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SharePoint, Teams and Viva! Creating a Modern Teams-First Employee Experience Intranet

VideoBy Geoff Ables MVP, MCTSource: Circle: WORKSHOP VAULT 📅 4/22/2026👁️ 4

Organizations often struggle with fragmented intranets where information hides in outdated SharePoint sites or isolated Teams channels. Employees waste time searching for documents, news, and resources, reducing productivity and engagement. A modern Teams-first approach unifies everything into a single, intuitive experience.

Geoff Ables, Microsoft MVP and author on employee experience topics, guides you through building this intranet across four modules. He uses pre-recorded how-to videos, best practices, and recent Microsoft Ignite announcements. Resources include downloadable PDFs and site-populating ZIP files for hands-on practice.

What You Will Learn

  • Designing modern Teams and SharePoint sites with optimal navigation and permissions
  • Creating a SharePoint home page and departmental sites using modern web parts
  • Associating Teams and team sites with hub sites to build centralized intranet navigation
  • Managing document libraries with metadata columns, views, and versioning
  • Building and automating Microsoft Lists integrated with Power Automate flows
  • Configuring Viva Connections to deliver SharePoint content directly in Teams
  • Applying governance and information architecture best practices for scalable sites
  • Exploring new Microsoft Ignite features for Teams-first intranets and Viva

Key Takeaways

  1. Use a Microsoft 365 trial tenant for testing. Practice in isolated environments to avoid production disruptions, requiring site owner permissions but no global admin access for core demos.
  2. Implement hub sites early for intranet unity. Hub sites aggregate news, events, and search from associated team sites, creating a seamless hub without complex custom coding.
  3. Follow the Powered by LUCK framework. Listen, Understand, Connect, and Know principles apply to both human relationships and intranet design, emphasizing employee-centric structures.
  4. Download module resources for self-paced follow-up. ZIP files populate document libraries and lists, while PDFs link to succinct how-to videos for revisiting specific techniques.
  5. Prioritize team and site design module. This foundation covers the most ground, with subsequent modules on documents, lists, and Viva building directly on it.

About the Speaker

Geoff Ables is a Microsoft MVP focused on Microsoft 365, Dynamics 365, and Power Platform. He leads a 20-year consulting firm specializing in customer and employee experience improvements. Geoff has authored books on these topics and delivers workshops on engagement strategies.

Who Should Watch This

This session suits Microsoft 365 admins and SharePoint owners planning a Teams-first intranet shift. You gain step-by-step modules with videos if you create sites and teams but lack integration know-how for Viva Connections or hub sites.

IT pros handling document management or lists will find practical updates, especially with Ignite news. Experienced users may skim familiar basics but value governance tips and resource packs for team training.

Avoid if you deploy advanced custom Viva solutions already. The fast-paced format with Q&A favors those preferring structured learning over live demos.

Resources