The Viva Connections Feed as virtual hallway and water cooler conversations
Published Nov 20, 2022
When the pandemic hit and office workers moved to work from home, doomsayers prophesied the end of innovation, and managers worried nothing would get done.
Well, the opposite happened.
Productivity went up, and innovation remained steady. In fact, remote workers communicate more than when they’re in the office. As long as they’re communicating, collaborating, and innovating with someone they already know.
Although total communication went up, it actually fell with people we know less well, our “weak ties” (Miller, 2021). This is what Jamie Dimon, CEO of JP Morgan Chase referred to: “Remote work virtually eliminates spontaneous learning and creativity because you don’t run into people at the coffee machine.”
The important thing about the water cooler effect isn’t meeting people, it’s rubbing shoulders with their ideas, the projects they’re working on, the news and conversations they share. Social scientists have found that weak ties '“are important for innovation because they bring a different perspective or expertise” (Miller, 2021).
Photo by Boxed Water on Unsplash
Matt Clancy studies the economics of innovation. He explains why. “The harder part is when you don’t know they’re there, you don’t know they’re valuable to meet, you don’t know their work exists and is important.”
The Connections Feed brings a virtual water cooler to Teams and SharePoint by surfacing diverse conversations from across your organization. And, right where workers around the globe start their day.
The Feed surfaces content from Yammer and Viva Engage like Storylines, Praise, and Q&A as well as news and conversations from across all sites. (Ma 2022, Patton 2022). Not to mention, the Connections homepage can also include Topics cards (on the Dashboard) and the My Feed web part that shows files and sites likely associated with your weak ties. The Connections Feed doesn’t let you rub shoulders with weak ties, but it lets you rub shoulders with their ideas, projects, news, and conversations.
Screenshot of the Viva Connections Feed web part
And they’re just a click away if workers want to chat.
I’m really excited to see how new content surfaces on Connections sites and see if it really does boost the collisions with weak ties, that rubbing of shoulders, that are so important to innovation. As Matt Clancy says, “innovators meet other innovators who live nearby” (Clancy, 2021), and the feed web part does a great job of showing who lives nearby.
The important thing about the water cooler effect isn’t meeting people, it’s rubbing shoulders with their ideas, the projects they’re working on, the news and conversations they share.
Clancy, M. (2021, February 16). Proximity: More Important for Meeting than Collaborating. What’s New Under the Sun.
Ma, L. (2022, October 12). What’s new in Viva Connections.
Miller, C. C. (2021, September 3). When Chance Encounters at the Water Cooler Are Most Useful. The New York Times.
Patton, S. (2022, October 12). Microsoft Ignite 2022: Innovations and roadmap for Microsoft Viva.
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