Microsoft Teams adds Viva Goals module powered by Ally.io OKR

Microsoft last May 16 announced Viva Goals, a new Teams module that helps employees track their progress on key business goals. Viva Goals is the result of Microsoft‘s October 2021 acquisition of Ally.io, a Seattle-based start-up that specializes in an approach called objectives and key results (OKR).

OKR is a performance management tool that enables organizations to set, communicate and monitor measurable goals and results. The basic idea behind this new integration is to give employees greater insight into the company’s strategic goals and daily workflows.

Viva Goals launched last May 16 in private preview in Microsoft Teams and will become generally available to all Microsoft Viva suite subscribers later this year.

“Viva Goals aligns teams with your organization’s strategic priorities and unites them around mission and purpose. It helps provide clarity about employee work and how that work impacts the company’s key priorities. With that alignment, teams can then focus on doing the work, making good decisions and driving desired results for the company,” wrote Vetri Vellore, CVP for Microsoft Viva Goals.

Viva Goals aligns work processes with business results

Employees can use Viva Goals to receive automated reminders and feedback data to track their performance. In addition, employees have access to a Viva Goals dashboard to share progress updates and OKRs with their team leaders, managers and peers.

Microsoft Viva Goals can currently be integrated with Microsoft Teams, Azure DevOps and other third-party data and work management tools. In the future, the company plans to bring new Viva Goals integrations with Microsoft Viva, Office, Power BI and other Microsoft 365 apps and services.

As more and more companies move to hybrid and remote workers, Microsoft believes it is increasingly important to align employee work with team-wide and organization-wide goals. Microsoft Viva recently surpassed 10 million monthly active users and the addition of Viva Goals should help customers achieve desired business results.