You have made the move away from classic SharePoint and embraced the modern SharePoint interface. Now is the time to consider what is next. Microsoft 365 comes with so many more features, that enable you to go from managing content and documents in SharePoint, to implementing a Modern Workplace that enables your organisation to communicate and collaborate more effectively.
So, what can I do to develop a Modern Workplace for my organisation?
M365 Copilot: The future of AI in the Workplace
AI is coming fast, and Microsoft are leading the charge with their Copilot functionality available within Microsoft365. What can my users do with Copilot?
M365 Copilot provides users with a smart and convenient way to access information and guidance from various sources within Microsoft365. Users can ask natural language questions and get relevant answers from documents, emails, chats, websites, and more. For example, a user can ask “What are the main points of the latest sales report?” and M365 Copilot will extract the key information from the document and present it in a concise summary. Or, a user can ask “How do I create a pivot table in Excel?” and M365 Copilot will provide a step-by-step tutorial from the official Microsoft website.*
M365 Copilot can also suggest actions, such as creating a meeting, sending an email, or sharing a file, based on the user’s intent and context. For instance, if a user is reading an email from a colleague who asks for a follow-up discussion, M365 Copilot will offer to schedule a meeting with the sender and attach the email as a reference. Or, if a user is working on a document that mentions a file that they need, M365 Copilot will propose to share the file with the user and add a comment to the document. M365 Copilot is like having a personal assistant that helps users navigate and optimise their work in Microsoft365.*
*M365 Copilot even wrote these paragraphs!
Custom Copilots: Tailored AI Solutions
Custom Copilots can also be created using the Microsoft technology, allowing companies to surface their knowledge and information in more ways to their users. Custom Copilots can securely read any of your Microsoft365 content, and use that as a data source to provide responses to question being asked by your users. One great use case for a Custom Copilot is to provide users the ability to quickly ask questions relating to the organisations published policies, and have answers provided within seconds.
Planner and Todo: Enhanced Task Management
Microsoft Planner is a great task management tool that allows Teams to manage their tasks and activities across all their streams of work, while providing better visibility for other Team members to see what their colleagues are doing. Some of the additional functionality coming in Planner premium includes a program of work which allows Project Managers to see tasks and activities at a program level, being able to better manage resources across their projects.
Loop: Real-Time Collaborative Documents
Microsoft Loop is a new collaborative app in M365 that lets Teams create, share and edit fluid documents in real time. Loop enables users to work with dynamic components such as tables, lists, charts and diagrams that can be embedded across various applications and platforms. Loop also integrates with other Microsoft 365 products, such as Outlook, Teams and SharePoint, to provide seamless collaboration and communication. Loop aims to transform the way Teams work together and create value from their data and insights.
PowerApps for Data Capture
While Microsoft Power Apps is extremely powerful and can do a lot of different things, one key use case for Power Apps when it comes to Modern Workplace is the ability to quickly and easily build forms for data capture in a way that makes the information attached to the forms much easier to work with. No longer do we have to read thousands of PDFs or Word Documents to get insights, when the data from your forms is being captured in a structured manner, and can be used to quickly and easily sort, group or filter results to gain meaningful knowledge.
Power Automate: Streamlining Tasks
Power Automate is a great tool that allows us to automate some of the mundane tasks that need to be performed on a day to day basis. One key use case is the ability to manage the Lifecycle of your SharePoint documents or Pages, with the automation of Approvals, Reviews, Archival and Deletion. This keeps your content relevant, up to date and meaningful, giving your employees more confidence in the accuracy of what they are finding.
Viva Connections Dashboard: Personalised Intranet Experience
Along with the ability to add your Intranet into Teams, Viva Connections also provides the Viva Connection Dashboard which improves the way your users interact with your Intranet. The Dashboard is a great personalisation tool, allowing your users to get an experience customised specifically for them. This might be showing them news they’re interested in, showing them their annual leave balance, or allowing them to quickly and easily action any tasks or approvals that might be sitting with them.
The dashboard also includes Adaptive Cards, which are a great way to create interaction between your users, and integrate with Line Of Business systems to provide easily consumed data and information from around the business into a single location for users to access. This could provide users a direct link to their most recent payslip, or providing them a short form allowing them to quickly request leave within your HR system
Viva Connections Dashboard is also readily available in the Teams for Mobile app, making it easy for your users to take actions or read news on the go.
Next steps: Partner with Antares
Antares has successfully helped many organisations implement and roll out their Modern Workplaces. If you have any questions on any of the above elements, please reach out to us. We can help you understand your organisations requirements, and build a dedicated roadmap considering where you are, and what the future state looks like in your organisation.
