Have you watched any live events or sports matches on TV lately? Chances are you were able to thanks to SES. The company, headquartered in Luxembourg with offices in more than thirty other countries, operates the world's only multi-orbit satellite constellation.

That wouldn't be possible without the efforts of their motivated employees, and an efficient digital workplace. To achieve that, SES rolled out Microsoft Viva Insights a few years ago, which includes a handy workplace analytics component. The tool allows SES to use workplace data to improve employee wellbeing.

One of the key factors affecting employee wellbeing at SES was its meeting culture. The company took a critical look at it, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic. They quickly realized they were on the right track with Viva Insights. And thanks to David Giles, Director of Programs, they already had the necessary expertise in change management and Viva on board. Still, there were a few challenges for which they were happy to bring in help.

First, SES needed to develop a watertight, convincing change management plan (backed by Viva Insights) to improve its meeting culture. A plan that would fully win over the often particularly vigilant works councils in certain countries.

Second, they wanted to be sure they could analyze and visualize complex Viva data as accurately and effectively as possible with Power BI reports, in order to address important business questions.

In other words, they needed an IT provider with strong know-how in both Microsoft 365 and change and adoption. Thanks to a recommendation from Microsoft Belux, they found Xylos.

SES strongly believes in technology that serves people, both outside and within their workplace. That's why it was essential for the board and David Giles to paint a clear picture of how the insights would benefit employees. It was important to help works councils understand that the Viva initiative is a wellbeing effort, not performance monitoring.

The scope of the current Viva implementation is focused on organizational insights. It analyzes meeting habits at a macro level. Xylos Change Consultants helped David Giles prepare his presentation for the board of directors and the works councils, by clearly explaining what Viva Insights is and what the tool can deliver.

Their input made clear that Viva Insights, based on aggregated, de-identified data, provides objective answers to questions an organization may have about its own work habits. For example:

• When do people work, and when do they collaborate with colleagues and hold meetings — both within and outside official working hours?

• What are the time gaps between collaboration moments?

• How much fragmented work time results from meetings?

The input from the presentation also made clear exactly where data is stored and what kinds of access people within the organization can get, in order to use that data properly and improve overall employee wellbeing.

A second aspect that brought Xylos into the picture was the hands-on approach to workplace analytics. David was already reasonably satisfied with the reports generated by the standard Power BI dashboard. At the same time, he realized that with the help of a Power BI expert, he could take things a step further. He wanted to visualize insights that gave a clear answer to relevant business questions from corporate decision-makers at SES.

Frank Bastien, Xylos's Senior Power BI Consultant, sat down with David and first taught him a few tricks of automating with Power BI. Frank also built highly advanced reports that allowed David to put specific assumptions into concrete terms. But as David Giles told Microsoft, it also helped him and SES look beyond existing assumptions. They were impressed by the richness of the first Power BI reports. The data they gathered addressed important questions they hadn't even considered yet.

Great insights lead to out-of-the-box thinking. One rather unusual initiative championed by Xylos that proved successful for SES was the introduction of meeting-free Wednesdays.

One observation from the Power BI data was that SES employees generally held fewer meetings on Wednesdays. To help sharpen employees' focus, Frank suggested introducing meeting-free Wednesdays.

With the help of Power BI, he and David were also able to accurately predict what impact this would have. This allowed David to ensure that the hours no longer spent in meetings on Wednesday wouldn't simply spill over into Tuesday or Thursday.

David doesn't shy away from challenges. On the contrary, he wants to give the company back 100,000 hours a year. And he's well on his way.

Thanks to the technical know-how and support of Xylos's Power BI specialist, David can categorize meeting hours and track the key statistics on workplace collaboration. The meeting culture and wellbeing scorecards show the breakdown of meeting and collaboration data by organizational department. This allows management to think through actions and guidance, and has led to what can only be described as a culture of empowerment.

Meeting-free Wednesdays, for example, led 60% of people to report improved wellbeing. 70% of employees also said they felt more productive. And that last point turns out to be more than just a feeling: the data shows that meeting-free Wednesdays deliver a gain of 2 hours a week… per person.

The SES case proves that Viva Insights is so much more than just a data tool. With the right change management approach and technical expertise, it's an absolute game changer. Xylos is especially proud to have been part of SES's Viva journey.