How Microsoft 365 Can Support Your Digital Strategy and Drive Change

Watch this short video explaining how a Microsoft-based digital strategy can enhance your team’s effectiveness and digital capabilities.

Transforming Organisations

Your digital vision should set a clear direction for how technology supports your organisation’s goals, staff and customers. It begins with understanding how tools like Microsoft 365 can enhance productivity, collaboration and decision-making. A user-focused vision puts people first.

• Using solutions such as Teams for communication, SharePoint for document sharing and Forms for gathering feedback efficiently.
• Align digital initiatives with business objectives and use Power BI to turn data into actionable insights that guide better decisions.
• Keep your vision agile by leveraging cloud-based flexibility in OneDrive and Microsoft Loop, allowing your organisation to respond quickly to new challenges and opportunities.

Innovation is another key aspect of a strong digital vision. Tools like Power Automate and Power Apps enable teams to streamline repetitive tasks and create simple apps without coding, while security and compliance are maintained through Microsoft Defender and built-in governance tools to protect sensitive information and meet regulatory requirements. Investing in digital skills development ensures employees can use platforms like Viva Learning and Copilot to work smarter, collaborate effectively, and deliver better outcomes across the organisation.

Microsoft 365 has a significant impact on communication and collaboration. It provides multiple channels, including email, instant messaging, and audio/video conferencing.

Microsoft 365 is an all-in-one platform that helps organisations work more efficiently and collaboratively. It brings communication, data management, and productivity tools together in one cloud-based system, allowing teams to work securely from anywhere on any device. With features for file sharing, real-time collaboration, and project management, it supports digital transformation and ensures everyone has access to the latest tools and information.

Maximising the Value of Microsoft 365
Each Microsoft 365 tool serves a specific business purpose:

• Microsoft Teams:
  • Communication
  • Meetings
• SharePoint/OneDrive:
  • Document storage
  • Document sharing
• Power Automate:
  • Automating processes
• Forms:
  • Data collection.

Understanding how and when to use these tools allows employees to streamline workflows, reduce manual effort and enhance productivity across departments. By developing confidence in using Microsoft 365 effectively, individuals can support colleagues more proactively, promote best practices and contribute to a culture of continuous digital improvement. Ultimately, mastering these tools helps organisations unlock their full potential, delivering smarter, faster and more connected ways of working.

Microsoft Teams – Changing How People Communicate and Meet
Teams has become the central hub for workplace communication, combining chat, meetings, calls and collaboration in one place. Most of you already use it daily, but it’s worth remembering how versatile it can be across different settings. You could create a dedicated Digital Champions channel where staff can ask questions, share useful tips and find quick answers, using posts and chat threads to highlight time-saving features or showcase examples of how different departments are using Microsoft 365 tools effectively.

For instance, a local authority can coordinate departments like housing, planning and education through shared channels, enabling quick discussions and real-time document editing. A chamber of commerce might use Teams to host online member meetings or webinars, giving local businesses a simple way to connect and exchange ideas. In a typical business, Teams channels help marketing, sales and operations stay aligned, while frontline staff use the mobile app to share instant updates from the field.

By continuing to use Teams to its full potential, we can streamline communication, strengthen collaboration and stay connected, wherever we’re working.

Microsoft Teams: Communicate Effortlessly

SharePoint and OneDrive – Moving from File Servers to Cloud Storage
As you are aware, SharePoint enables teams to securely store, manage, and update shared documents like reports, plans, or resources—all in one place. OneDrive provides personal storage for drafts and ongoing work. Together, they replace traditional file servers, improving access, security, and collaboration across the organisation.

Power Automate Basics – Simple Automation That Saves Time

Power Automate enables employees to automate repetitive tasks, such as approvals, notification and data transfers, reducing manual effort and improving accuracy. Eve simple workflows can save hours of routine work each week, allowing staff to focus on higher-value activities.

For example, business support and training organisations can create automated workflows that register learners, issue completion certificates, and share performance reports with clients. Power Automate can help HR teams automatically collect and file onboarding documents or alert managers when leave requests are submitted. A local authority can use Power Automate to route grant applications for approval and automatically notify applicants of progress.

Your First Power Automate Flow

Microsoft Forms – Gathering Information Digitally Instead of on Paper
Many of you are already using Microsoft Forms, but it’s worth revisiting how powerful it can be for collecting and analysing information quickly and efficiently. Forms replaces traditional paper surveys and questionnaires with digital versions that are easy to share and automatically store responses in the cloud for instant reporting and analysis.

For example, a business might use Forms to gather customer feedback or capture staff ideas for improving internal processes. A training organisation could register learners, run short quizzes, and collect post-course evaluations. A local authority might use it for community consultations or employee engagement surveys. By keeping data collection online and automated, Forms saves time, reduces paperwork, and provides real-time insights to support better decisions.

Microsoft Forms

Microsoft 365 Learning Pathways complements this by providing structured, on-demand training. You can link or embed short guides, video tutorials and playlists directly into your intranet or Teams channels, making it easy for staff to explore new tools at their own pace. Together Teams and Learning Pathways give you a strong foundation for communication, collaboration and learning, helping you, as a Digital Champion, to make digital change easier, more engaging and more sustainable across your organisation.

Activity:

Begin drafting a set of guiding principles to support your organisation’s digital vision. You can use the prompts below or create your own. These should reflect how digital tools like Microsoft 365 can enhance collaboration, productivity, security, and user experience across teams.

Prompts:

• Who are the primary users of your digital strategy (staff, customers, other stakeholders)?
• How will you ensure inclusion and equitable access to digital tools and resources?
• How will you balance consistency of processes with flexibility for different teams?
• Will you use an integrated platform like Microsoft 365, or a mix of solutions?
• How much of your solution will leverage cloud services such as OneDrive, Teams, or SharePoint?
• How will your digital strategy evolve with new tools, updates, and changing business needs?
• What learning and development (CPD) opportunities will support staff in using digital tools effectively (e.g., Viva Learning, Copilot)?
• How will new technologies and automation (Power Automate, Power Apps) be introduced and adopted?
• What sustainability goals will your digital strategy address (e.g., reducing paper use, optimising energy)?
• How will you manage technical support, e-safety, data protection, and compliance using tools like Microsoft Defender and governance features?
• How can collaboration and innovation be maximised across departments using Teams, SharePoint, and other Microsoft 365 apps?

Share your thoughts in the Viva Engage Microsoft 365 community. Use this link: Viva Engage: Guiding Principles for Digital Vision