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ConversationalHR

Takeamomenttothinkaboutyourdailyinteractions–emails,calls,texts–andyou’llquicklyrealizethattechnologyhasrevolutionizedcommunication.Thereisnothinggroundbreakingaboutthatstatement,butweallknowtechnologykeepsadvancing,sowhat’snextandwhatdoesitmeanforusintheHRtechnologyfield?Conversations.ImagineifinteractingwithSuccessFactorswaslikehavingaconversationwithyourHRBusinessPartner.Youwouldnotneedtogotoawebbrowserortaponamobileapp.Instead,youwouldinteractwithaSuccessFactorsbotinyourfavoritemessagingapplication.Notaphysicalrobotthatmaycometomindfirst.I’mtalkingaboutchatbots.HRsoftwareisonthevergeofachatbotrevolution,usheringin“conversationalHR”whereprocessesarestreamlined,efficiencyismaximized,andcommunicationandengagementisimproved.

Whatexactlyarechatbots?Theyareinteractivesoftwareprogramsembeddedwithinmessagingappsthatimitateconversationswitharealpersonandoftenrelyonmachinelearningandartificialintelligence.Chatbotsarerevolutionizinghowenterprisesolutionswork,makingthemsimple,intuitiveandengaging.

That’swhyI’mdelightedtobepartoftheSlackforEnterpriselauncheventtodayinSanFrancisco,announcingtheSAPSuccessFactorsSlackbotaspartofanewportfolioofSAPbotapplicationsdesignedforSlack.Withthisnewpartnership,SAPsharesSlack’svisionofthepowerofconversationalinterfacesforenterprises.

WeatSAPSuccessFactorsarecommittedtocontinuousinnovation.Inearly2016welaunchedContinuousPerformanceManagement(CPM)aspartoftheSAPSuccessFactorsPerformance&Goalssolution,andwecontinuetoaddmorefeaturesandfunctionalitythatmeettheneedsofcustomers.CPMismeanttosolvemanyofthefrequentlycitedissuesofperformancemanagementinitiativesbyfacilitatingongoingcheck-insbetweenemployeesandmanagerstoensureactivities,accomplishmentsandgoalsstayontrackthroughouttheyear.Withcontinuousperformancemanagement,managershaveasimplewaytoprovidecontinuousfeedbackandcoachingtodriveongoingimprovementsinperformance.Atthesametime,employeesstaymotivatedandengagedtoperformattheirbest.

WeareconstantlylookingtoenhancetheuserexperienceandengagementwithourHCMsolutions,whichledtothecollaborationwithSlacktocreateanewbotsoemployeesandmanagerscaninteractwiththecontinuousperformancemanagementcapabilitieswithouttakingabreakfromtheirday-to-dayconversationsonSlack.Nowinbeta,theSAPSuccessFactorsSlackbotisintelligentandhelpsuserswithanumberofcontinuousperformancemanagementtasks:

CreateanActivity–Asamanagerandemployeearehavingtheirdailyconversations,themanagermaysuggestanactivitytotheemployee.TheemployeecannowcreatethisactivityfromSlackusingtheSAPSuccessFactorsSlackbot.Thebotwillwalkthemthroughtheprocessandwillaskforalltheneededinputslikeactivityname,status,whichgoaltheactivityneedstobeassignedto,etc.ItalsonotifiesthemanagerviaSlackthattheemployeecreatedanewactivity.

AddFeedbacktotheActivity–Themanagercanaddfeedbacktotheactivity.

ReviewActivities–TheemployeecanreviewtheiractivitieswithinSlackandcanaddanupdatetotheactivityormarkitascomplete.

CreateanAchievement–Whentheemployeeupdatesanactivityascomplete,theyareaskediftheywouldliketomarkitasanachievement.

AddFeedbacktotheAchievement–Whentheemployeecreateanachievement,theirmanagerisnotifiedviaSlackandcanprovideadditionalfeedback.

CreateaCPMActivityusingSuccessFactorsSlackbot

ReviewActivities

CreateanAchievementusingSuccessFactorsSlackbot

TheSAPSuccessFactorsSlackbotismeanttostandardize,simplifyandautomateHRtransactionssuchasperformanceandgoalstrackingsopeoplecanfreeuptimetobemorestrategic.IthelpsbridgethecommunicationgapemployeesandmanagersoftenfeelbyallowingthemtoconductHRprocesseswithintheSlackapplication.PeoplecommunicateonSlackeveryday–enablingthemtomanagetheirworkforceperformancewithinSlackiseffective,intuitiveandjustalotmorefun.WewillcontinuetoreleasenewusecasesacrosstheSuccessFactorsportfoliobeyondtheinitialcontinuousperformancemanagementfunctionality,sobeonthelookoutformoreexcitingnewstocomethisyear!

WhatisSlackbot?

Slackbotisyourveryownfriendly,built-inbot—part-timeprogrammerandfull-timeassistant—heretohelpyoukeepthingsinorder.TherearelotsofthingsSlackbotcanhelpyouwith

You'lllikelyencounterSlackbotshortlyafteryoustartusingSlack.Byaskingyoujustafewsimplequestions,SlackbotwillhelpyoufilloutyourprofileonanySlackworkspaceyoujoin.

Slackbotwillalsopopupwheneveryousetupanewapporservice,likethefirsttimeyoupasteaGoogleDrivelinkintoachannelorinteractwithanAsanataskthroughthe/asanacommand.

Youcanadduniquewordsorphrasesthat

Slackbotwillusetorespondtoyourmembers.IfyourAdminhasenabledthisoption,youcandothisviatheCustomizeYourTeampageat

/customize/slackbot

.

Thereareplentyofwork-relatedusesforthis(likeaddingacustomresponseforyourofficeWi-Fipassword),butyoucanalsousethisfeaturetohavesomefun.

Enteratriggerwordorphrase,followedbywhatyou’dlikeSlackbottorespondwith.Ifyouwanttorandomizeit,enteravarietyofpotentialresponsesonnewlines(asshownbelow).Youcanevenuseemojiorimagelinks—imageswillexpandinlinewhenSlackbotresponds.AllofyourcreatedresponseswillbelabeledascustomresponseinSlack.

WhatisMicrosoftTeams?

SAPSuccessFactorswillalsoworkwiththeMSTeamsproduct&worksinrealtimeandhasanicerUIfordemo’s

BuildandconnectintelligentbotstointeractwithMicrosoftTeamsusersnaturallythroughchat.Orprovideasimplecommands-basedbot,tobeusedasyour"command-line"interfaceforyourbroaderTeamsappexperience.Youcanevenbringyourexistingbotfromanotherchannel,andaddTeams-specificsupporttomakeyourexperienceshine.

Otherthantheirhexagonalavataricon,botsappearjustlikeanyotherteammemberyouinteractwith,inateamorin1:1conversation.Theyarealwaysonline,anddonothaveamoodmessage.

BotsinTeamscansurfaceina1:1context("personalscope"),asamemberofateam("teamscope"),orboth.Forthelatter,theyonlytakepartinaconversationwhenyou@mentionthem.Fortheformer,youcanaddressthemviatheconversationinterface,oraccessthemintheappspersonalexperiencefromtheappbarflyout.

WithMicrosoftTeamsapps,youcanchoosemakethebotthestarofyourexperience,orjustahelper.Theywillbedistributedaspartofyourbroaderapppackage,whichmayincludeothercapabilitiessuchastabsorcomposeextensions.

Custombotsallowyoutocreateasimplebotforbasicinteraction,likekickingoffaworkfloworothersimplecommandsyoumayneed.TheseCustomBotsliveonlyintheteaminwhichyoucreatethem,andareintendedforsimpleprocessesspecifictoyourandyourcompany'swor

Slackvs.MSTeams

PerPCM

MicrosoftTeamslooksandfeelsalotlikeSlack,butthereareplentyoffeatures,integrations,andfunbellsandwhistlestohelptellthetwocompetingcollaborationappsapart.

Microsoft'snewintegratedcollaborationapplication,isthatitlooksandfeelsjustlikeSlack.Thenewtoolthat'sbasedon

MicrosoftOffice365

isimmediateanddirectcompetitionfor

onlinecollaborationsoftware

suchasSlackandAtlassianHipChat.Onitsface,MicrosoftTeamslooksexceedinglysimilarinlook,feel,andthechat-basedapproachtocommunication.Underthesurface,though,there'splentyoffeaturesandfunctionalitytosettheplatformsapart.

Youseethatideaofteam-specificcustomizationthroughoutMicrosoftTeams.

Slack

respondedwithan

openletter

toMicrosoft,whichcalledoutthreemajorpiecesof"friendlyadvice"forMicrosoftinbuildingitsSlackcompetitor:thoughtfuluserexperience(UX),anopenplatform,anditspersonalapproachtocustomerservice.

NowthatMicrosoftTeamsis

generallyavailable

,wehaveabetterideaofhowMicrosoftTeamsstacksupagainstSlackonthosefronts.MicrosoftTeamswasusedbymorethan50,000companiesduringitspreviewperiod,andit'snowavailabletomorethan85millionMicrosoftOffice365users.

KirkKoenigsbauer,Microsoft'sCorporateVicePresidentforOffice,calledMicrosoftTeams"adigitaltransformationofanopenofficespace"thatoffersanopen,fluidchatenvironment.Inthatrespect,MicrosoftTeamsisjustlikeSlack.

UserExperience

Intheleft-handnavigationbaroftheMicrosoftTeamsapp,therearetabsforActivity,Chat,Teams,Messages,andFiles.TheactivitydashboardisaYammer-likefeedofeverythinggoingonintheorganization(moreorlessanintranet).LikeSlack,ifyournameisdirectlymentioned,yougetaredflagorexclamationpointnexttothemessagethatcallsittoyourattention.

ThesamegoesfortheChatandTeamstabs.Eachtabshowsdirectmessages(DMs)withcoworkersatthebottomofeachchatwindow.There'salsoaconversationbarwithoptionstotypeorsendanemoji,sticker,ormeme,ortoattachafile.

SlackalsoletsyoucustomizeandchangetheskinofyourUXwithalonglistofdifferentthemeoptions.MicrosoftTeamsisn'tthereyet,though.Atthemoment,ifyouclickonthesettingscogatthebottomoftheleft-handnavigationbarandselectThemes,therearecurrentlythreeoptions:thedefaultlighttheme,adarktheme,andahigh-contrastthemeforthevisuallyimpaired.

T-BotandWhoBot

EverySlackuseriswell-acquaintedwithSlackbot.It'syourprivatechatwindowyoucanusetosendyourselflinksandtryoutintegrationsorGIFs,anditcanalsoansweryourquestions.MicrosoftTeamshastwobuilt-inhelperbots:T-Botand

WhoBot.T-BotissimilartoSlackbotasithelpsyouanswerquestionsusingthedatainMicrosoftTeams,butitgivesyoumultipleuserinterfaces(UIs)todoso.Youcanusetheconversational-typebotUIyou'refamiliarwithfromSlackbot,ortabovertothesearchandbrowseUItotypequestionsandqueriesinmoreliketheCortanasearchbarin

Windows10

.T-BotisalsothebestplacetogetstartedwithMicrosoftTeams.ClickthetabsacrossthetopofthemainconversationwindowtoseeHelptopics,FAQ,andvideos.

WhoBotiswhereyoustarttoseemorestarkdifferencesinfunctionality.ThisbotisbuiltatoptheMicrosoftGraphartificialintelligence(AI)framework,andanswersquestionsaboutspecificemployees.It'sessentiallyabotthatcansearchyourcompanyintranetfromwithinMicrosoftTeamsbypullingdatadirectlyfromActiveDirectory(AD).

Therealvaluehereisinthedataitsurfaces.WhoBotpullsoutpersonalinformationincludingtheperson'sdepartmentandmanager,andcangiveyouanentireorganizationalchartofwhotheyreporttointhecompany.WhoBotcanalsosearchforsubjectmatterexpertswithinthecompanysoyoucanaskaquestionsuchas"Whoknowsaboutx?"andthebotwillsearchAD,files,andcollaboratorstofindsomeonewiththeexperiencetomatch.Unfortunately,WhoBotisnotavailableatlaunchandMicrosoftdoesn'thaveaconcretetimetableforitsrelease.

Emojis,Memes,andStickers

OneofthemostfunpartsaboutSlackistheintegrations,particularlywhenitcomestocustomemojisandGIFs.Slackmakesiteasytodoaquick/giphyor/gifcommand,withplentyof

secretcommands

tofurthercustomize.MicrosoftTeamstakesallthatfunctionalityandlayersdeeperbuilt-incustomizationontop.

MiraLane,PrincipalUXArchitectofMicrosoftTeams,walkedmethroughsomeofthedeepermultimediacustomizationforpowerusers.Whenyouclickonthemultimediaoptionatthebottomofachat,yougetapop-upwindowwithalistofdifferentoptionsthatlooksverysimilartotheFacebookStickerstore.

Firstandforemost,there'saGIPHYintegration.WhatLanesaidmakesMicrosoftTeams'integrationdifferentistheabilitytopreviewtheGIFyou'reabouttopullupratherthantypinginaslashcommandandhopingforthebest.Thiskindofpreviewfeature,withascrollinglistofGIFsearchresults,issimilartotheGIPHYintegrationnowhousedinsocialappssuchasTwitter.

Thenthere'sthecustommemegenerator.Ifyouclickthememeoptioninthepop-upbox,thenyoucanuploadacustomimageorchoosefrompopularmemes,andthenaddtopandbottomtext.Moreinterestingly,MicrosofthastakentheFacebookapproachofcreatingitsownlibraryofStickersets.Therearealreadydozensofthemavailable,designedspecificallyforworkplacehumorwithtitlessuchasDesigner,Dev,Legal,OfficeDrama,andBummerBert(whoIcanonlyassumeistheofficesadsackandbuzzkill).Inthisparticularinstance,MicrosofttookapageoutofFacebook'sMessengerplaybookinordertoone-upSlackinthe"funatwork"department.

TheMicrosoftOffice365Factor

ThestickersandGIFsarefun,butthefirstthingduringtheMicrosoftTeamsdemothatreallystuckoutasabusinessgame-changeristheseamlesslyintegratedMicrosoftOffice365experience.MicrosoftTeamsbringseveryappinthecloud-basedMicrosoftOffice365suiteintoMicrosoftTeamsincustomtabformat.

Ifyouclickaparticularteamandselect"AddTab"onthetopright-handside,thenyoucanadd

MicrosoftWord

,Excel,Meetings,Notes,

OneNote

,Planner,PowerPoint,SharePoint,andahostofotherappsasassociatedtabswiththatteamwhich,essentially,replicatesthefullfunctionalityoftheappwithoutleavingMicrosoftTeams.

Whenateamiscreated,aSharePointdirectoryisautomaticallyprovisionedbehindthesceneswithafolderrepresentingeverychannel.Fromthere,youcanchooseafileandopenitupdirectlyinMicrosoftWordorExcel,orwithinthatintegratedMicrosoftOffice365tabdirectlyinMicrosoftTeams.ThismakesthecontentmoresearchableandeasiertointeractwiththaninSlack.WhileSlack'suniversalsearchisverypowerful,itspinningcapabilitiescan'tquitematchtheMicrosoftSharePointfilemappingforitsabilitytoeasilylocatecoreorevergreencontenttowhichyourteamneedstokeepcomingback.

Fora

businessintelligence

(BI)toolsuchas

MicrosoftPowerBI

inparticular,yougettheabilitytotabovertoMicrosoftPowerBIwithinyour"Marketing"teamandinteractwithreal-timedatavisualizations.Thisisahugeproductivityboonofthetab-basedintegrationsystemMicrosoftisusinginMicrosoftTeams(whichwe'llgettoingreaterdetailinaminute).

ChannelsandMeetings

AsidefromthedeepMicrosoftOffice365integrationandusingthingssuchasADtotieindeeperintranetfunctionality,Microsoftalsohasanedgewithitsbuilt-invideocommunication.

AtlassianHipChat

offersbuilt-invideoandSlackenablesanumberofgreatintegrationstostartvoiceandvideochatsontheflywithintheapp.However,Microsoftbuilt

Skype

intothefabricofMicrosoftTeams.

Avideoiconnexttoachannelintheleft-handnavigationmeansthere'sanopenvideomeetinghappening.Ifyouclicktheteam,thenyoucanclickthe"JointheConversation"boxinthemainfeedtojumpintotheongoingSkypeconversationembeddedinthefeed.

MicrosoftTeamsletsyouschedulevoiceandvideomeetingswithspecificparticipantswithinachannel,andlikeSlack,offers1:1voicecallingthroughthe

MicrosoftTeamsmobileapp

.Anotherminorchannel-basedimprovementoverSlackis,youdon'thavetoenableanemailintegration.EverychannelwithinMicrosoftTeamshasadedicatedemailaddressonecanusetoforwardemailsdirectlytothatchannel.

ITControlsandCompliance

OneareainwhichMicrosoftaimstodistinguishitselfwithMicrosoftTeamsisadministratorcontrolsandsecurity.MicrosoftTeamsandSlackbothencryptdata,messages,andfiles,bothintransitandatrest.Theyalsobothenforceteam-wideandorganization-widetwo-factorauthentication.Beyondthat,MicrosoftTeamsalsogivesyoudeeperadmincontrolswhenpairedwiththeMicrosoftOffice365AdminCenter.

IntheMicrosoftOffice365AdminCenter,ITadminshaveahostofcontrolsoverMicrosoftTeams,includingbeingableto:

TurnMicrosoftTeamsonorofffortheentireorganization

Choosehowusers'profilesareconfiguredandwhatisdisplayed

Turnoffvideoandscreensharingincallsandmeetings

Controlwhethertoallowvariouskindsofcontent,includinganimatedimages,memes,andstickers

Limitanimatedimagesbycontentrating

TurnoffsupportfortabsfromMicrosoftpartnersorside-loadedapps

Choosewhethertheorganizationcanusebotstoprovidehelptousers,orintegratewithotherapps(thisdoesnotturnofftheT-botinMicrosoftTeams)

Onthecompliancefront,bothMicrosoftTeamsandSlackare

ISO27001

-compliant,butMicrosoftaddsaheapofothersecurityandcompliancecertificationsforMicrosoftTeams,includingISO27018,SSAE16SOC1andSOC2,HIPAA,andEUModelClauses(EUMC).FilesarestoredinMicrosoftSharePointandarebackedbyMicrosoftSharePointencryption.NotesstoredinMicrosoftOneNotearebackedbyMicrosoftOneNoteencryption.MicrosoftTeamsalsosupportsCloudSecurityAlliance(CSA)compliance,andtheITdepartmentcangainevengreater

mobiledevicemanagement

(MDM)featuresbyenablinga

MicrosoftIntune

integration.

TabsandIntegrations

Thetab-basedstructureofMicrosoftTeamsletstheplatformbringindeeper,morefull-featuredintegrationsthanwe'veseeninothercollaborationapps.Atthemoment,theSlackAppDirectoryisfarmoreexpansive.MicrosoftTeamsislaunchingwithmorethan150partnersbut,atthemoment,thebuilt-inintegrationsarelimitedtoaselectfew,namely

Asana

,

Hootsuite

,Intercom,Wrike,andZendesk.

MicrosoftisalsopartneringwithSAPonanintegrationtohelpemployeesandmanagerstrackgoalsandperformancewhiletheyworkinMicrosoftTeamsthrough

SuccessFactorsPerformandReward

,andwith

Trello

onanintegrationthatmakesiteasyforteamstocollaboratearoundprojectboards,lists,andcardsrightwithinMicrosoftTeams.Acurrentlistoftabsisavailablebyclickingthe"+"iconinanychannel.AndyoucanseealistofconnectorsavailableinMicrosoftTeamsbyclickingthe"…"iconnexttoanychannelnameandselecting"Connectors."

AswithPowerBIandtheotherMicrosoftapps,eachintegrationappearsasacustom-addedtabinparticularteams.Ifasupportteam