Round-up of digital workplace news & resources: January 2025

This newsletter provides a manually curated list of recommended articles, people and events published in the last month or so. I've done the hard work so you don't have to ??

Many of the resources have been added to the Ultimate Digital Workplace Guide. The Guide is a comprehensive list of resources related to intranets, SharePoint, communication, knowledge & similar topics.

If you find this page useful, would you mind clicking Like, Comment, Repost or Send. The more engagement the page has, the more people will see it and the more motivated I'll be to create the next one. I need the motivation ??

Note: Feel free to add suggestions in the comments section for the next newsletter (to be published at the end of February). Or send me a message directly. Looking for original content or discussions that add value.

• Is it the end for Enterprise Social Networks (ESN)? (29 Jan) - Sharon O'Dea notes that a decline in the use of ESNs as workplace communication tools mirrors trends in public social media. With a rise in 'digital fatigue', platforms like Viva Engage (Yammer) are shifting to broadcasting rather than collaboration. Is there still a role for ESNs in the workplace? Some thought provoking comments by Carrie Basham Marshall Lee Bryant Cai Kjaer Rachel Happe Luis Suarez Kim England-Godber Mark Britz Colin Newlyn
• Is 2025 the year that change management also dies? (29 Jan) - Caroline Kealey ???? argues that traditional change management models, like ADKAR, are no longer effective in today's chaotic and continuously shifting business landscape. Instead, organisations need to focus on adaptability and leadership. Change practitioners may need to unlearn outdated models. Comments by Shel Holtz, SCMP Edwina Pike Brian Gorman
• Are traditional intranet home pages on their death bed as well? Should they be more like Google? (27 Jan) - Lauren Selikoff asks the question. What do you think?

Daniel Anderson is a very busy person. He provides a weekly LinkedIn newsletter - The Microsoft Chronicles, a SharePoint + Copilot Course, a YouTube Channel, a regular newsletter, and also writes articles about how to grow & transform businesses with Microsoft 365.

Here's just one of his articles you'll find useful if you work with SharePoint - How to copy a page from one Site Page library to another using Power Automate.

Catch his free online and in-person course on Wed 19th Feb, Copilot Mastermind - Let's get hands-on with SharePoint Copilot Agents.

Consider clicking the Follow button above in Daniel's profile to keep up-to-date with the latest Microsoft and SharePoint news.

Reworked

• How to Build an Intranet Your Frontline Workers Will Actually Use (18 Jan) - by Charles Owen-Jackson - "Frontline workers constitute roughly 80% of the global workforce, but almost a quarter lack access to the digital tools they need to do their jobs effectively. "

• Top Digital Workplace Articles of 2024 (31 Dec 2024) - featuring articles by Chris Harrer Virginia Backaitis Steve Bynghall Andie Burjek Andrew Pope Dante Ragazzo Siobhan Fagan Lynda Braksiek, CPC
• Top Employee Experience Articles of 2024 (31 Dec 2024) - featuring articles by Lance Haun Virginia Backaitis Lisa Rabasca Roepe Dr. Laurence Lock Lee Erica Sweeney Wendy Helfenbaum Saranne Segal Tamar Cohen, CCXP
• Can't Miss Digital Workplace Events & Employee Experience Conferences of 2025 - your ultimate 2025 guide to employee experience and digital workplace events.
• The Future of Intranets in 2025 (21 Nov 2024) - by Toby Ward

An intranet isn't just a technology project. It’s a living digital ecosystem, powered by people, process and technology. And that won't change any time soon."

Digital Workplace Group

• Digital Workplace Impact Podcast - hosted by Nancy Goebel . Investigates and explores the ideas, practices and people impacting the digital worlds of work.

Dux Raymond Sy

• 3 Essential Steps to Unlock AI Success: Insights with Tori Miller Liu, MBA, FASAE, CAE, CIP (28 Jan) - a podcast exploring how AI is transforming information management and why embracing data readiness is key to building a future-focused, human-centric workplace.

2toLead Richard Harbridge Kanwal Khipple

• The top 10 resources that made the biggest impact in 2024

"An absolute treasure trove of Microsoft, Copilot, and SharePoint related resources." - Andrew Wright

• Viva Engage Permissions Toolkit (previously Yammer) - "Are you looking to streamline your admin processes within Viva Engage? This is your go-to resource for understanding the various administrative roles and their capabilities".
• Most Common SharePoint & Teams Sprawl Issues and How to Solve Them - this eBook will help you streamline teams creation, avoid dead teams where information goes to die, decrease security risks and much more.

ClearBox Consulting Ltd Sam Marshall Wedge B. Suzie Robinson

• The latest edition of the ClearBox intranet review report – Version 4.0 ***** Hot off the press ***** 34 #EmployeeExperience platforms reviewed in depth by industry experts, input from vendors themselves, loads of screenshots, dozens of pages of industry insights - and it's all free! The Buyer's guide to intranet and employee experience platforms by ClearBox Consulting Ltd

• The future of the digital workplace – ClearBox predictions for 2025 (9 Jan) - From the re-emergence of intranets to the ongoing clash between leadership and employee flexibility, the trends ahead highlight both challenges and opportunities for forward-thinking organisations. Sam Marshall Suzie Robinson Wedge B. Andrew Marr

Jo?o Ferreira

• What’s new for SharePoint – December 2024 - accessibility checker, search by messages in SharePoint, ask Copilot questions about images, end user cards in Viva Connections, a Power Apps card for Viva Connections and more.

Step Two Rebecca Rodgers James Robertson

• The 2025 Intranet & Digital Workplace Awards, early entry program available - the awards have been going nearly 20 years & are free to enter. They celebrate excellent intranet & digital workplace projects, giving teams deserved recognition. Questions? Contact Steve Bynghall

Nielsen Norman Group

• Journey-Centric Design Lessons Learned: From Culture Change to Process Governance (24 Jan) - by Kim Flaherty . "Real organizations share what they learned while adopting journey-centric design so other organizations can avoid the same pitfalls."
• The UX Reckoning: Prepare for 2025 and Beyond (10 Jan) - by Kate Moran Sarah Gibbons . "In 2025, reevaluate tactics; use AI to deliver user value; and develop deep UX skills, instead of relying on toolkits."

SWOOP Analytics

• Participate in SWOOP Analytics?’ 2025 SharePoint intranet benchmarking study - if you're using SharePoint Online intranet, join the 2025 SharePoint intranet benchmarking analysis. It's FREE and your data remains anonymous, though you must be connected to SWOOP Analytics for SharePoint intranet by February 14 to be part of the 2025 analysis.
• Setting goals and measuring success for a high performing intranet (13 Feb) - free event hosted by Gemma Saint Emily O'Brien Coco Molina Francesca Guidi Pete Johns

SharePoint Maven Gregory Zelfond

• An overview of the Calendar Options in SharePoint and Microsoft 365 (15 Jan) - sadly, the SharePoint calendar function hasn't changed much over the years but Gregory Zelfond nicely describes the 4 options you have available.

Holly Ransom

• Why Great Leaders Assume the Best—and Ask Better Questions (27 Jan)

When a team member is underperforming or seems disengaged, instead of immediately asking ‘What are we going to do about it?’ (in a performance management sense), how do we pause to ask: What might be stopping this person from doing well?

TalentLMS

• Best 55 workplace podcasts from L&D, HR, people management and the future of work. Find a podcast for your morning run! Includes podcasts hosted by Digital Workplace Group Adam Grant 美国哈佛商学院 Within People Josh Bersin Harvard Business Review

“JJ” Jessica Reeder

• Don’t call it a handbook: The complete guide to creating a living knowledge base for remote-first companies (25 Nov 24) - a detailed guide to setting up a handbook, intranet, or knowledge base for a distributed team at any size.
• How to choose and implement a handbook/intranet tool (22 Jan) - breaks down the types of handbooks and intranet tools, and recommendations for companies of different sizes.

"What gets measured gets done, right? If your handbook isn’t helping, it’s just another document. Make sure it works for you." - JJ Jessica Reeder

IntraTeam Kurt Kragh S?rensen

• IntraTeam News 4 (27 Jan) - news about SharePoint, Copilot, AI, working from home, knowledge management and change management.
• IntraTeam Event Copenhagen 2025 (8-9 April 2025) - intranets, communication and copilot. Featuring Susan Hanley Dawn Brushammar Nina Sonne Nikolaisen Anette Wittenberg

ThoughtFarmer

• ThoughtFarmer LookBook: A visual guide to stunning intranet examples - includes homepages, personalized dashboards that surface the most important content, easy-to-use navigation for finding information quickly and branding and design elements.

Haiilo

Only 13% of employees use their intranet daily. Employees spend 20% of their time searching for information. 75% of employees feel overwhelmed by workplace communication.

Interact Software

• 25 reasons why an intranet is mission critical (Download the free guide) - This guide can help you show why an intranet is mission critical for the entire workforce. Make the financial case for an intranet, highlight the benefits, move a potential project from stalled to active and increase adoption of the intranet among co-workers.
• Upcoming events & webinars - "Intranet and internal comms events to help you on your journey"

Injio by WebVine Chloe Dervin Claire Walker

• Guides and reports - worth checking out. Includes: Build an intranet business case, 9 pillars of digital workplace success, Free intranet assessment, Troubleshoot your intranet, and more.
• The Missing Ingredient: Secrets of Digital Adoption Success (13 Feb) - "In this 30-minute webinar, we’ll explore the concept of digital maturity and how it impacts the adoption of new technologies."

Content Formula

• Digital workplace trends for 2025 (7 Jan) - by Dan Hawtrey - looks at five key digital workplace trends for 2025; AI tools, tool proliferation, hybrid V office work, and the shift toward omnichannel internal communications.
• Unlocking SharePoint's potential: building a personalized intranet for a productive workforce (29 Jan) - by Dan Hawtrey

Intranet Connections

• Intranet Planning Workbook: Digital and Workplace Trends for 2025 - "in this 2025 planning workbook for intranet teams, we consider seven of the major workplace trends that we think will be impacting organizations in 2025, and where your intranet can make a key difference."

Free

• Copilot Mastermind - Let's get hands-on with SharePoint Copilot Agents - Online and in-person. Wed, 19th Feb, AEDT. Hosted by Daniel Anderson Learn to confidently implement and optimize SharePoint Copilot Agents to automate routine tasks, enhance content management, and streamline business processes.
• The Missing Ingredient: Secrets of Digital Adoption Success (13 Feb) - hosted by WebVine . "In this 30-minute webinar, we’ll explore the concept of digital maturity and how it impacts the adoption of new technologies."

Fee paying

• New Zealand Digital Workplace conference, 18-19 March - hosted by Digital Workplace Results (DWR) and Debbie Ireland. Featuring speakers such as Kirsty McGrath, Steve Knutson, Elaiza Benitez, Emily O'Brien, Eric Riz, Jennifer Jones, Mark Smith, and Max McNamara.

• Internal Communications Summit Europe, Berlin, Germany, June 29 - July 31st - hosted by We.Connect. Featured speakers include Pedro Ribeiro Dias Daniel Seack Philip Lewin Tamara Schwenk Pete Johns
• Ragan Communications and PR Daily > Communications Week, 10-14 November, Texas, US - the annual convergence of leaders and luminaries from across the world, participating in a global event series that spans live and virtual events.
• we.CONNECT - provides live events on topics such as Big Data, Digital Business Strategy, HR and Communication Tech, IT, DevOps and Business.
• SharePoint + Copilot Mastery - Presented by Daniel Anderson. "You will learn everything you need to know so that you can turn your SharePoint from a neglected document dump into a stream"
• User Experience (UX) Training courses - by the Nielsen Norman Group
• Interact Software > Upcoming events & webinars - "Intranet and internal comms events to help you on your journey"
• Ragan Communications and PR Daily > Events - categorised list of upcoming communication related events.

• Joanne C Klein blog - Joanne C Klein ?? provides a great list of categorised articles covering all sorts of Microsoft topics including Content types, Information architecture, Teams and Purview. Nicely organised.

• Ellen's Intranet Promotion Videos - Ellen van Aken provides over 700 videos to celebrate or inform about the (re)launch of an intranet or enterprise social tool. You can Filter by language, organizational type, etc

• Institute of Internal Communication > Knowledge Hub - able to search resources by topic, information type, author and year. Topics include change, internal communication, leadership, story telling and many others. A mix of Member only and free content.

• Prosci change management resources - covers change management related topics such as the ADKAR methodology, engaging with organisational roles, and integrating with project management.

• Ragan Communications and PR Daily > Employee engagement - collection of articles about employee communication