Communicating across any organization and supporting change initiatives is a perpetual challenge for organizations where everyone is juggling operational priorities, organizational initiatives of all types, hybrid work environments, multiple information sources, personal priorities, and the unexpected. Getting the right message to the right audience using the right channel so that it is received and understood is no easy feat as many internal communications teams will attest.

Electronic communications channels that are typically at an organization’s disposal include existing or for-purpose scheduled meetings, emails, intranets, MS Teams Channels and chats, Viva Engage/Yammer, and chat capability in other enterprise systems. Many organizations find it necessary to use a combination of channels to increase the likelihood of key messages being received.  But even so, there is no guarantee.

Well worth a look is a feature (ID 392847) released in June 2024 called Organizational Messages, available in the Microsoft 365 Admin Centre. It provides another key channel to build common understanding in support of a specific change initiative or ongoing communications in the Microsoft 365 environment.

This article will cover:

• What Microsoft Organizational Messages are

• What Organizational Messages can be used for

• Organizational Messages capabilities

• How to get started with Organizational Messages

What are Organizational Messages?

Organizational Messages are short form, customized and branded messages that can be targeted to specific audiences, and can appear in a user’s Windows Notification Centre, Desktop spotlight area, or the Get Started application. Either created from scratch or using premade template messages from Microsoft, they can contain custom images or icons, and link to custom destination URLs to align with organizational branding and direct users to key information sources.

What can Organizational Messages be used for?

Organizational messages can be used by a wide variety of internal stakeholders to deliver specific, timely messages and information to support a wide variety of initiatives and scenarios, such as:

• complementing leadership communications delivered through other channels by delivering key leadership messages directly in the Windows environment.

• IT departments can use this feature to deliver information about service availability, outages and planned downtimes.

• HR and IT departments can partner to use the feature to share important details to support onboarding of new employees

• Organizational Messages can also help users get the best value from their applications and environments by sharing tips, tricks and links to learning resources

• Cybersecurity teams can provide reminders, tips and resources to support good cyber security practices.

What capabilities and features do Organizational Messages offer?

Organizational Messages are centrally managed within the M365 Admin centre.  From here, Global Admins can:

• View and manage organizational messages, view details and conduct approval flows

• Create custom messages including locations, custom content, audience, timeframe and frequency

• Ensure the right message is sent by reviewing and approving customized messages submitted by authors in your organization.

• Track the number of people who have see and engaged with organizational messages2.

Global admins can also identify Organizational Message Writers and Organizational Messages Approvers to involve other important communications stakeholders.

Getting started with Organizational Messages

Align organizational process roles and M365 permissions. 

The Global Admin has the ability to manage all aspects of managing Organizational Messages, including authoring and approving. That may not align with your organizational communications process, so the first step is determining if a separate author and approver are required, and enabling those roles in the M365 Admin Center.

Ensure Tenant Polices are configured to allow delivery of organizational messages.

In general, to change the relevant policies to enable organizational messages:

1. Sign in to the Microsoft Endpoint Manager admin center for your tenant.

2. Go to Settings catalog > Experience > Enable delivery of organizational messages (User).

3. To enable delivery of organizational messages, switch the toggle to Enabled.

4. Then change the Windows Configuration proifiles:

   a. Go to Settings catalog > Devices > Windows > Configuration profiles.

   b. Select Settings catalog.

   c. Select Add Settings.

   d. In Settings picker, select Experience category.

   e. In configuration settings, ensure the following are selected or set to ‘Allow’:

       i.      Add Allow Windows Spotlight (User)

       ii.      Allow Tailored Experiences with Diagnostic Data (User)

       iii.      Add Third Party Suggestions in Windows Spotlight (User)

        iv.      Add Windows Consumer Features

          v.      Add Allow Windows Spotlight on Action Center (User)

         vi.      Add Allow Windows Tips

        vii.      Add Configure Windows Spotlight on Lock Screen (User)

f.        In configuration settings, ensure the following are de-selected:

      viii. Disable Cloud Optimized Content

       ix. In configuration settings, ensure the following are selected or set to ‘Allow’:

        x. Enable delivery of organizational messages (User)

Note: actual steps will vary depending on your specific tenant configuration, such as if the Windows 11 MDM security baseline is in use, and if you are using Device Restrictions.

Test for the best user experience.

Once your technical configuration is complete, identify a few willing individuals and groups that you can test the various options with to become familiar with the Organizational Messages function, and see what type of message, what look and what location best suit your organization.

Conclusion

In today's dynamic work environments, ensuring effective communication is paramount. Microsoft 365's Organizational Messages offer a powerful tool to reach your audience with precision and impact. If you need expert guidance and support in leveraging these capabilities to enhance your organizational communications, contact Gravity Union today. We're here to help you maximize your M365 investment and streamline your change initiatives.