Posts by Joaoferreira

What’s new for Microsoft Viva – April 2025

Hey there, Microsoft Viva users! April’s updates were surprisingly light this month – in fact, this is the shortest Viva update I’ve seen since I started tracking these monthly changes. It definitely makes me wonder about the future direction of Viva as a suite of products.

Most of the action this month happened in the communication applications – Viva Connections, Viva Amplify, and Viva Engage. I’m particularly happy to see more first-party integrations becoming available for Viva Connections, which should make the platform more useful for many teams.

This month also brought an important reminder that Viva Goals is being sunset at the end of the year. If your organization is using Viva Goals for OKR management, now’s the time to inform your users and start planning for alternative solutions!

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By João Ferreira May 6, 2025 Microsoft Viva 0 Comments

What’s new for Microsoft Teams – April 2025

May brings some seriously cool updates to Teams that might actually make office life better. I’m particularly excited about the new @nearby mentions and those preview controls for presenters in Town Halls.

Ever wanted to gather everyone in your building for an impromptu coffee celebration or lunch without sending 15 separate messages? Teams’ new @nearby mention type solves this perfectly. Just type @nearby and instantly notify colleagues who are physically present in your office. “Quick team lunch? We landed the Henderson account!” has never been easier to coordinate.

For anyone who’s ever accidentally shared their screen full of private tabs during a presentation, Teams now has your back. The updated “Manage what attendees see” feature lets organizers and presenters preview what’s going on screen before broadcasting it live to everyone in Town Hall meetings. No more accidental oversharing!

These are just the updates that jumped out at me this month. Check out the full post below for all the other Teams improvements rolling out now.

Which of these new features are you most looking forward to trying? And what’s still on your Teams wish list that Microsoft hasn’t delivered yet? Drop me a comment below!

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By João Ferreira May 6, 2025 What's New 0 Comments

What’s new for Microsoft Viva – March 2025

Ready for a productivity boost? This month Microsoft Viva brings several enhancements that could streamline your team’s communication and collaboration efforts.

Viva Amplify is getting a nice upgrade with two-column layouts for emails (finally!), plus a new “average time spent per user” graph in reporting that gives you better insights into how your communications are performing. And for those of us who’ve been asking for easier collaboration, Amplify is introducing collaborative authoring so multiple team members can work on the same document simultaneously—no more version control nightmares!

Over in Viva Engage, premium users will notice a streamlined “Create new” button that puts Articles and Questions right at your fingertips. Nothing revolutionary, but definitely a time-saver that makes those premium features more discoverable.

What Viva feature has been the biggest game-changer for your team lately? Drop a comment below! And don’t miss the detailed breakdown of each feature below—especially the collaborative authoring rollout starting mid-April that might just transform how your team creates content together.

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By João Ferreira Apr 3, 2025 What's New 0 Comments

What’s new for Microsoft Teams – March 2025

Hey there, fellow Teams enthusiast! Time for our monthly catch-up on what’s changing in your Microsoft Teams workspace. I’ve got some important updates to share that might affect how you and your team collaborate in the coming months.

First up, heads up about Microsoft Skype interoperability with Teams—it’s heading into retirement on May 1, 2025. After this date, your Teams users won’t be able to chat with Skype contacts anymore.

Got something to say? You’ll soon be able to say it with video! Teams is rolling out the ability to record video clips directly in channels—just like you can already do in chats.

And finally, a small but meaningful change to how we organize shared content. That “Files” tab you’re used to seeing in Teams channels? It’s getting a promotion to the “Shared” tab starting mid-April for targeted release users (mid-May for everyone else). This upgrade combines your document library files with shared post content in one convenient location. Don’t worry—all your familiar functionality stays intact, plus you’ll soon get keyword search capabilities.

What changes are you most excited about? Or maybe you have questions about how these updates might affect your specific workflow?

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By João Ferreira Apr 3, 2025 What's New 0 Comments

What’s new for Microsoft Viva – February 2025

This month, Microsoft Viva has introduced some fantastic updates that you’ll definitely want to check out. Viva Learning has received numerous enhancements, making it easier than ever for your users to access training resources and continue their learning journey seamlessly.

On Viva Connections, you can now add custom cards to your Connections dashboard, allowing for greater personalization and a more tailored experience. And finally, after a long wait, Viva Amplify now lets you publish your campaigns directly to Viva Engage. This long-awaited feature will enhance your ability to reach and engage with your audience more effectively.

There’s a lot more to catch up on within the Employee Experience suite of products from Microsoft. Stay tuned for more updates and enhancements that will continue to improve your experience with Microsoft Viva.

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By João Ferreira Mar 5, 2025 What's New 0 Comments

What’s new for Microsoft Teams – February 2025

Have you seen what’s new with Teams? February’s updates are actually pretty cool. The standout for me is how Copilot can now analyze what you are sharing on screen during meetings. It basically watches along and offers insights in real-time—super helpful when you are collaborating on projects.

Microsoft is also cleaning up the Windows system tray icon next month. Nothing major, but it will show your status more clearly, get rid of that redundant “Open” option, and combine your work and personal account icons. Nice thing is you don’t have to do anything—it’ll just happen.

Oh, and if you use Teams on the web, you can finally choose where notifications pop up! Bottom right, top left, wherever works best for you. Might seem small, but it’s great for keeping focused when you’re in the middle of something important.
And honestly, this is just scratching the surface. Microsoft dropped a ton of other updates this month that are worth checking out.

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By João Ferreira Mar 4, 2025 What's New 0 Comments

How to Set Your Name Pronunciation in Microsoft Teams

For years, the ice breaker in my calls with people I was meeting for the first time was having them try to pronounce my name. It was always a fun and engaging way to start a conversation. With the new name pronunciation feature in Microsoft Teams and Outlook, those days can be gone!

This feature allows users to record and share the pronunciation of their names on their profile cards, promoting inclusiveness and helping colleagues learn how to pronounce each other’s names correctly.

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By João Ferreira Feb 18, 2025 Microsoft Teams 0 Comments

What’s new for Microsoft Teams – January 2025

Welcome to the first post of my new series dedicated to keeping you up-to-date with the latest developments in Microsoft Teams. As Teams continues to evolve, it can be challenging to stay informed about all the new features and updates. This month, we’re kicking off the year with some exciting announcements that are set to enhance your Teams experience.

In January 2025, Microsoft Teams introduced several noteworthy updates. One of the key highlights is the occupancy status on Teams panels, which now utilize signals from Teams Rooms devices or occupancy sensors to indicate when a room is in use, helping to avoid surprises when an available room is actually occupied. Additionally, there are required updates coming to Android-based Microsoft Teams devices. All certified Microsoft Teams Android devices will receive mandatory updates in February 2025, and admins must download the latest app updates from the Teams admin center. Devices not updated within five months will cease functioning.

Stay tuned for more updates about the latest features and enhancements for Microsoft Teams throughout the year.

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By João Ferreira Jan 31, 2025 What's New 0 Comments

What’s new for Microsoft Viva – January 2025

The start of 2025 brings exciting new updates for Microsoft Viva, enhancing the platform’s capabilities and functionalities. One notable update is the Viva Engage: Multi-pin Conversations Carousel, which allows up to six posts to be pinned with a carousel feature for two or more pins.

Another significant feature is the Viva Engage: Leadership feed available in SharePoint web part, which adds a “leaders” feed to the Viva Engage conversations web part in SharePoint, displaying content based on user license status1. Each month, Microsoft Viva continues to receive more updates, making it an indispensable tool for users. Continue reading to explore all the exciting new features and innovations.

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By João Ferreira Jan 31, 2025 What's New 0 Comments

What’s new for Microsoft Viva – December 2024

As we step into 2025, it’s time to reflect on the latest developments in Microsoft Viva from December 2024. Unfortunately, December brought a sad announcement for Viva Suite fans: the deprecation of Viva Goals. Following the earlier discontinuation of Viva Topics, this raises the question—could this be the beginning of the end for Microsoft’s Employee Experience suite of products?

Despite this setback, other Viva applications continued to receive exciting updates. Viva Connections, for instance, introduced new ACE (Adaptive Card Extensions) cards and will soon allow users to add their own cards to the dashboard, offering a new level of customization and personalization.

Stay informed and make the most of these updates by reading more about all the announcements and see how these changes can benefit you and your organization.

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By João Ferreira Jan 2, 2025 Microsoft Viva, What's New 0 Comments