In today’s scattered digital workplace, keeping employees connected and engaged is a huge challenge. Team members often jump between dozens of apps a day, turning the search for basic company information into a frustrating scavenger hunt. This fragmentation directly impacts the employee experience, making it difficult to foster a unified culture and keep everyone aligned. Microsoft’s answer to this is Viva Connections, a framework designed to create a central hub for your workforce right within Microsoft Teams.
A proper Viva Connections setup provides a curated, company-branded destination that brings together news, conversations, and essential tools. Think of it as your digital front door, a place where the entire organization can start their day. It helps staff feel a sense of belonging and easily access the resources they need. This guide will walk through the essentials of deployment, from initial prerequisites to building a dynamic dashboard and driving adoption. At the end of this article, you’ll find a practical checklist to guide you through your own implementation.
Prerequisites for Viva Connections Deployment
Jumping into a Viva Connections setup requires a bit of groundwork to ensure a smooth rollout. Think of it as checking the foundation before you build the house. The process isn’t overly complex, but getting these key pieces in place first will save you headaches down the road. This initial phase is critical for creating a much better end result for your team.
Foundational Licensing and Permissions
First things first, let’s talk about the technical requirements. To get started, your organization needs to have Microsoft 365 or Office 365 E1, E3, E5, F1, or F3 licenses. Essentially, if you’re running a modern Microsoft-based digital workplace, you likely already have what you need. From an administrative standpoint, a SharePoint administrator is required to configure the SharePoint home site, which serves as the backbone of the Viva Connections experience. Additionally, a Teams administrator will be needed to customize and deploy the app, making it accessible to everyone.
s a pre-existing SharePoint intranet absolutely necessary? Not strictly, but it is highly recommended. Viva Connections is designed to amplify your existing SharePoint content, not replace it. If you have a modern SharePoint communication site that already serves as your company portal, you’re in a great position. This site will become the landing experience within Teams, providing a rich source of news from day one. Starting from scratch is possible, but leveraging an established and well-managed SharePoint foundation gives you a massive head start and ensures a vibrant, populated hub.
Strategic Planning and Governance
Beyond the technical checklist, strategic planning is where the real success of the implementation lies. Before you build anything, you need to define what you want to achieve. Are you trying to improve corporate communication, simplify access to HR tools, or connect frontline workers? Having clear goals will guide every decision you make. This is also the time to assemble a cross-functional team with stakeholders from IT, HR, Corporate Communications, and key business departments.
A clear governance plan is another non-negotiable. You need to decide who has the authority to publish official company news, who can create dashboard cards, and what the approval process looks like. Without these rules, your new company portal can quickly become cluttered and untrustworthy. Research on intranets and online communities indicates that clear content ownership and moderation policies—together with standardized guidelines—improve user participation quality and sustain long-term engagement (NN/g; Prescient Digital; randomized experiments on moderation). (https://www.nngroup.com/reports/intranet-usability-guidelines; https://prescientdigital.com/articles/governance/intranet-governance-ownership-management-policy; https://arxiv.org/abs/2411.16814). By establishing a framework early, you ensure the platform remains relevant and valuable, which is fundamental to a positive employee experience.
Rule #1: A clear governance plan is not a "nice-to-have"; it is an absolute necessity for the long-term success and credibility of your digital employee experience.
Building and Customizing the Dashboard
The Viva dashboard is the interactive heart of the Viva Connections experience. It’s where employees can see at-a-glance information and access tools to get their work done efficiently. A well-designed dashboard moves beyond just displaying links. It provides a dynamic and personalized set of resources that can transform the daily workflow. A thoughtful approach to the Viva dashboard is a core part of the overall Viva Connections setup.
Designing a User-Centric Experience
The goal of the Viva dashboard is to give employees quick access to the tools and information they use most frequently. Before adding a single card, take the time to understand your audience. What are the common tasks for different roles? A frontline worker might need to see their upcoming shifts, while a sales manager might want a direct link to the CRM. Using audience targeting, you can create a personalized employee experience by showing specific cards to specific Microsoft 365 Groups.
When designing the layout, think about the visual hierarchy. Place the most critical tools at the top and use a mix of card sizes to draw attention to important items.
Here are some of the key elements you can add to the Viva dashboard:
- Teams App Card: Launch a specific Teams app directly from the dashboard.
- Web Link Card: Open any external or internal URL, perfect for linking to legacy systems.
- Shifts Card: Display shift information for frontline workers.
- Tasks Card: Show a summary of assigned tasks from To Do and Planner.
- Card Designer: Create your own custom cards using Adaptive Card JSON for more complex layouts.
This level of customization allows you to build a truly unique and valuable hub for your teams. The flexibility of the Viva dashboard is a key feature that enhances the company portal.
Rule #2: Personalization is not just a feature; it's the core principle of an effective dashboard. A dashboard that tries to be for everyone will ultimately be for no one.
Step-by-Step Dashboard Configuration
Setting up the dashboard is a straightforward process handled directly from your designated SharePoint home site. Here’s a simplified walkthrough to get you started:
- Navigate to your SharePoint Home Site: Go to the SharePoint site you’ve designated as your home site for Viva Connections.
- Access the Dashboard: From the home page, click the gear icon for Settings and then select Manage Viva Connections. This will take you to the configuration page where you can create or edit your dashboard.
- Add Cards: Click + Add a card to open the card picker. You’ll see a variety of pre-built cards for common applications like Shifts, Tasks, and Approvals, as well as the generic Web Link card.
- Customize Each Card: Once you add a card, click the pencil icon to edit its properties. You can change the label, select an icon, and, most importantly, apply Audience Targeting. In the audience targeting field, you can add one or more Microsoft 365 Groups. Only members of those groups will see that specific card.
- Arrange and Publish: Drag and drop the cards to arrange them in your preferred order. You can also select a size (small, medium, or large) for each card to control the layout. Once you are satisfied with the design, click Publish or Republish to make your changes live.
Remember, the dashboard isn’t a “set it and forget it” tool. A successful implementation involves gathering feedback from users and iterating on the design. As the needs of the business evolve, so should your dashboard. A proper Viva Connections setup includes a plan for ongoing management.
Integrating SharePoint News and Resources
One of the primary functions of Viva Connections is to streamline communication by pulling in content from your existing SharePoint intranet. This integration ensures that employees have a single, reliable source for official news and important resources. This content appears directly within the flow of their work in Microsoft Teams, making the company portal feel alive and current.
Centralizing Corporate Communications
The news feed in Viva Connections surfaces timely articles from across your SharePoint ecosystem. It automatically prioritizes content from official organizational news sites, ensuring critical updates are seen by the right people.
To make this work, you need a solid SharePoint news strategy. Designate a few key communication sites as “organizational news sites.” Content published on these sites will be given special visual treatment and prioritized in user feeds. You can also use audience targeting on news articles to tailor communications to specific regions or departments, further enhancing the employee experience. This successful integration of these elements transforms your company portal.
| Feature | Viva Connections Feed | SharePoint News Web Part |
| Content Sources | SharePoint News, Viva Engage, Stream (on SharePoint) | Primarily SharePoint News from selected sites. |
| Personalization | Highly personalized based on user’s memberships, followed sites, and colleagues. | Configured by a site editor to show news from specific sites. |
| Layout | A continuous, scrolling feed of content cards. | Multiple layout options (e.g., list, top story, carousel) within a page section. |
| Placement | A dedicated tab within the Viva Connections app in Teams. | Can be placed on any SharePoint page. |
| Primary Goal | To provide a single, aggregated stream of relevant communications. | To display a curated set of news articles on a specific topic or for a specific audience. |
Curating Essential Resources
Beyond news, Viva Connections provides a dedicated “Resources” section for your evergreen links. This is the place for the important sites, documents, and tools that employees need to access regularly. This feature is crucial for creating an effective company portal. Think of it as the modern equivalent of the old-school intranet link list, but smarter and more accessible.
Like other components, resource links can be audience-targeted, allowing you to create a customized set of resources for different groups. This simple act of curation significantly improves the employee experience by removing irrelevant information.
Driving User Adoption and Engagement
Launching a new platform is only the first step; the real measure of success is whether employees actually use it. A thoughtful adoption strategy is just as important as the technical Viva Connections setup. Without it, even the most perfectly designed dashboard will fail to gain traction. Driving adoption is key to improving the overall employee experience.
Crafting a Launch and Communication Plan
You can’t just turn on Viva Connections and expect people to flock to it. A successful launch requires a strategic communication plan to build awareness and excitement. Start teasing the new platform a few weeks before launch. Explain what it is, why the company is introducing it, and how it will make employees’ lives easier. Focus on the “what’s in it for me?” aspect to generate genuine interest.
Your launch plan should be multi-faceted and cater to different learning styles. Here are some key tactics to include:
- Executive Sponsorship: Have a senior leader announce the launch and champion its benefits.
- Launch Day Events: Host a virtual or in-person event to walk employees through the new platform.
- Champions Network: Identify enthusiastic employees from different departments to act as champions.
- Training Materials: Create short, easy-to-digest training resources, such as quick-start guides and short videos.
- Feedback Channels: Establish a clear channel for users to ask questions and provide feedback after launch.
A successful launch is not a single event but a sustained campaign. Keep the momentum going by regularly sharing tips, highlighting new features, and showcasing success stories. This sustained effort is critical for embedding the new company portal into daily routines.
Measuring Success and Iterating
How do you know if your implementation is successful? It’s essential to define success metrics from the very beginning. These will help you understand how the platform is being used and where you can make improvements. Start by looking at the analytics provided within SharePoint and Teams. You can track metrics like unique visitors, page views on news, and click-through rates on the Viva dashboard.
However, numbers only tell part of the story. It’s crucial to gather qualitative feedback as well. Conduct short user satisfaction surveys to gauge sentiment. Ask questions like, “Is Viva Connections helping you find the information you need?” The insights from this feedback are invaluable for iterating on your design.
Rule #3: Adoption is not a launch event; it's a continuous cycle of measurement, feedback, and iteration. The best digital experiences evolve with the organization.
Don’t be afraid to make changes based on this feedback. The digital workplace is not static. A successful adoption strategy involves a continuous cycle of launching, measuring, and learning. This approach ensures your Viva Connections implementation remains a vital tool that truly enhances the employee experience. The ongoing management of the Viva dashboard and the overall Viva Connections setup is crucial for long-term value.
Frequently Asked Questions
How is Viva Connections different from a standard SharePoint intranet?
While a SharePoint intranet serves as the foundation for the content, Viva Connections packages that content into a branded app inside Microsoft Teams. This makes news, resources, and tools accessible directly within the application where many employees already spend their workday, reducing the need to switch between different browser tabs and applications. It is designed to be a more integrated and streamlined experience.
Why are my employees not using the Viva Connections dashboard?
Low adoption of the Viva dashboard often stems from a lack of relevance. If the cards don’t link to tools or information that help employees with their daily tasks, they won’t have a reason to use it. Ensure you’ve used audience targeting to personalize the experience for different roles. Also, a strong communication and launch plan is crucial to build initial awareness and provide training.
What is better for sharing news: the Viva Connections feed or a SharePoint news post?
They serve different but complementary purposes. A SharePoint news post is the original piece of content you create on your intranet. The Viva Connections feed is one of the primary ways that content gets distributed to employees in a personalized stream within Teams. You create the news in SharePoint, and Viva Connections helps deliver it to the right audience in the flow of their work. Think of SharePoint as the source and Viva Connections as a key delivery channel.
How much does Viva Connections cost?
The core functionality of Viva Connections is included with all Microsoft 365 and Office 365 plans that include SharePoint. This makes it an accessible starting point for most organizations looking to improve their digital employee experience without an additional licensing investment. More advanced Viva modules and features may require separate licenses.
Seeing the process can make it much easier to understand. This detailed guide explains what Viva Connections is and how it works.
Conclusion
Implementing Microsoft Viva Connections is more than just a technical project; it’s a strategic initiative to reshape your digital workplace. By creating a unified and personalized hub within Microsoft Teams, you can break down information silos and build a more connected workforce. A successful Viva Connections setup hinges on a thoughtful approach that begins with clear planning and extends through careful design of the Viva dashboard and a sustained effort to drive user adoption.
When done right, this platform can transform the employee experience, turning a fragmented collection of apps into a cohesive and engaging company portal. It empowers employees by putting the resources they need at their fingertips, fostering a stronger sense of community, and aligning everyone with the company’s mission. The key is to view Viva Connections not as a destination, but as a dynamic and evolving foundation for communication and engagement in the modern era of work.
Reading about best practices is one thing, but putting them into action is what drives results. We’ve created this comprehensive checklist to help you translate the concepts from this guide into a structured, actionable plan. Use it to track your progress, ensure you don’t miss any critical steps, and guide your team from initial planning to a successful launch and beyond. This tool is designed to make your Viva Connections setup as smooth and effective as possible.
