{"id":5273,"date":"2024-04-05T07:19:43","date_gmt":"2024-04-05T14:19:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/insidetrack\/blog\/?p=5273"},"modified":"2024-04-05T07:23:41","modified_gmt":"2024-04-05T14:23:41","slug":"how-microsoft-moved-its-large-meetings-online-with-live-events-in-microsoft-365","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/insidetrack\/blog\/how-microsoft-moved-its-large-meetings-online-with-live-events-in-microsoft-365\/","title":{"rendered":"How Microsoft moved its large meetings online with live events in Microsoft 365"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Microsoft[Editor\u2019s note: This content was written to highlight a particular event or moment in time. Although that moment has passed, we\u2019re republishing it here so you can see what our thinking and experience was like at the time.]<\/em><\/p>\n

When it became clear that Microsoft was going to ask its employees to work remotely, Kimberly Nafziger knew she would need to move quickly.<\/p>\n

She was organizing an in-person, all-hands meeting for the 5,500 employees in Microsoft Digital. A large room was secured, a film crew was ready to broadcast to those who would attend remotely, and breakfast was ordered for those who would be there in person. The \u201cAsk Me Anything\u201d meeting with Kurt DelBene, executive vice president of Corporate Strategy and Microsoft Digital, was set to occur the next day.<\/p>\n

Then DelBene decided to convert the meeting to online, out of an abundance of caution over the worsening COVID-19 situation.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt 1:00 PM on Monday, March 2, we made the decision to make the meeting virtual,\u201d Nafziger says. The changeover was completed in just hours, she says, explaining that it wasn\u2019t that difficult because the meeting was already scheduled to be broadcast on Microsoft\u2019s large meeting platform, live events in Microsoft 365. \u201cWe were ready to go by Tuesday, at 9:00 AM, when the meeting was scheduled to start.\u201d<\/p>\n

Leaders at Microsoft use live events in Microsoft 365 to run large internal and external meetings with connected video streaming, conversations, and content sharing. Depending on their needs, the meeting host can choose between simple do-it-yourself events using Microsoft Teams or Yammer, to large-scale professional events using Yammer or Microsoft Stream. The live events capabilities are available to all customers\u2014go here to learn more<\/a> about how to select the right live event experience for your event.<\/p>\n

Like many Microsoft products and services, live events in Microsoft 365 enable company employees to stay connected as they work remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not working from home in isolation,\u201d says Andrew Wilson, Microsoft\u2019s chief digital officer and corporate vice president of Microsoft Digital. \u201cThis is about our digital platforms empowering us to make human connections at a time when coming together and supporting each other is super important\u2014it\u2019s allowing us to be a fluid workforce that is staying productive in tough circumstances.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wilson says Microsoft leaders are using live events and other company technology to support their teams.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is an absolute need for leaders to be accessible, social, interactive, and communicative during times like these,\u201d he says. \u201cEven if there wasn\u2019t a crisis, using technology to stay connected with your employees is a table-stakes requirement for any leader to be effective today.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for DelBene\u2019s \u201cAsk Me Anything\u201d meeting?<\/p>\n

\u201cAt first, it felt like a scary decision to go all virtual because there were a lot of logistics that needed to come together, but it went very well,\u201d Nafziger says. \u201cHaving the meeting already set up to leverage the live events capabilities was pivotal.\u201d<\/p>\n

She says DelBene and his leadership team gathered in the conference room because the video crew was already set up to shoot there.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had all of our speakers attend in person,\u201d she says, explaining that Microsoft had not yet made the decision to have all non-essential employees work remotely. \u201cThey did great even though there wasn\u2019t an audience in the room.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nafziger says it ended up being the largest online audience they ever had for DelBene\u2019s \u201cAsk Me Anything\u201d meeting. Additionally, the virtual attendees weren\u2019t shy\u2014they used Yammer\u2019s conversation feature to ask DelBene, Wilson, and the rest of the leadership team questions about how the company was responding to COVID-19.<\/p>\n

\u201cUsing Yammer allowed us to draw our employees into the meeting,\u201d Nafziger says. \u201cThey could see each other\u2019s questions and comments pop up while watching the presentation. It was fun to see them answering questions and engaging with each other even though we were all in separate locations.\u201d<\/p>\n

To include the audience even more, the team appointed a moderator to read questions coming through on Yammer to DelBene and his leadership team. The moderator sparked the conversation with pre-submitted questions and then switched to live questions as they appeared on the Yammer feed.<\/p>\n

After the event, the video was automatically published in Stream as an on-demand recording. \u201cWe posted the recording to our organization\u2019s SharePoint site for employees to watch at their convenience,\u201d Nafziger says.<\/p>\n

Usage of live events has spiked across Microsoft as the entire company has moved exclusively to remote working. No matter the scale of the meeting, leaders are using it to replicate the human connection that happens when they meet with their teams in person.<\/p>\n

That was certainly true for the Field Engagement and Delivery (FED) and Global Support teams, which count on its in-person global meeting held every two years to bring together its 258 employees across 46 countries and 80 cities.<\/p>\n

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\"D\u2019Almeida,
Jason William D’Almeida (left), Belinda Deverson, and David James Liu share what the scene was in Sydney during their team\u2019s \u201cvirtual\u201d global meeting. Team members shared photos and videos from their home offices during the meeting that brought together 258 employees from 46 countries and 80 cities.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/figure>\n

\u201cOur teams are very dispersed across the globe,\u201d says Belinda Deverson, from Global Support based in Sydney, Australia. \u201cWe all look forward to this conference to connect with each other in person.\u201d<\/p>\n

Due to COVID-19, the team made the tough decision to switch to a virtual-only meeting just days before it was scheduled to start. They used the live events capabilities to broadcast the leadership team\u2019s presentation to everyone at all their dispersed locations and used Microsoft Teams and Yammer to engage with their team members.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn February 19, our leadership team sent an email announcing that we were moving to a virtual conference,\u201d Deverson says. \u201cWe made the change in five business days.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was a change that required coordination by many people in many different countries and time zones. The leadership team made the decision to make their presentations at two different times so that employees could watch it live at a time that was convenient for them. Additionally, smaller groups of employees met via a series of Microsoft Teams meetings to reconnect, bond, and participate in fun team-building exercises.<\/p>\n

\u201cShifting to virtual still felt inclusive because we were interacting together in the moment,\u201d says Deverson. Being intentional about connecting with each other and making sure everyone\u2019s cameras were on helped. \u201cEven though we were thousands of miles away from each other, we were able to use our technology to create a collaborative and productive virtual environment while building a stronger community.\u201d<\/p>\n

[<\/em>Read this case study on how Microsoft uses live events in Microsoft 365.<\/em><\/a>]<\/p>\n

Interest in live events is spiking<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cAt times like these, you need to be pumping out your readiness material,\u201d says Eva Etchells, a business program manager in Microsoft Digital who shows employees how to get the most out of using Microsoft 365 products. \u201cWe have been pulling together all our existing content and combining it in new ways to reflect the new remote working world that we are in,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Microsoft customers are facing the same situation as Microsoft employees. They need to connect with colleagues who suddenly feel disconnected and isolated.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust like us, they\u2019re trying to figure it out, and they find it really useful to see how we\u2019re doing it here at Microsoft,\u201d says Alex Vo, a senior services engineer in Microsoft Digital who shows external companies how Microsoft uses live events in Microsoft 365. \u201cA lot of them are heavy users of Microsoft 365 who are using our older product, Skype Meeting Broadcast. They want us to tell them what they\u2019ll get out of upgrading to live events in Microsoft 365.\u201d<\/p>\n

Vo is hearing from a variety of customers. Some have large offices of people that are used to working together and are now working from home, and others have small teams of employees dispersed across the country and the world.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn both cases, they want to have better engagement with their employees,\u201d Vo says.<\/p>\n

Most companies he talks to have just a few people who are responsible for figuring out how to run the remote meetings, who their companies are suddenly relying on.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey want high-end, production-quality video so that they can get their people to participate. But their budgets are tight, so they\u2019re looking for something that doesn\u2019t cost a lot of money,\u201d he says. \u201cThey also want to know how hard it is to set up and how to get started.\u201d<\/p>\n

Vo walks them through how Microsoft uses live events and lets them know that it\u2019s something that they likely already have or can easily add to their Microsoft 365 subscription. He also connects them with product group managers like Ashwin Appiah and Kasia Krzoska, who show customers how to use live events (Appiah from the point of view of Microsoft Teams, and Krzoska with a focus on Yammer).<\/p>\n

Both Appiah and Krzoska say interest in the live events capabilities has surged, with many customers asking how to run their own events. They, like Vo, say the way Microsoft is using the product really helps them show customers what it can do.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s really great to see, during times of crisis, how well everyone at Microsoft has been able to transition from an offline or hybrid experience to working exclusively online,\u201d Appiah says. \u201cWe have provided tools for them to do that, but they are the ones who are running with it and making it work.\u201d<\/p>\n

Krzoska agrees, saying it\u2019s great to see Microsoft employees use these tools to get work done during the crisis, but it\u2019s even more impressive how they\u2019re supporting each other on a human level.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis just shows what a great company culture we have,\u201d she says. \u201cWhat has been remarkable is seeing how employees are using our products to cultivate togetherness and keep their conversations going.\u201d<\/p>\n

How to use live events in Microsoft 365<\/strong><\/p>\n

Microsoft Digital uses live events in Microsoft 365 to create, run, and share events of different types, audiences, and budgets, says Frank Delia, a senior program manager in Microsoft Digital. Those range from global all-hands meetings with thousands of participants to team<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is how our leaders from around the company connect with their people,\u201d Delia says. \u201cIt\u2019s how they drive employee engagement, share information, and get feedback.\u201d<\/p>\n

So how do live events work?<\/p>\n

Depending on the needs of the event, Microsoft Teams, Stream, and Yammer work together to create an event. But it goes beyond that, Delia says. They all combine audio and video and have recordings available in Stream. Here\u2019s how they each contribute:<\/p>\n