New Viva Connections Cards: Ready-to-Use Updates

Key insights

Viva Connections has updated and introduced new ready-to-use cards in Microsoft Teams. These cards are customizable, interactive, and based on the Adaptive Cards format, providing quick access to important information on a diverse range of devices, enhancing the employee experience within organizations.

• News cards, Conversations cards, Tools cards, and Custom cards are among the types available, each serving specialized functions like displaying articles, fostering community interactions, or linking to frequent tools and resources.


• Using Viva Cards can increase employee engagement, improve productivity, and promote collaboration by providing streamlined access to tools, resources, and communication channels.


• Organizations can create Viva Cards through the Microsoft Teams admin center, the Microsoft Graph API, or third-party development tools, with added benefits of ease of creation and management, flexibility, and interoperability with different systems.


• The updates include new features in the News card, People card, and Events cards, with the latter expected to be available in the first quarter of 2024.


• Viva Connections and its cards offer default features as part of the standard Microsoft 365 enterprise subscriptions, like E3 and E5, with certain features possibly requiring additional licenses.

Further expanding on the importance of Viva Connections, this tool is pivotal for modern workplaces that are seeking ways to improve internal communication and resource management. As organizations continue to navigate the landscape of remote and hybrid work, the need for comprehensive, easily accessible digital tools becomes increasingly critical. Viva Connections meets this requirement by providing an integrated experience within the familiar Microsoft Teams environment.

Understanding Viva Connections

Microsoft’s Viva Connections is designed as an employee experience platform to bring together relevant content, conversations, and resources into the workflow. Its integration in Microsoft Teams allows for a seamless user experience where employees have everything they need at their fingertips. The platform's adaptability ensures that it can cater to a wide range of roles and functions within any given organization. This adaptability is vital for ensuring that each employee can be met with relevant and personalized information and tools that align with their specific needs and responsibilities. By focusing on the employee experience, Viva Connections aims to foster a more inclusive, productive, and cohesive digital workplace.

Customizable and interactive 'Viva Connections' dashboard cards are now available in Microsoft Teams, enhancing employees' access to key information and tools. Developed with Adaptive Cards technology, these cards function seamlessly across various devices, offering a truly flexible toolset to elevate the personalized employee experience within organizations. Different card types cater to diverse organizational needs, including news, conversations, and tool access.

Four main types of cards extend the functionality of the employee dashboard:

• News cards feature articles, blog posts, and content from multiple sources.
• Conversations cards connect to communities and forums for employee collaboration.
• Tools cards offer instant access to calendars and project management resources.
• Custom cards can be tailored to integrate with an organization's unique systems.

Viva Connections cards are instrumental in:

• Boosting employee engagement with easy access to essential information.
• Enhancing productivity by streamlining tools and resources.
• Encouraging collaboration through a centralized communication hub.

Organizations can easily create Viva Connections cards using tools like the Microsoft Teams admin center, Microsoft Graph API, and third-party development tools. These cards stand out due to their ease of creation, customization capabilities, and ability to integrate with various systems, making them an excellent resource for improving the employee experience.

Exciting updates enhance Viva Connections' out-of-the-box cards with new features for News, People, and Events cards. Available now, News and People cards offer immediate benefits, while Events cards are anticipated for release in early 2024. Although design changes are subject to potential shifts in schedule.

Viva Connections is set to benefit from continuous evolution, bringing additional card sizes, presentation styles, and more out-of-the-box card options based on user feedback. A platform for variety, Viva Connections allows extensions through SharePoint Framework and Bot Framework, providing a vast opportunity for partners to create further customizability.

Most of the default Viva Connections features come included with standard Microsoft 365 enterprise subscriptions. Some specific functions may require additional licensing, so it's essential to consult Microsoft's official Viva plans and pricing documentation for the latest information. Furthermore, Microsoft's store and AppSource offer additional cards from ISVs and partners—expanding the ecosystem of tools available to businesses.

Here are some useful resources for those interested in expanding their 'Viva Connections' dashboard:

• An overview of Viva Connections
• Instructions on how to add cards to the dashboard
• Information about Viva Connections cards available in the Microsoft store/AppSource
• Guidance on building extensibility for Viva Connections

Thank you for reading. Any feedback or questions are always welcome in the comments, and responses will come promptly.

Understanding Viva Connections

Viva Connections, a component of Microsoft Teams, adds significant value to your organization by providing employees with enriched, interactive dashboard experiences. With the announcement of new updates and cards, it is clear that Microsoft remains dedicated to improving usability and functionality. This commitment ensures that the organizations can enjoy enhanced engagement, better productivity, and stronger collaboration, continuing the transformation of how workspaces digitally operate and evolve.

Summary of Viva Connections Updates

Microsoft Teams has rolled out updates to Viva Connections, enhancing the employee experience. Viva Connections Viva Cards are customizable and interactive, designed to provide employees with essential information effortlessly. These cards are built on Adaptive Cards technology, ensuring compatibility across different devices.

Available Viva Card Types:

• News cards for displaying articles and blog posts
• Conversations cards for linking to community forums
• Tools cards for fast access to tools like calendars
• Custom cards for organization-specific needs

Viva Connections cards improve employee engagement, productivity, and encourage collaboration by providing centralized access to resources and tools. Organizations can create these cards using various tools, like the Microsoft Teams admin center and Microsoft Graph API.

Benefits of Viva Connections Cards:

• Simple to create and manage
• Highly flexible and customizable
• Can be integrated with many systems

Microsoft is excited about the newly released updates including the News card, People card, and Events card, with the latter expected in the first quarter of 2024. These enhancements target raising awareness for organizational events and increasing accessibility to company news and colleague contact information.

Availability:
News Card - Now
People Card - Now
Events Card - Expected in Q1 2024

Discussions about new search features have been showcased in a video featuring Ankur Madan and Vesa Juvonen, however, references to these external resources have been omitted for this summary.

Frequently Asked Questions:

• Plans for supporting various card sizes and styles are in progress.
• There's potential for more out-of-the-box cards based on user feedback.
• Core features of Viva Connections are included with Microsoft 365 subscriptions; some special features may require extra licensing.
• Additional cards can be obtained from the Microsoft store or AppSource, and partners have the option for direct sales.

For more details, readers are encouraged to refer to the official Viva Connections documentation, which outlines features like card addition to dashboards, build extensibility, and an overview of Viva Connections. Feedback and questions are welcome in the comments section of the platform hosting this information.

Enhancing the Digital Workplace with Viva Connections

Viva Connections aims to elevate the digital workplace by offering a personalized and unified experience within Microsoft Teams. It's part of the larger Microsoft Viva suite designed to amalgamate communication, knowledge, learning, resources, and insights. With its adaptive, customizable cards, Viva Connections directly integrates into the flow of work, making essential information and tools more readily accessible to employees, thereby fostering a more connected, engaged, and productive workforce.

Please note that due to the requested format, the YouTube video itself is not embedded or directly linked, and details about specific individuals and their social media profiles or external links to official documentation are omitted as per instructions.

Read the full article Updated and new ready to use cards available in Viva Connections

People also ask

What are the adaptive cards in Viva Connections?

The adaptive cards in Viva Connections refer to a user interface framework that allows for the creation of customizable cards that can be displayed within the Viva Connections dashboard. These cards are designed to be interactive and adaptive to different devices, providing users with a seamless experience whether they are using a computer, tablet, or mobile device. The cards can contain various elements such as text, images, buttons, and can be configured to display personalized content and relevant information to individual users, enhancing their engagement and productivity within the digital workspace.

What is the new Viva Connections experience?

The new Viva Connections experience is an evolution of Microsoft's employee engagement platform that provides a more integrated and personalized experience. It aims to bring together relevant communications, resources, and tools into a single, cohesive user interface within Microsoft Teams. The experience is designed to facilitate easier access to company news, important conversations, and personalized content, all intended to boost employee engagement and communication within the organization. It uses the familiar Teams environment to help employees find information and collaborate more effectively without having to switch contexts or platforms.

Is Viva Connections general availability?

By this current date, Viva Connections should be generally available, having been rolled out to all customers with the appropriate licensing. Microsoft had planned for the release of Viva Connections to coincide with the general expansion of their Viva suite of employee experience platforms. It's designed to integrate seamlessly with other Microsoft services and to be accessible through Microsoft Teams. However, availability might be contingent on specific licensing agreements, so it's advisable to check with Microsoft documentation or support for the latest updates on availability within your organization.

What is the difference between Viva topics and Viva connections?

Viva Topics and Viva Connections are both components of the Microsoft Viva suite, but they serve different purposes. Viva Topics uses artificial intelligence to automatically organize company content into relevant topics, which helps employees to easily find information and expertise within the company. It essentially creates a knowledge network effortlessly for users. On the other hand, Viva Connections is a platform that brings a personalized company experience into Teams, integrating various aspects of Microsoft 365 to provide a central hub for employees to access company news, resources, and engage with their colleagues. Viva Connections focuses on employee engagement and communication, while Viva Topics centers on knowledge discovery and management.

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