🔰 Microsoft Viva Pulse Infographic : How managers can get feedbacks and understand team's needs

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As a manager, how can I check in with my team and get real-time feedback to see what is working well and what I need to do better to meet their needs?

Ah, the world of management ....

As we all know, in many organisations there are managers who have reached their position not because of their management skills, but because of their longevity in the company. This often results (unfortunately for the employee) in either micromanagement, lack of team building or poor listening skills. And sadly, the result is not their departure but the departure of their team members.

At a time when retention is a real strategy for many companies, the question of management styles and changes in culture is becoming increasingly important. So how can you help your manager get better ? Or, if you're a manager yourself, how can you reinforce a culture of good people management ?

The first answer is feedback. And why is that ? Because feedback is the quickest way to progress and improve your management style.

You can't improve if you don't know what you're doing wrong. Getting constructive and honest feedback is the quickest way to progress.

Viva Pulse is part of Microsoft Viva, a suite of applications designed to improve the employee experience. Viva Pulse allows managers to send surveys directly from Microsoft Teams. Surveys can be created using predefined templates or customised questions.

There are currently 5 templates available for managers :

🕐 Team member success ... 6 questions by default

🕑 Well-being ... 3 questions by default

🕒 Manager Focus ... 2 questions by default

🕓 Hybrid Working ... 9 questions by default

🕔 Change management support ... 5 questions by default

There are also 2 templates for project team leads :

🕕 Project team success ... 11 questions by default

🕗 Post Project Debrief ... 11 questions by default

On each model it is possible to :

👉 Allow modification of templates questions (actions set by Viva Pulse admin)

If this option is enabled, the questions provided in each template can be updated, rearranged or deleted, so that the survey meets your feedback needs as closely as possible.

👉 Allow modification and creation of new questions (Actions set by Viva Pulse admin)

If this option is enabled, the Manager or Project Team Leader can add their own questions to each template and update the template name to personalise the request.

Once the Pulse request author has configured their questions, they can choose to send it to individuals or groups. The conditions for viewing results as author are as follows :

- The minimum number of responses required is 5 (default)

- The minimum time allowed is 7 days

Once the time is up, the survey results are grouped and presented in a dashboard, making it easy to identify strengths and opportunities.

The manager can open the pulse results, which provides the following informations :

⚡ The number of people who responded to the survey out of the total number of people who responded

⚡ The percentage of progress or regression for the same question asked in a previous Pulse

⚡ The "score over time", the trend of the feedback scores of a specific team over a certain period of time

⚡ Favourability", which shows the percentage of favourable, unfavourable and neutral responses.

1 - Viva Pulse can be accessed either via the app in Microsoft Teams or via the web (https://pulse.viva.cloud.microsoft)

2 - Viva Pulse Administrator (manage Viva Pulse settings in the app) is a role to be configured in Microsoft 365 admin center

3 - Feedback authors can send, view and share Pulse requests

4 - Feedback authors receive Pulse requests and responses anonymously

5 - Minimum number of responses is 3 and maximum is 25

6 - You can extend the deadline for your impulse request up to a maximum of 6 times

7 - Feedback authors must have a Microsoft Forms licence to create an impulse request

8- A personalised Pulse Request must include at least one question and up to 25 questions in total

9- All Viva Pulse users must have a Viva Pulse license

10- Viva Pulse Standalone Licence : allows users to access Viva Pulse, and only Viva Pulse

11- Viva Insights Bundle licence: allows users to access Viva Pulse, Viva Insights and Viva Glint

12- Viva Suite Licence: gives users access to all applications that are part of the Viva Suite, including Viva Pulse

🧐 At the time of publication of this article, the new features to come in Viva Pulse are :

- Customise the end date of Viva Pulse when sending a pulse 👉 Scheduled for roll-out on 23 December

- Create a Viva Pulse from scratch by creating your own questions or choosing from the question library 👉 Scheduled to roll out December 23

- Plan to send a Viva Pulse request to get periodic feedback from your team members 👉 Scheduled rollout December 23

- Send a Viva Pulse request to a wider audience of up to 10,000 recipients 👉 Scheduled rollout December 23

- Template and customise organisation-wide questions for managers and project leaders 👉 Scheduled rollout 23 December

Viva Pulse is undoubtedly a powerful tool for any manager who wants to improve their management practices by focusing on team building and empathy.

However, this is not a one-off tool to be used twice a year, but one that should be used regularly to send out pulse requests in order to see improvements over time.

Similarly, the tool encourages managers to provide feedback to their teams following their responses. That's a good thing, to ensure transparency and a clear understanding of the purpose of pulse surveys.

In what situations would it be most beneficial to use Viva Pulse ?

Regular check-ins : check in with team members regularly and maintain open communication

Engagement levels : identify engaged and disengaged employees and adjust your leadership

During times of transition or change : Assess the needs of your team during times of change

At major project milestones : learn from the experience and apply it to future projects

When an employee joins or leaves : Gather information to help the team retain and develop their talents.

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