EP121: Goalong Governance docs

We are all looking to achieve value in our work, and M365 provides a great opportunity for the IT team and the end user to redefine the value that technology at a personal level can deliver. This Wee Dram from Steve looks at some of the ways IT and Business can work together to get the best from M365 as it permeates through the organisation. Check out 20 minutes of chat with Steve and see if any of these ideas can add value to your work.

27 Aug 202221min

Marijn is excited about his Envisioning sessions to set up the company on a journey. Still, during the discussion, we wonder if it might not get people excited when it could be several months before they get to try anything. So, whilst very important, timing how you communicate the company vision might not be the first workshop you do.  However, starting to set expectations at the C-Level and Senior management level might be a good idea.Starting with the infrastructure workshop, they get hooked up in discussions about the naming of tenants (we are still not sure who is correct). Still, the thought is to get the infrastructure workshop completed early on with the right people in the groups.  Many decisions at this level define the coming workload.It’s also worth thinking strategically about services, multitenancy etc.Identity and a few others will cause issues like who owns the user’s Admins, AD admins, HR etc., so be prepared and ensure all parties are in the same room.Some words are spoken about the people involved and how they might be upset of losing control to the cloud etc.  So, pull in a great partner or Microsoft to ensure all the infrastructure teams have a level of comfort.There is a disagreement (always fun) and Marijn starts Steve thinking about which comes first, the Adoption or Email or Supporting workshop to understand the new way of IT supporting the new cloud servicesRoad mapping is important to understand where you are in the process of changing the company and the way of working and aligning development plans to power platform etc., or if you will remain with existing dev tools.The idea of splitting the Adoption and communications and when to start the personae decisions and special needs so maybe the adoption and change conversation is needed to baseline the governance.Identifying the user-focused people for the Ambassadors and core users is important, but then we need to think about the end user-focused workshops so that become Episode 98...The Whisky plays memory games with Steve after Marijn asks him to dig deep into the memory banks to identify the point when he realised, he loved Irish whisky.  That took him to an Irish bar in Rome.A Black Bush 80/20 PX Sherry Cask Reserve, has a good recommendation for a great price with a complex flavour... well worth looking for a bottle

25 Aug 20221h 7min

Keeping Change and Adoption Real: The Workshop ... Come and see us live this year...South Coast Summit:  October 14th 2022 Tickets:https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/keeping-change-and-adoption-real-1-day-workshop-tickets-359518869617M365 Conference – Las Vagas: December 9th Register:https://www.m365conf.com/#!/workshop/Keeping%20Change%20and%20Adoption%20Real:%20The%20Workshop/5553And on the podcast...Steve and Marijn kick off their Summer podcasts with a quick check on their Vacations and a Proud Dad tells you about his daughter obtaining her Degree and the graduation partiesMarijn lists all the injuries he was plagued with on the dangerous holiday park he stayed at in France.  Steve did a road trip around the south of England and Wales.The boys have a busy end of the year with presentations and workshops in Belgium, the Netherlands, Copenhagen, UK and USA  (Vagas Baby...) Microsoft put Viva Goals into GA this week, so Steve and Marijn start talking about OKRs, the business's implications, and all that you need to prepare for.Goals will allow the organisation to be transparent in what Objectives the board has decided will drive the business forward.  Recent statistics from Microsoft show that 77% of the workforce needs more purpose in their work.  Viva Goals could be a way to change that statistic to the most positive.Steve considered the old MC server system, which included 3 servers that started with the High-level programs followed by the Projects and then the client tools.  You could not create a project unless it was a vital aspect of the program and connected.  This allowed a roll-up of the program costs and delivery.The conversation comes to the most significant consideration, which is the fact that to make this work, it requires buy-in from the highest level to the lowest action.Marijn and Steve finish by going Welsh and tasting the Penderyn Hiraeth No8 in the 50 special release whiskies coming from the South Wales distillery in the Brecon Beacons.  Steve admits to not being the biggest fan of their standards but this one is lifted above many.

6 Aug 20221h 2min

With the possibilities of empowering the business to create their own Intranet site that is based on the same template with Governance built in.Building a SharePoint site for the end user is like buying yourself a new 40th Birthday cigar lighter that is complex and needs a few You Tube videos to ensure you operate it correctly.  Your Corporate SharePoint look book might just be the tool to do that.With the opportunities to automate your site creation by the users from the press of a button Marijn extends the concept to consider Governance capabilities that can add variety to the templates enabling both functionality and content protection based on the level of assurance the site requires.

24 Juli 202210min

This is the link to the Brainstorm Infographic used in the podcast, and at the end of the page is the link to buy a bottle of the great whisky we taste in this podcast, sponsored by Braeburn Whisky.BrainStorm - 33 Ways To Unlock More Software Value.Steve and Marijn took this sheet and pulled numbers from a bag to select random values to apply to the Values sheet provided by Brainstorm Inc. Use Polls: Marijn immediately thinks Dancing Poles and Steve reminds every one of their brilliant ideas to create a Gentlemen’s Club together mode image. Microsoft have just released a new update to make it easier for polls to be included in meetings.Build Activities: Steve Takes this as an opportunity to consider gamification and the various performance scores available from Microsoft.  They are all activity-based actions that generate indications that the tools are being used and actions are being taken byExplain Why the Change: Reference is made to the SouthCoast Summit where Steve and Marijn will be running a workshop at this event on Saturday 15th OctoberBring in an Expert:  Bring in an Expert or call a friend was referenced and Steve has an opportunity to make his favourite Experts quote (listen to check it out)   These people bring in their experience and ability to lead but Steve turns this around a little by saying for a M365 Project The Business are the experts!Be available for Help: Being available is possibly the best way to add value to the business.  Steve asks Marijn how he ensures people have access to the resources that deliver success.  A single point of contact is crucial for value which can be an email address or a SharePoint site or regular AMA sessions.Learn what your users need:  Understand the User stories from a deep dive into the business getting to the coal face and describing what the users want to have delivered that will deliver value.  Marijn described an approach used previous with a Mnemonic based on a Spy, in Dutch.Finally, Marijn points out that the value is what the user NEEDS not what IT thinks they want!Digitize Training:  Marijn talks about learning pathways and Steve points out that the same courses are available in Viva Learning, so they are available in SharePoint and in MS Teams… Steve shares a few nuggets from Viva Learning and Marijn gets distracted by a ringing phone and cuts off the girlfriend… but I am a witness we are recording.Gather Feedback:  It does not matter what the feedback is, just continue to get feedback.  Steve suggests that you should kick off as early as possible with a poll before your awareness campaign kicks off to confirmPersonalise your Training:   This about sing the Audience features to suggest training across the business.  Think about the matrix of Role v Skills so that Managers do not need to know how to create a page, but it would be good for them to understand how audiences work.  However, both need to understand pages and how they work.Custom videos or page instructions for the ‘feel’ of the company so that they have customise training branded for the company that feels a little special.Our Sponsor Braeburn Whisky is described and of course Steve and Marijn have invested with Braeburn with 3 barrels between them already to do some cool things with 😊Braeburn provided a 14 year old whisky from the Loch Lomond for us to taste which was truly great peated whisky available from their web site Hill Climb 14 Bottle - Cask 88 not many bottle left.

22 Juli 20221h

After Steve looked at Barriers to getting the information in #2 of the Wee Dram series and then was to create Impact in #3 in this episode, we look at Adapting your M365 adoption to maximise value. Business is in constant flow, and we take reference from 3 companies that innovated into different value streams. These examples, whilst mainstream, show that companies change and evolve. Ensuring that your M365 service can support that ensures value for both internal processes that support customer value. Nothing is ever finished in M365 as it changes and upgrades and enables new opportunities for value to be added constantly. So you need a plan! Planning to Evolve is discussed with some examples of user stories that show how to evolve your M365 in an environment of constant improvement. ... and then check out the finish with a quote from Gunny Highway (Clint Eastwood) quote from the Film Heartbreak Ridge!!

11 Juli 202217min

After talking about recently attended events we learn that Marijn likes only soft things against his skin, but the boys resist the opportunity for a fun discussion on this fact.  They talk about the new news around AD and AAD groups where AAD groups can now be nested.There is disagreement about the copying of profiles and if the AAD groups also get copied across to new users based on another user... Steve thought not and Marijn started to doubt... but from a quick lookup it appears there is a user template option now available and some Microsoft Flows that will not assist in this role.Bon Vivant is Marijn’s new Viva name, which is apparently a thingEventually, Steve and Marijn move on to the subject at hand which is Business Architecture.  The idea being it is important to understand the business processes around this architecture and then use M365 architecture to add value to the areas that most need a change or improvement.We take a look at a specific Business architecture working across the business and for the podcast, we tool the Hire to Retire process.  We take the various aspects of the process and choose the appropriate Microsoft365 application and tool that best improves that aspect of the process.  Nothing is limited as this is after all only a podcast.And of course, neither Steve nor Marijn has to build this so reality can take a side-line.  Especially when Steve takes an AI chat that creates an automatic Head-hunter application to go find the perfect candidate.After completing the process, it is time to relax with a whisky from Finland... so we finished the Finish whisky at the end of the podcast: Kyro Rye ruby port.

25 Juni 20221h 8min

Division of the implementation of M365 into 3 spaces...Understanding the Need:  Our primary communication is speech, it’s the fastest way 2 human beings can exchange ideas, and frustrations and collaborate over solutions.Identify the current risks: Breaking down the processes that are prone to fail or that everyone understands are vulnerable for some reason.Ignore the normal: There are a few traditional ways of delivering M365 but if you want to deliver M365 with value then use everything you have learned to focus on what can Create Impact FasterCheck out Wee Dram EP2 and understand how you need to breakdown barriers to deliver M365 Value

22 Juni 202221min