Microsoft SharePoint and Viva are powerful platforms — but are they built for internal comms?
When it comes to workplace technology, Microsoft SharePoint and Viva are often seen as the default choice for organized communication and team collaboration. It promises seamless integration, familiarity, and scalability for enterprise organizations — particularly with SharePoint as a best-in-class document management system, Teams for direct chatting, and Viva working to tackle employee engagement.
But in today’s digital workplace, where employees demand intuitive, mobile-first, and consumer-grade internal communication tools, do they truly deliver?
The truth is, Microsoft’s technology portfolio — like Google Workspace and other all-in-one ecosystems — often struggles to meet the diverse needs of modern workforces. While it excels at being a deep and comprehensive solution for desk-based teams, it misses the mark for frontline employees, remote workers, and those seeking a more engaging, user-friendly experience.
Here’s where SharePoint and Viva fall short — and why rethinking your employee engagement strategy is essential.
Challenge #1: The mobile divide between the desk-based and the deskless
Frontline workers make up 80% of the global workforce, yet they often remain underserved by traditional enterprise tools. When it comes to your internal communication platform, it's important to ensure your messages are reaching the right audience at the right time — no matter when or where they work.
- SharePoint: Clunky mobile experience and complex navigation make it difficult for deskless employees to quickly access important information.
- Viva: Engagement remains low among frontline workers because it’s buried within the Microsoft ecosystem, requiring a Teams or 365 login, which many frontline workers don’t use daily.
The impact? Frontline and mobile workers struggle to access the tools they need, causing missed messages and disengagement.
The solution: Create an equitable employee experience
Improve mobile accessibility
SharePoint and Viva are primarily designed with office-based employees in mind. For frontline employees, the extra login requirements, complex navigation, and lack of offline functionality can slow them down and be more frustrating than fruitful.
Not catering to mobile-first needs not only hinders employee engagement, it also creates a divide between desk-based and frontline workers — undermining efforts to build a cohesive and connected workforce.
Enable customized communication
Real-time communications and notifications may work for desk-based employees, but for the mobile workforce that doesn't sit behind a computer, these tools fail to bridge the gap.
Employee communication software that enables customizable notifications and serves up high-priority alerts to relevant titles, locations, and functions can help employees stay in the loop more efficiently.
Create clarity — not complexity
Imagine a retail associate trying to access critical updates through a SharePoint portal from the shop floor, or a delivery driver wanting to check for updates on the go.
While SharePoint and Viva may offer a unified platform, it can be difficult for employees (and especially frontline workers) to find what they’re looking for — requiring multiple clicks, a stable internet connection, and significant time they don’t have.
Challenge #2: Too many tools, too little time
The breadth of SharePoint and Viva is both its greatest strength and its biggest weakness. With Viva for company-wide comms, Teams for instant messaging, SharePoint for content management and file sharing, Outlook for email, and a wide range of additional tools for scheduling, tasks, and other workforce management needs, employees often find themselves navigating a maze of features rather than focusing on their work.
- SharePoint: A great document management system — but not a dynamic communication hub. Important updates get buried under layers of links and folders.
- Viva: Feels like an add-on rather than an integrated experience — employees still rely on Outlook, Teams, and SharePoint separately.
The impact? Employees are left jumping between platforms to find what they need, killing productivity.
The solution: Simplify the tech experience
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Minimize information overload
While complementary tools like SharePoint, Viva, Outlook, Teams, and OneDrive may be well-intentioned, they often overlap and overwhelm, creating confusion and inefficiency rather than streamlining communication.
The average employee switches between apps 10 times per hour, costing organizations billions annually in lost productivity. When each employee communication tool serves a slightly different purpose, workers are forced to juggle multiple platforms that don’t always integrate seamlessly.
Flatten the learning curve
For frontline workers or new hires, the complexity of SharePoint and Viva can be especially daunting. Training employees to effectively use these tools often requires extensive onboarding — time that could be better spent enabling employees to focus on their primary responsibilities.
For many frontline workers, who may not use a computer regularly, this complexity often results in disengagement and underutilization of the tools provided.
Prioritize workflow efficiency
Consider a factory worker needing to log a safety incident. Navigating through SharePoint’s cluttered interface can turn simple task management into a frustrating ordeal — hindering timely reporting and potentially compromising workplace safety.
Similarly, deskless employees may struggle to track down essential documents or communicate updates in real time, resulting in delays and reduced operational efficiency.
Challenge #3: The uninspiring design of outdated tools
In a world dominated by consumer apps like Instagram, TikTok, and WhatsApp, employees have come to expect the same level of ease, speed, and engagement from their internal communications tools.
- SharePoint: Feels like a corporate archive rather than a living, breathing communication space.
- Viva: Lacks social-first, consumer-grade features like Stories, reactions, or interactive engagement tools.
The solution: Bring consumer-grade content to your comms
Employees expect an Instagram-like experience — if the tools feel clunky, they simply won’t engage.
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Provide a user-friendly UI
The design of SharePoint and Viva, while practical, lacks the intuitive, visually engaging experience employees are used to from consumer apps. Navigating through dense menus and static interfaces can frustrate users — particularly younger, mobile-first workers who expect the same seamless, fast, and attractive interfaces they experience in their personal lives.
Boost adoption rates
Employees avoid using digital workplace apps if they find them cumbersome or outdated. This is especially concerning for internal comms teams relying on these tools to share updates, drive engagement, and build a sense of community.
Not only can this disconnect employees from the tools themselves, it can disengage them from the company culture as a whole.
Give employees features they can engage with
SharePoint and Viva are not inherently designed to foster the same social, collaborative atmosphere that we have come to expect from consumer apps. Features like Stories, live streaming, and polls — hallmarks of modern communication — are either absent or clunky to use.
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Challenge #4: Synchronous communication can’t be the norm
SharePoint and Viva shine when it comes to real-time collaboration, but its heavy emphasis on live chats and video calls often leaves asynchronous communication as an afterthought. For shift workers, employees in different time zones, or remote employees who may work on alternative schedules, this creates significant barriers to effective engagement.
- SharePoint: Lacks real-time notifications or role-based updates — employees are expected to “go find” information.
- Viva: Prioritizes live engagement but doesn’t support modern async communication like Stories, video updates, or discussion boards.
The solution: Embrace the needs of your diverse workforce
Shift workers and global teams miss out on key updates and collaboration tools, creating an information gap.
Reduce reliance on live tools
The platform prioritizes synchronous communication, which works well for desk-based employees but alienates those who can’t always join live meetings or respond instantly. Real-time updates are incredibly handy, but for some employees, it's more important that they can access the company content they're looking for on their own time.
Provide modern asynchronous options
What's missing from SharePoint and Viva are features like Stories, real-time messaging chats and discussion boards, or video updates — common in consumer-grade platforms. This limits the ways employees can catch up or contribute on their own schedules.
Keep employees in the loop
Imagine a nurse wrapping up a long overnight shift, only to find they’ve missed a critical live announcement on Viva that directly impacts their day-to-day work. No single method of communication will reach all employees across the entire organization. Without an asynchronous alternative, the information gap widens, leaving key workers uninformed.
Challenge #5: Disconnectivity can damage culture
Focusing on top-down communication channels often neglects the value of peer-to-peer engagement. Building a sense of community and fostering organic interactions are critical for employee satisfaction.
- SharePoint: Functions more as a repository than a tool that fosters connection, making it hard to celebrate milestones and share successes.
- Viva: Built for top-down communication, but struggles to support peer-to-peer recognition and organic community-building.
The solution: Don’t forget about the human connection
Without the right interactive tools in place, it’s easy for employees to feel disconnected from their teams and the larger company culture.
Invest in social-grade features
Unlike a consumer-grade internal communication platform, SharePoint and Viva offer little to encourage informal communication or peer recognition, which are essential for engagement.
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Foster a sense of belonging
In an environment where 40% of people say that they feel isolated at work, business applications that prioritize employee engagement and peer-to-peer connection can be a crucial investment in the employee experience.
Without tools that bring the power of social connection to team collaboration, employees feel isolated, which can negatively affect employee retention and morale rates.
Celebrate milestones without reservation
A manufacturing team wanting to celebrate a colleague’s milestone might struggle to find a platform that facilitates spontaneous recognition — a gap that undermines morale and creates missed opportunities for team bonding and employee motivation.
Challenge #6: The risk of a one-size-fits-all approach
With SharePoint and Viva, getting employees the update they need, when they need it, is like finding a needle in a haystack. The one-size-fits-all approach is convenient, but it makes it difficult to cater to everyone in your workforce.
- SharePoint: Lacks intuitive dashboards or role-based filters, forcing employees to sift through irrelevant content.
- Viva: No real ability to tailor content by role, location, or function—everyone gets the same updates, whether relevant or not.
The solution: Hyper-personalize your strategy
All communication, and especially frontline communication, require personalization and role-specific features. Otherwise, employees waste time navigating a cluttered experience rather than getting the updates they actually need.
Account for different roles, teams, and locations
SharePoint’s rigid company intranet structure and Viva uniform features don’t allow for role-specific customization or hyper-personalized push notifications. This leaves workers on their own to navigate potentially irrelevant or overwhelming content on the employee intranet and other communication channels.
Keep comms clear and efficient
Employees waste time wading through irrelevant company content instead of accessing what matters most to them, which can reduce productivity and increase frustration.
Find opportunities for role-specific tools
A hotel housekeeping staff member might benefit from a simplified employee app that tailors company updates and key features to their daily operations, such as shift updates or specific task lists — something Viva doesn’t easily provide, leaving a gap in streamlined workflow support.
Challenge #7: Heavy reliance on IT for customization and maintenance
While Microsoft SharePoint and Viva offer extensive features, they require significant IT support for setup, customization, and ongoing maintenance. This dependency can slow down internal communications and create bottlenecks for non-technical teams.
- SharePoint: Requires IT expertise to configure, update, and maintain. Customizing layouts, permissions, and workflows often demands dedicated IT resources, making even small adjustments time-consuming.
- Viva: As part of the Microsoft ecosystem, it inherits complex integration challenges. IT teams must manage access controls, troubleshoot syncing issues, and ensure compatibility with existing tools.
The solution: Empower teams with easy-to-use tools that are built for internal comms teams
Reduce IT dependency
Organizations need internal communication software that allows non-technical users to create, update, and manage content effortlessly—without constantly relying on IT support.
Enable no-code customization
Modern internal communication tools should offer simple, intuitive dashboards with drag-and-drop customization, ensuring teams can tailor their platforms to fit their needs without complex back-end development.
Improve operational efficiency
By reducing IT’s workload and giving communication teams direct control over their platforms, businesses can accelerate internal messaging, improve engagement, and ensure employees always have access to up-to-date information.
Your workforce is evolving — so should your tools
While Microsoft SharePoint and Viva have their strengths, it’s not an end-all, be-all solution — particularly when it comes to internal communications for modern, diverse workforces.
For organizations with traditional, desk-based employees, SharePoint and Viva can be highly effective. In particular, highly regulated industries like government, healthcare, and finance often rely on Microsoft’s compliance-focused infrastructure to meet strict standards for data security and document retention.
But the very features that make these tools appealing can also be limitations. Legacy systems that rely on synchronous communication fail to address the needs of hybrid, mobile, and frontline teams. Employees in dynamic, fast-paced environments like retail, logistics, and hospitality need hyper-personalized tools that deliver real-time engagement.
To transform your internal communication strategy and create a workplace where everyone feels informed and connected, organizations must look for internal communication solutions that are built to meet the needs of modern employees — today, tomorrow, and beyond.
Don’t let today’s tools limit tomorrow’s success
The modern workforce deserves a single platform that's as dynamic and diverse as the employees it serves. While SharePoint and Viva may offer familiarity and integrations, it fails to deliver the consumer-grade, mobile-first employee experience that today’s diverse workforce expect.
A modern internal communication tool — designed with mobile-first, consumer-grade principles — bridges the gaps left by Microsoft. They prioritize:
- Intuitive, user-friendly interfaces.
- Offline functionality and mobile optimization.
- Role-specific customization and asynchronous communication.
As organizations evolve, so should our internal communications software. Adopting an internal communication platform that supports every part of your workforce can help foster a more connected and empowered workplace culture. By prioritizing employee engagement, you’re not just supporting your team — you’re also strengthening your organization as a whole.
Blink. And break the Microsoft status quo.
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