Workvivo vs. Viva Engage: A Comprehensive Comparison

Are you eager to find the perfect solution to boost employee engagement and foster a thriving company culture? Look no further: Employee engagement platforms are here to revolutionize your workplace. While there are many excellent platforms available to choose from, selecting one that is the right fit for your company and needs is crucial.

Employee engagement plays a pivotal role in the success of any organization. As such, it is essential to have a platform that not only facilitates seamless communication but also promotes a sense of community and belonging among employees. A dynamic engagement platform can make a significant difference in employee satisfaction and retention rates.

In this blog, we will compare two market leaders in-depth: Workvivo by Zoom and Microsoft Viva Engage. We will explore the distinct features and interfaces of each platform to help you determine which option best aligns with your organization's specific needs and goals. At LineZero, we understand the importance of fostering a positive work culture, employee engagement, and effective communication. As such, our goal is to provide you with the insights necessary to make an informed decision. 

In this blog, you'll find: 

🏳️ Workvivo Vs. Viva Engage: A Quick Overview

💰 Licensing: Workvivo Vs. Viva Engage

🎨 The Look And Feel

📱 Mobile Experience

📖 Content Repository

🎥 Live Video And Scheduled Live Events

📊 Analytics

🏁 Conclusion 

📢 About LineZero

workvivo vs. viva engage: A Quick Overview

When choosing between Workvivo and Viva Engage, it's crucial to first understand the core features of each platform and how they compare. But, before discussing the specifics, here is a brief overview:

👉 WORKVIVO BY ZOOM: Workvivo is a leading employee experience platform designed to create a rich and engaging virtual workspace that focuses on connectivity, employee recognition, and a strong sense of community. Its intuitive interface and social media-like features make it easy for employees to participate, share updates, and celebrate achievements, fostering a thriving work culture.

👉 MICROSOFT VIVA ENGAGE: Part of the Microsoft Viva employee experience and its many products, Viva Engage integrates seamlessly with Microsoft Teams and the broader suite of Office 365 tools. It emphasizes community, collaboration, and knowledge sharing, serving as an enterprise social network. Viva Engage's strengths lie in its ability to streamline communication and integrate with tools that employees already use daily. 

Let's delve deeper into the specific aspects and features of each platform, starting with licensing.

💰 licensing: Workvivo vs. Viva Engage

Both Workvivo and Viva Engage offer a few licensing options tailored to different business needs and budgets. Understanding the costs, features included in each tier, and the scalability of these licenses will help you make an informed decision.

Workvivo 

Workvivo's core licenses can be obtained either independently, through a partner, or as part of the Zoom Enterprise license. Additionally, there are several add-ons available to enhance the user experience, including:

• Chat/instant messaging. 
• Advanced analytics. 
• WorkvivoTV (Digital Signage). 
  
  

Viva Engage

When it comes to acquiring Viva Engage, there are a variety of options. The basic community and conversation features of Viva Engage are included in Microsoft 365 and Office 365 enterprise plans, making it a cost-effective option for organizations already using these services.

For those seeking additional features, consider the following options:

• Leadership corner. 
• Answers in Viva.
• Advanced storylines to post on behalf of another user and amplify important topics. 
• Centralized campaign management for multichannel publishing. 
• Campaign reporting and analytics. 
• Apps included: Viva Engage, Viva Connections, and Viva Amplify. 

• Everything in the Viva Employee Communications and Communities plan.
• Manager and leader insights.
• Organization-wide surveys and quick surveys. 
• Goal-setting and management tools.
• Learning recommendations, progress tracking, and partner integrations. 
• Apps included: Viva Engage, Viva Connections, Viva Amplify, Viva Insights, Viva Glint, Viva Pulse, Viva Goals, and Viva Learning. 
  

It's important to note that having access to either Viva Employee Communications and Communities or Viva Suite will give you access to the following Viva Engage Premium features that are not available through Microsoft 365 and Office 365 enterprise plans:

• Leadership Corner. 
• Answers in Viva. 
• Campaigns. 
• Advanced Analytics. 
• Advanced Publishing. 
  

🎨 The Look And Feel

When it comes to selecting an employee engagement platform, user experience and interface design are paramount. A seamless, intuitive interface not only enhances user satisfaction but also boosts daily engagement. In this section, we will delve into the visual and functional design elements that set Workvivo and Viva Engage apart.

WORKVIVO

• Known for its intuitive and modern interface, Workvivo feels very much like popular social media platforms, making it instantly familiar to users.
• Visually appealing dashboard and easy navigation. 
• Workvivo is highly customizable, allowing businesses to tailor the platform to align with their brand identity.
• Fully translatable user interface (UI) and auto-content translations in over 90 languages. 
  
• Workvivo has a wide selection of social features including community spaces, personalized activity feed, people directory and organizational chart, podcasts, live streams, peer shoutouts, and awards for employee recognition. 

Viva Engage

• With its integration into the Microsoft ecosystem, Viva Engage provides a familiar user experience for those already using Office 365, especially Microsoft Teams.
• Viva Engage features a community-based interface, perfect for broad, open group interactions and social engagements.
• While its customization options might not be as extensive as Workvivo's, the seamless integration with other Microsoft tools makes it a compelling choice for businesses deeply invested in the Microsoft environment.
  
• Similar to Workvivo, Viva Engage is ideal for company-wide announcements, informal employee interactions, and cross-departmental knowledge sharing.
  
  

📱 Mobile Experience 

Employees increasingly rely on their mobile devices to stay connected and informed while on the go. As such, evaluating the mobile capabilities of Workvivo and Viva Engage is essential to ensure seamless access to features and functionalities, regardless of time and location. 

Workvivo App

• Workvivo offers a mobile app that mirrors the desktop experience and features. 
• The app is highly responsive, providing all the functionality on the go, which is crucial for remote and hybrid work environments.
• The Workvivo app is available for download on iOS and Android devices. 
  

Viva Engage App

• Viva Engage also provides a strong and intuitive mobile experience, allowing users to share photos and videos effortlessly and receive notifications directly on their lock screen.
• This social app builds on the existing features of the Communities app for Teams and Microsoft 365 to foster conversations and self-expression.
• The Viva Engage app is available for download on iOS and Android devices. 
  

📖 content repository

A well-organized content repository is an invaluable asset for any organization, as it not only streamlines the storage and retrieval of essential documents and multimedia but also enhances collaboration by providing a centralized space for knowledge sharing.

Workvivo  

• Workvivo features an extensive content repository. Its document section is a cornerstone of its functionality, designed to streamline knowledge management and enhance accessibility for all employees.
• Search capabilities within Workvivo's document section enable quick retrieval of documents, making it an efficient tool for onboarding, training, and continuous learning. 
  
• The "Pages" feature allows for meticulous organization of documents, ensuring that crucial information is always easy to locate. Organizations can either create universal pages for company-wide content or group-specific pages tailored to particular departments or projects.
• The structured format supports rich media, including images and embedded videos, providing a dynamic and engaging way to present information. 

Viva Engage

• Viva Engage's content repository can be found in Viva Connections, a platform included in both the Viva Employee Communications and Communities and Viva Suite plans. This separate product functions as a launcher for websites or SharePoint, where information is stored.
  
• Viva Connections acts as a centralized hub for company news, updates, and resources. It allows organizations to create a personalized dashboard with important information and resources, ensuring that employees have easy access to what they need. 
• By integrating with SharePoint, Viva Connections offers robust document management and sharing capabilities, making it a powerful tool for managing company-wide resources.

👉 Viva Connections is only available in the desktop Teams app.

🎥 Live Video And Scheduled Live Events

As businesses aim to cultivate more inclusive and agile work environments, leveraging live videos and scheduled live events allows leaders and teams to connect instantly. It fosters open communication and offers a platform for dialogue. In this section, we will assess the live video and scheduled live event capabilities of Workvivo and Viva Engage.

Workvivo 

• Workvivo offers a "Go Live" feature similar to those on Instagram and Facebook. This can be done directly within the platform or through an integration with Zoom, Microsoft Teams, OBS, Wirecast, or other platforms. You also have the option to broadcast the live video to everyone or a specific team or group. Moreover, the live video is recorded in the activity feed.
  
• Scheduled live events are also supported. 

Viva Engage

• Scheduled live events can be hosted via Teams Live Event or Teams Town Hall. Note that Teams Live Events will be deprecated on September 30, 2024. Teams Town Hall is separate from Viva Engage, requires a Teams producer, and likely necessitates technical support. Alternatively, you can use external apps like Zoom or Webex, but a Microsoft Stream license is required.
• Viva Engage's live events feature built-in discussions accessible before, during, and after an event. Additionally, you can archive the video for later viewing. 
• These events can accommodate up to 10,000 participants simultaneously from any device or computer. 
  
  

📊 Analytics 

Analytics capabilities in employee engagement platforms empower organizations to measure and optimize their communication strategies and understand employee sentiment. This section will explore the analytics features offered by Workvivo and Viva Engage, highlighting how each platform enables businesses to harness data to foster a more engaged and informed workforce.

Workvivo 

Workvivo’s Platform Analytics offers a suite of tools to gather and analyze statistics on content, activity, engagement, and adoption across your organization.  You can access data on post views, reactions, comments, and shares to gauge employee engagement levels. The analytics dashboard also offers valuable insights into the most active departments or teams and identifies which content garners the most traction.

The analytics suite includes the following dashboards:

• Snapshot Analytics: Provides a quick overview of your platform’s performance with a mix of charts and graphs from more detailed dashboards, helping you spot areas requiring deeper analysis.
• Content Analytics: Gives insights into content performance, highlighting the best and worst-performing content to help refine your content strategy.
• Usage Analytics: Tracks organizational usage trends over time, allowing you to identify and address teams with lower engagement to encourage regular usage.
• Activation Analytics: Displays profile activation levels across the organization, pinpointing areas needing additional support or change management while recognizing quick adopters.
• Governance Analytics: Assists with the governance and management of the platform, offering reports on Roles and Permissions, Space Membership and Roles, Default Spaces, and Delegates.
  

👉 Workvivo Advanced Analytics Add-On: This paid add-on provides a highly detailed analytics toolkit for deeper insights into the performance of your content, spaces, teams, and overall platform.

Viva Engage

👉 To view analytics in Viva Engage, users must have either Viva Suite or the Viva Employee Communications and Communities plan. 

The analytics suite includes the following dashboards:

• Network Analytics: Recently added to Viva Engage Premium, Network Analytics provides an at-a-glance overview of your organization’s top engagement trends across the entire network. Track sentiment, retention, and community activity to help network admins and communicators make informed decisions. Metrics include network activity, platform-specific activities, total posts, and user engagement.
• Audience Analytics: Gain insights into audience interactions. This dashboard offers advanced sentiment analysis at the audience, theme, or conversation level for a deeper understanding of engagement.
• Persona Analytics: Monitor engagement on your Viva Engage posts, including reach and reach breakdowns. All licensed users can track engagement on their storylines or community posts within Viva Engage.
• Campaigns Analytics: Access key metrics to evaluate campaign success. Track participants, reactions, replies, reach, new followers, and more to measure performance effectively.
• Answers Analytics: Gain insights into knowledge sharing. Evaluate time saved by answers and identify the top three questions that saved the most time for your organization.

Conclusion

Selecting the ideal platform to cultivate a thriving company culture is an important decision for any organization. Both Workvivo by Zoom and Microsoft Viva Engage offer unique features and benefits that can significantly enhance your employees’ experience and engagement.

Ultimately, the choice between Workvivo and Viva Engage hinges on your organization’s unique needs, goals, and existing infrastructure. The objective is to find a platform that keeps your employees connected. Regardless of which platform you choose, the key is to leverage its features to the fullest to create an engaging and collaborative workspace.

About LineZero

LineZero is a team of expert consultants specializing in employee experience and change management. Our team combines years of expertise with a strong corporate culture. We proudly collaborate with numerous Fortune 500 companies across various industries. As a B Corp-certified organization, we uphold our core values: People First, Be Like Gumby, and Do It Right.

We are here to assist you in evaluating Workvivo, Viva Engage, or any other platform you prefer and to address any questions you might have. If you would like to learn more about how LineZero can support your organization, please contact us. Let's create an engaging and connected workplace together!