In this blog, I share our newest Viva People Science playbook for measuring the implementation and impact of Microsoft 365 Copilot using Viva measurement apps (Glint, Pulse, and Insights). I hope it helps you…
- Get started using the various data sources at your disposal to build a holistic, people-centric measurement strategy for Copilot implementation,
- Discover practical frameworks for setting goals, identifying progress assessment opportunities, and designing an agile measurement approach and timeline to optimize measurement for a smooth implementation, and
- Learn how timely and targeted measurements at all levels in the organization can help you track progress towards goals and best adapt your Copilot implementation approach to drive success.
Hey everyone!
Did you know that 80% of employees are already using AI tools at work1?
Even with that impressive number, many leaders struggle to measure its effectiveness. This blog introduces a playbook that emphasizes practical steps that you, the AI Change Leader, can take to drive transformation by harnessing AI capabilities and measuring success. I’ll share ten tips from our playbook that can help you navigate your AI transformation, specifically focused on using the Viva measurement apps: Glint, Pulse, and Insights to gauge organizational readiness, monitor adoption progress, and assess the resulting impact of Microsoft 365 Copilot.
In your role as a Change Leader, you provide strategic oversight and act as a bridge between technical teams and business stakeholders. This involves making sure AI initiatives align with organizational goals and help create a culture that embraces AI transformation. Beyond technical implementation, your focus on the human aspects of AI implementation will encourage other leaders to understand and address employees' hopes, fears and hesitations, making the transition smoother and more effective.
Take a People-centric Approach
While your leadership may be on board with AI transformation, adopting new technologies and practices that fundamentally change the way your people work requires a smart, people-centric implementation plan to be successful. Unlike typical digital tool implementations, AI is an elective technology that first requires buy-in from your employees.
- Before you roll out AI, assess how aware, excited, and motivated your people are. Once employees understand what’s in it for them, they’ll spend more time and energy gaining new skills and realigning their work tasks and habits around AI.
Design a Holistic Measurement Strategy
The playbook stresses the need to measure both behavioral and sentiment data to understand what your employees are saying, how they are feeling, and what they are doing. By combining these insights, you can make informed decisions based on a well-rounded understanding of the total employee experience.
Using apps like Viva Glint, Pulse, and Insights, you can set up a multi-channel approach to ensure your Microsoft 365 Copilot measurement strategy is adaptive and aligned with your business goals. This measurement approach will empower employees, managers, and senior leaders with enriched insights and increased accountability to incorporate those Copilot work practices that best achieve your goals and desired outcomes.
- Take time to identify available listening channels - like employee surveys and Copilot usage data tracking - and the best rhythm of measurement. The playbook guides you through a planning approach for using Viva to measure and gain a comprehensive understanding of your Copilot implementation's progress and value by combining detailed workplace analytics from Viva Insights, with sentiment analysis from Viva Glint, and continuous feedback from Viva Pulse.
Align Goals and Measurement Opportunities
Successful Microsoft 365 Copilot implementation depends on how well you align your organizational goals with Copilot measurement strategies to create value for your people, your business functions, and the overall company. The playbook provides a framework for designing Copilot measurement strategies that create value and reduce costs at the overall organizational level, for specific business functions, and for individual employee job roles.
- To effectively align goals with measurement opportunities, start by establishing the key questions your measurement strategy is designed to answer at each level. Consider the following questions:
- What are the top business needs that can be supported by Copilot?
- How can Copilot help create a competitive advantage in the industry?
- What are the specific processes and KPIs for each business function that can be augmented by Copilot?
- How can Copilot improve employee experiences and help meet people goals?
Then define the ideal value-creation, and/or inefficiency-reduction scenarios at each level. Finally, identify the trackable metrics that best measure each scenario. You’ll find several helpful examples in the playbook.
Leverage the Power of Viva Measurement Apps
Viva measurement apps are game changers. Viva Insights identifies actionable observations and usage trends, while Viva Glint collects enterprise-wide employee sentiment. Viva Pulse offers real-time survey feedback, allowing change leaders to gather and act on employee feedback quickly. Together, these tools provide a comprehensive understanding of how Microsoft 365 Copilot implementation is progressing.
- Viva Insights: Copilot Analytics helps organizations monitor Copilot implementation by measuring real-time utilization activity, adoption trends, and resulting impact over time. Viva Insights also offers advanced reporting and function-specific dashboards to help you track progress against important KPIs for various business functions.
- Viva Glint: This app is an admin-deployed employee survey platform which delivers visibility into employee sentiment at multiple organizational levels. It features advanced reporting, identification of key employee outcome predictors, and sentiment analysis at scale. Glint is best for measuring enterprise-wide Copilot sentiment - how prepared and ready employees are for Copilot, how they experience it during adoption, and Copilot’s impact on their jobs and for the organization - and comparing results across roles, levels, and functions.
- Viva Pulse: This app offers flexible and democratized capabilities for change leaders, local champions, or managers to gather and act on employee feedback quickly. Pulse is best for quick, decentralized polling to identify Copilot attitudes and preferences unique to their teams. It helps change leaders understand specific points of resistance or gaps in adoption progress, to make prompt and tailored responses.
- Keep in mind, as a centrally administered app, Viva Glint is your best bet for measuring enterprise-wide Copilot sentiment where comparisons across roles, levels, and functions are needed. Alternatively, Viva Pulse data is best for quick, decentralized polling by local change leaders or individual managers to identify Copilot attitudes and preferences unique to their own teams which enable prompt and tailored responses.
Measure Copilot Readiness, Adoption, and Impact
To support your Microsoft 365 Copilot implementation measurement strategy, we talk about three assessment opportunities: Readiness, Adoption, and Impact. Various groups in your organization have different challenges and their own pace for Copilot implementation, so we recommend a modular and agile measurement approach, which is aligned with the unique needs and goals for various job roles, processes, and functions.
- For each function in your organization that implements Copilot, identify the processes, roles, and tasks to benefit from being Copilot-assisted. This forms the basis for identifying your measurement opportunities.
Measuring Copilot Readiness
Before implementing Microsoft 365 Copilot, it's crucial to gauge readiness. This involves assessing how prepared your teams are to make the transition, identifying the best candidates for Copilot assistance, and ensuring employees understand your goals and have the necessary skills and motivations. Viva Glint and Viva Pulse can be used to gather readiness sentiment data, and then Viva Insights provides visibility into current app usage behaviors.
- To measure readiness effectively, consider gathering feedback on the following critical success factors:
- Competence: Do employees have the necessary skills to adopt Copilot?
- Confidence: How confident do employees feel about adopting Copilot?
- Motivation: Are employees motivated and excited about using Copilot?
- Support: Do employees have access to the resources and information they need to prepare for Copilot implementation?
By addressing these factors, organizations create a supportive environment that encourages employees to embrace Copilot and realize its full potential.
Measuring Copilot Adoption
Once Microsoft 365 Copilot is implemented, it's essential to measure how well your target groups are incorporating it into their work. This includes understanding usage patterns, recognizing best practices, and identifying barriers to adoption. Copilot usage data on Copilot Analytics is continuously collected and can signal where changes may be needed to meet adoption goals, reinforcing the agile and iterative process of Copilot implementation.
Pulse surveys to specific teams, cohorts, and pilot groups help you gauge progress and gather sentiments that will show exactly what and where groups may need additional attention or interventions to accelerate progress.
To measure adoption effectively, consider measuring the following factors:
- Utilization: How frequently do employees use Copilot?
- Experience: How do employees feel about using Copilot?
- Support: Are employees receiving the support they need to adopt Copilot successfully?
- Barriers: What challenges are employees facing in adopting Copilot?
It’s important to remember that as different teams, cohorts, or pilot groups implement and experiment with Copilot, their rates of adoption will differ by function, level, job role, skills, and tasks.
- Make sure you measure and track Copilot sentiment and utilization differences between levels and across groups to know where to apply support and intervention to keep your adoption goals on track.
Measuring Copilot Impact
After sufficient time for teams to experiment with Microsoft 365 Copilot has passed, it's time to start measuring the impact of Copilot implementation. Viva Insights, Glint, and Pulse can help track various key outcomes and value created at various levels in the organization and highlight where adjustments need to be made that will get you closer to your goals.
You can leverage the Copilot Business Outcome Report to explore things like the relationship between Copilot usage and key functional KPIs and learn how employees with favorable outcomes use Copilot.
- To measure impact effectively, consider measuring the following factors:
- Satisfaction: Are employees satisfied with their Copilot experience?
- Productivity: How has Copilot improved employee productivity?
- Value Creation: What value has Copilot created for various business functions?
- Business Outcomes: How has Copilot impacted key business outcomes?
A template of Copilot employee outcome questions is available in Viva Glint (see example in sidebar) and Pulse.
Build Your Own Plan and Timeline
Below you’ll find an example timeline showing how a function of 1,000 employees might issue Microsoft 365 Copilot licenses and implement Copilot across functional teams. The example shows the cadence for deploying the various Viva measurement apps and assessment opportunities over a 12-month period.
- This is an illustrative example – for each organization (and function within the organization) you may need to create a unique timeline and cadence for measuring Copilot implementation.
Conclusion
In a nutshell, this playbook is a must-read for anyone involved in AI transformations. It offers essential guidance on measuring, monitoring, and achieving value from Microsoft 365 Copilot implementation. By taking a people-centric approach and leveraging the power of Viva measurement apps, organizations can drive successful AI transformations and create a positive impact on their business and employees.
Watch for more updates as we continue to explore the world of AI and its transformative potential!
In the meantime, check out these useful resources to learn more!
1 – Microsoft Viva People Science, The state of AI change readiness. August 2024.
Updated Jan 22, 2025
Version 1.0craigramsay
Microsoft
Joined July 20, 2022
Microsoft Viva Blog
Follow this blog board to get notified when there's new activity