Monday Masterclass Season 2 – Week 1: Beyond the Basics in Viva Engage
We hear repeatedly how valuable it is to have a space dedicated to practical guidance, real world examples, and direct access to product experts. Monday Masterclass Season 2 builds on the essentials while introducing capabilities that help organizations scale their employee communications and community strategy with confidence. This year’s program includes four live sessions that “go beyond the basics” with advanced guidance, smarter workflows, AI powered tools, and a strong focus on reach, relevance, and connection. Below, I'll recap highlights from our first session: Week 1 – Beyond the Basics Notifications: Relevance, Not Noise We kicked off with one of the most influential parts of the employee experience: notifications. We dive deep into how notifications function across Teams, mobile, email, and the inapp bell, and why smart delivery matters now more than ever. A few standout insights: Smart Notifications, now rolling out, intelligently determines for a community announcement the primary channel a user engages with most—and only move to a secondary one if the message hasn’t been consumed. Delivery respects all user preferences while reducing inbox and device clutter. Scenarios like community announcements, @mentions, new storyline posts, and replies all benefit from this “rightchannelfirst” intelligence. The theme is clear: precision beats volume, and great communicators design with this in mind. 📘 Learn more: Viva Engage Explained: Notifications — covers channel behavior, digests, and configuration Manage your Viva Engage notifications (support) — how users adjust their settings Digests: The Daily & Weekly Visibility Engines We clarified the value of Engage’s digests: Daily Digest: Prioritizes leadership content, helping key updates cut through everyday noise. Weekly Digest: Highlights content users may have missed—an intentional discovery channel driven by organizational signals, relevance, and trending topics. Featured Conversations: Remain one of the strongest tools for ensuring important posts persist across both digests. For communicators, this is a massive lever. Digests reach audiences who aren’t actively checking their feed—and do so with content tailored to individual interests. 📘 Learn more: Digests Explained (Tech Community) The Home Feed: Built In Personalization The Home Feed continues to be the front door of Viva Engage, and we unpacked the ranking signals and influence pathways that shape what employees see. Key factors include: Community membership Past interactions Organizational signals Relationships Featured conversations, announcements, and mute behavior AI-driven relevance scores We also outlined the tactics different roles can use to influence the feed, whether through featured posts, dynamic membership, leadership participation, or simply encouraging lightweight employee engagement (react, reply, follow, join). This section reinforced that the feed isn’t random, it’s an engine, and every role has influence. 📘 Learn more: Home feed Explained (Tech Community) Feature a conversation in Viva Engage (Microsoft Support) Create dynamic communities Content & Contributors: How Everyone Shapes Reach We dive into Content creation, the anatomy of a post and how to use Copilot to enhance your posting! We walked through different post types and we broke them down by persona, showing how each contributes to Engage. For example: Corporate Communicators Publish announcements Feature conversations Pin posts Review analytics Network & Community Admins Manage community configuration Set dynamic membership Mark official communities Shape governance Assign experts Add Community agent Employees Favorite communities Interact to improve their own feed relevance Post, reply, react, and contribute to knowledge flow Each role meaningfully impacts network health, visibility, and culture. 📘 Learn more: Microsoft-Viva-Engage-adoption-guide — includes guidance on community setup, managing conversations, and best practices User Guide Moderation & Governance: A Modernized Approach We walked through the playbook with guidance on scalable governance practices: Keyword monitoring and Report a Conversation help route safety signals to the right reviewers. AI-powered theme moderation understands context—not just keywords—and enables proactive detection. Move Conversation capabilities ensure discussions land in the right place. View only mode supports sensitive or read only scenarios. Together as well as the others we walked through allow admins to encourage respectful networks without slowing down participation. 📘 Support documentation: Keyword Monitoring in Viva Engage (Microsoft Support) Report a conversation (Microsoft Support) AI theme moderation overview Moderation playbook (Adoption) The Community Management Toolkit We introduced a rich set of tools for community managers, including: Copilot powered prompts for conversation starters, announcements, and event planning Engagement tactics to keep communities vibrant Post types (Questions, Praise, Polls, Articles) and their ideal uses Anatomy of a high performing post “Good → Better → Best” content comparisons These resources help community managers evolve beyond day to day posting and into strategic facilitation. AI in Viva Engage: A New Era of Engagement This year’s masterclass marks a fundamental shift: AI is now woven into nearly every part of the Viva Engage experience. We walk through how Copilot assists: Before you post Predicting questions your audience will ask Locating vague or unclear language Adding calls to action Making messages more engaging After you post Summarizing comment threads Identifying themes and patterns Pulling sentiment cues Drafting recaps for stakeholders For moderators Brainstorming keyword lists Creating response plans Tracking usage trends Drafting workflows Across all these scenarios, AI reduces busy work so communicators and admins can focus on clarity, connection, and culture. A Day in the Life: Copilot + Viva Engage We also included a behind the scenes look at how our team uses Copilot and Viva Engage throughout the day to manage customer communities, identify top themes, draft content, and stay ahead of fastmoving conversations. It’s a practical illustration of how AI and human insight work together to scale impact. What’s Next Week 2 of the Masterclass, AI-Powered Engagement! We will dive deeper into Copilot in Engage, Community Agent, Copilot Community and activation strategies. If Week 1 was about how the system works, Week 2 is about how to amplify what you do with it. You can register for upcoming sessions and explore the full schedule here: https://aka.ms/VivaEngage/MasterclassTeams Integrates Viva Engage Communities
A new integration with Viva Engage is available for Teams. The integration adds communities to the Teams navigation bar. It’s kind of odd when a separate highly functional Communities app exists. It’s unclear who is demanding another point of integration between Viva Engage and Teams. The suspicion is that this work is due to internal politics rather than to facilitate better collaboration. https://office365itpros.com/2026/01/23/viva-engage-teams-integration/
Introducing Community Experts in Viva Engage
We’re thrilled to announce the addition of a new role within a Viva Engage community, community experts. A community expert is a member of a community who is assigned by a community admin to serve as a subject matter expert within a specific community. Adding a community expert role to your community ensures additional support and engagement throughout the community. A community expert can mark the best answer, pin posts, and ensure valuable insights and accurate information flow within the community. However, a community expert does not have the ability to manage members, assign roles etc. like a community admin. Once designated as a ‘community expert’, that label will only show within that community. Note: This feature is available as part of your existing Microsoft 365 licensing. Community expertise is determined by community admins within your organizations, not Microsoft. Microsoft does not have the ability to define a community expert in your organization. Who can be a community expert? The role of community experts is to support peers, share valuable insights, and ensure knowledge flows across departments, making information accessible and reliable for everyone. Community experts aren’t limited to high-level executives—in fact, you should seek individuals who are deeply knowledgeable, actively engaged, and approachable. Below is a guide to identify potential community experts, with examples and scenarios to illustrate ideal candidates. Community expert capabilities today: Marking “Best answer”: With the new role, community experts can now mark an answer as the best answer on a question post. Pinning/Unpinning a post: Community experts can now pin posts that they want to highlight in a community. 1. Defining an effective Community Expert: Subject Matter Expertise: Has specialized knowledge in a field or topic that benefits others across the organization. They can answer technical questions or provide insights into niche areas. Active & Engaged: Participates regularly in community discussions, contributing thoughtful responses and guiding discussions constructively. Approachable & Helpful: Willing to share their knowledge openly, whether through direct answers or by directing people to the right resources. Trusted by Peers: Known within their team or department as a reliable source of accurate information, with a reputation for being insightful and dependable. 2. Examples of community expert personas by department Technical (Engineer): Someone who may not be the head of a department but has extensive experience in specific technical stacks (e.g., cloud infrastructure, coding languages, hardware troubleshooting). Scenario: A mid-level software engineer, often answers questions related to backend development and cloud computing in a 'teams' chat or via email or even in an Engage community, providing clear explanations and solutions. Their insights are practical and resonate with peers. Legal: A non-executive legal team member who has detailed knowledge of compliance, intellectual property, or contract law. Scenario: An associate in the legal team within a company has guided several product teams on compliance questions. While they are not in management or a senior level leader, their guidance on data protection protocols has become invaluable across departments. And they are likely to have the most accurate information or help verify what is accurate. Communications Management: A mid-level comms lead who excels in crafting messaging strategies, managing internal and external communications, and navigating crisis communications. Scenario: A communications manager frequently advises teams on tailoring messaging for key audiences. When the company has faced an issue, they have been involved and instrumental in responding to the crisis and can be trusted to speak on behalf of the organization/team. Supply Chain Operations: A logistics coordinator or mid-level operations manager with deep insight into vendor relations, inventory management, or distribution channels. Scenario: A logistics coordinator known for their in-depth understanding of vendor logistics and delivery timelines. They regularly share tips on optimizing supply chain processes, helping various departments troubleshoot and improve. Facilities Management: Someone with an understanding of facilities operations, maintenance scheduling, or building management systems. Scenario: A facilities specialist within a specific office location, consistently advises teams on equipment maintenance schedules and energy efficiency projects. Their practical experience makes him the go-to person for questions on facilities management within that office. Note: Self-nomination and peer nomination for community experts are currently in progress and coming soon. Managing community experts Assignment Assigning a community expert: Community admins in a community may assign community experts based on their knowledge and the abilities of members in that community. In the member panel in the right rail, community admins will see a new section called: “Community Experts.” In this section, there is a link to, “Assign.” Once an admin clicks on assign, it opens a modal where the admin may add experts by clicking the “Mark as expert” button. Removal Removing an expert: After assigning a community expert, an admin can remove the expert by doing the following: Navigate to the member panel in the right rail. Click on the “+” sign in the Community Experts section. Withdrawal Withdrawing from the community expert role: After being made a community expert, a user may withdraw from this role at any time by taking the following steps: In the member panel in the right rail, click on the number of experts in the community expert section. This shows all the experts in that community with the user at the top and an option to, “Withdraw.” This then opens a modal that informs the user of the action they are taking. And the user may withdraw. Community experts play a crucial role in fostering a knowledgeable and collaborative environment, enhancing community effectiveness within Viva Engage. Stay tuned for additional capabilities that will further empower community experts.Introducing agents in Viva Engage communities: Your AI-powered community expert
Launching in Public Preview today, Microsoft 365 Copilot can give every Engage community its own agent, grounded in the conversations and content that matter most to your community. It’s designed to provide time-savings, facilitate trusted knowledge sharing, and make expertise readily available in organizations so that communities can thrive with less effort. Read on to discover how an AI-powered community expert can foster community engagement and growth.Viva Engage Festival 2025: Real Stories. Real Impact. Real Community
Join us on November 12 for the Viva Engage Festival 2025, a free, fully virtual global event hosted by SWOOP Analytics that brings together the Viva Engage community to connect, share, and learn from one another’s experiences. This practitioner-led festival showcases real-world success stories, leadership engagement strategies, and community-building insights from across the world. This event will arm you with actionable ideas to elevate your Viva Engage experience. You'll discover a unique blend of practical advice and uplifting inspiration drawn directly from customers' journeys and achievements. Featured Speakers From internal campaigns that unite families to strategic transformations that connect thousands, this year’s lineup is packed with inspiration: Cat Owen, Medibank A heartwarming campaign that united families across Australia. Jordan Gilliland, Reece Their journey from Workplace to Viva Engage—and what they learned. Sam Parker, ACC New Zealand Making leadership visible, accessible, and actively involved. Louise Durmus Kay, Danske Bank Using Viva Engage to drive strategic change during a major transformation. Jeanette Vikbacka-Castaing, Capgemini Turning the dreaded all-company “black hole” into a thriving community. Cécile Kozinski, Schneider Electric & Dan Mulcahey, Nuveen Leadership engagement and top-down communication that drives adoption. Carla Guest, Siemens Energy Moderation that Matters: Building Safe and Engaging Communities Ray Gonzales, Eli Lilly Why communities win: How culture & connection fuel productivity Be among the very first to experience an exclusive unveiling of the 2025/26 Viva Engage Swoop Benchmarking Report. Get the insider’s view on the good, the bad, and the ugly before anyone else. You’ll hear directly from the experts at Swoop, Sharon Dawson, Dr Laurence Lock Lee & Cai Kjaer! Register now! Don’t miss out on this celebration of connection, leadership, and transformation. Join us on November 12 and be part of a global community that’s shaping the future of employee engagement. No matter where you are in the world, there’s a way for you to participate: register for a session that matches your time zone or challenge yourself to wake up early or stay up late to gain insights from peers across different regions. This is your chance to connect, learn, and be inspired alongside industry leaders worldwide. Register below: APAC EMEA AMER Don't miss out on joining this FREE event hosted by Swoop Analytics that celebrates our customer community, and the amazing progress we've made together. We look forward to seeing you there!Microsoft 365 Champion community call | September 2025 | AM
Join our next community call on September 23, 2025, to learn more about how to leverage Viva Engage for Microsoft 365 Copilot adoption. Host: Tiffany Lee Guest: James Tyer, Karuana Gatimu Moderator: Jessie Hwang 📢 NOTE: our community call format has changed to using Teams webinars to enable more dynamic discussions! Join link is still the same but you must register to be able to join the call when it starts: https://aka.ms/M365ChampionCallAM ⏰ 🗨️ Each call includes an open Q&A discussion section, where you'll have a chance to ask your questions about Microsoft 365. 👋 Join the Microsoft 365 Champion program today! Champions combine technical acumen with people skills to drive meaningful change. Our community calls are open to everyone but only Champions have access to the presentation resources (access link in the initial welcome email and in the monthly newsletters). Join now: https://aka.ms/M365Champions. Note: If you are unable to watch the recording on YouTube, try watching it here.Upcoming September 2025 Microsoft 365 Champion Community Call
Join our next community call on September 23, 2025, to learn more about how to leverage Viva Engage for Microsoft 365 Copilot adoption. Our community calls are in the Teams webinar format, which means you must register to ensure you will be able to join the call when it starts. An on-demand recording will still be available on our Driving Adoption > Events pages, as well as on our Microsoft Community Learning YouTube channel. The calls will still start at 5 minutes past the hour for both sessions (at 8:05 AM and 5:05 PM PT), and it will still end at the top of the hour (9:00 AM and 6:00 PM PT, respectively). The registration links for both sessions are below. Once you register, you will receive an email confirmation and calendar invite with the event join link. https://aka.ms/M365ChampionCallAM https://aka.ms/M365ChampionCallPM Since our calls are open to everyone, you must be a member of the Microsoft 365 Champion Program in order to access the presentation materials - the access link is in the initial welcome email and the monthly newsletter emails sent the week before the community calls. If you have not yet joined our Champion community, sign up here to get access to the monthly newsletters, calendar invites, and program assets (e.g., the presentations).
