early August and is expected to be complete by late August.
5. Viva Pulse: Add a Link to Internal Policies
What’s new?
The Viva Pulse Admin experience will soon have a new admin capability called: Add a link to internal policies.
Currently in the customisation set up, survey authors will see a general disclaimer message saying, “Important. Your organisation may have policies governing appropriate survey questions for employees. Please ensure you have consulted any such policies before proceeding.” With this new feature, you can add a link to your organisation’s internal policies in the policy reminder messaging in the Viva Pulse customisation set up.
Why is this important?
This will save time with users no longer having to search for policies and ensure people are reading the correct policies.
Please note: This disclaimer message will only appear if you have the customisation control turned ON for your organisation.
- If you have the customisation control turned ON but choose not to add a link to your organisation’s internal policies, then survey authors will see the general disclaimer message.
- If you have the customisation control turned ON and choose to add a link to your organisation’s internal policies, then survey authors will see a link to your organisation’s internal policies in the disclaimer message.
- If you have the customisation control turned OFF, then survey authors will not see any disclaimer messages.
When is it coming?
Rollout will begin in early September 2023 and is expected to be complete by late September 2023.
Like what you see but want more? Every month we round up 10 updates from the world of M365 to help prepare you for upcoming changes. If you’re keen to learn what’s ahead, check out our August M365 updates blog here.
