Helping people to Work Happy with Microsoft 365
As a Microsoft Solutions Partner for Modern Work, Silicon Reef enables enterprise organisations to make the shift to a culture that encourages employees to work happy. We do this by implementing Microsoft solutions and services that shape and improve collaboration, productivity, employee engagement and wellbeing.
We work across Microsoft 365, including Teams, SharePoint, Viva and Yammer to deliver people-focused solutions that support remote, hybrid and in-person working.
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Portfolio
Unilever, Asahi, Anglo American, SEGA, FIFA, Mondelez, Santen, ATP Media, Met Office, Ofwat, Willmott Dixon, ICO
Hyphen: A New Internal Communications Channel
The Client
Hyphen is an international architecture firm offering a range of services from initial site appraisals through to post construction close out and evaluation. As well as the quality of their work, Hyphen pride themselves in being advocates for progressive values, particularly inclusivity.
Aim
Hyphen identified a number of internal communications challenges:
- Email overload
- Relying on a not-fit-for-purpose platform as a comms channel
- Inability to create and share content in a user friendly way
Hyphen wanted to introduce an intranet as a new internal comms channel. The key aims, were to create a space where employees could find information, news and documents and connect with colleagues across the business. Hyphen identified some key features, including:
- A single communications portal for company vision, news and video
- Easily share policies and procedures
- Centralise other employee tools and apps, such as holiday requests
- Brand aligned design
- Simple navigation
The intranet also needed to be mobile friendly, easy to maintain and intergrated with Microsoft Teams.
Approach
Following a Discover, Design and Develop, Deploy, Drive approach, we delivered a SharePoint intranet to act as the home for internal communications at Hyphen.
Discovery and Design
The discovery phase consisted of scoping and requirements workshops to ensure proposed designs met employee needs, and were compatible with Hyphen's ways of working. During design, we ran workshops focusing on information architecture, and conducted a full review and analysis on existing content. Allowing us to produce architecture and page designs that were in line with Hyphen's needs.
Deploy and Drive
This is where the intranet comes to life. Following design approvals, we built the intranet using SharePoint Online, covering all aspects from site creation, navigation set up, brand configuration and deployment. We also provided documentation and training to allow for maintenance of the intranet.
Willmott Dixon: Employee Learning Hub
The Client:
Willmott Dixon is a privatley-owned contracting and interior fit-out group. Their purpose is to deliver brilliant buildings, transform lives, strengthen communities and enhance the enviroment so our world is fit for future generations.
Aim:
One of Willmott Dixon's core beliefs is people excellence, ensuring they have the best people in the industry to work for their customers. Key to this is learning- Willmott Dixon identified that there were some problems with their current learning platform, including:
- Inconsistencies of what 'good' looks like
- Lack of clarity for managers in what success looks like
- People were unclear on what learning they need to deliver their role
- Existing learning is difficult to find
After identifying these problems, Willmott Dixon created the concept of the Willmott Dixon university, a self-led learning platform. The aim being to unify the approach to learning across the business, ensuring people understand how to grow their career at Willmott Dixon, and improve staff retention.
Platform Requirements:
- Allow people to defind what success looks like for roles across the business
- Identify and undertake essential learning
- Map the learning needs for each role
- Enable people to find all their learning, in one place, in a very simple place
Approach:
We used a three-phase approach:
Discover: Agreement of business requirements and success measurements, and user experience (UX) activities including user research and user stories tailored to Willmott Dixon people.
Design: Creation of custom SharePoint page designs for each of the four areas of the Willmott Dixon University, and testing carried out by our UX team.
Build: We used a combination of SharePoint, LMS365 and our own product Beacon. Features included:
- Integration of multimedia video content
- Mobile-friendly to ensure ease of use
- Full integration with the Microsoft 365 suite, including Microsoft Teams
- Simple, User-friendly interface
- Fully brand-aligned page design with Beacon
Asahi: Engaging Change Communications
The Client
Asahi Europe & International (AEI) is part of Asahi Group Holdings, a leading global beer, spirits, soft drinks and food group listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. AEI runs 19 production facilities in 8 countries across Europe and is the custodian of some of the most famous beer brands in the world, including Asahi Super Dry, Peroni Nastro Azzuro, Grolsch, Kozel and Pilsner Urquell.
Aim
Asahi required a change management site to act as a central hub for news and communication around Better Future 2020; Asahi's long-term transformation project.
Before working with Silicon Reef, Asahi had been relying on email as their primary method of internal communication. However, Asahi recognised that email was not the best channel for keeping their employees informed on the Better Future 2020 project.
The Better Future 2030 project touches all areas of Asahi's business and global workforce. To help make the transformation process as seamless an experience as possible and understandable for its employees, Asahi required a change management site. The aim of the site was to act as a central hub for communicating news and updates, and to keep employees informed and engaged on the project's progress.
Approach
Silicon Reef created a SharePoint hub to act as a one-stop-shop for all digital transformation resources to be shared with colleagues. Our team also created bespoke designs that provided a more engaging experience than standard SharePoint templates. The transformation hub was built using out-of-the-box SharePoint features and offers:
- A fully branded experience
- 7 languages
- Easy-to-maintain content
- Integration with Yammer, Stream and Forms
- Intuitive navigation
- Simple and effective search
Results
In the first 30 days, the transformation hub received:
- 70% employee reach
- 750+ unique visitors
- 6,000+ page views
- 6m 23s average site visit
- 4.8/5 employee rating
Santen: A New, Engaging SharePoint Online Site
The Client
Santen Pharmaceutical is one of the world's leading specialist ophthalmic pharmaceutical companies, supplying products to over 60 countries with more than 4000 employees globally.
Santen is passionate about improving eye health and making beneficial treatments accessible to both patients and healthcare systems.
Aim
In Service of Patients is a Saten initiative focused on understanding patients' habits and needs in order to provide better services and producrs. This initiative aligns with Santen 2030; Santen's goal of delivery happiness through vision and reducing the loss of social and economic opportunities due to eye conditions.
The existing In Service of Patients site uses SharePoint Online, but the design and alyout needed enhancements to make the site more engaging and user-friendly for Santen employees.
Approach
Working with the EMEA comms team, we identified that Santen require a SharePoint Online based solution. Together, we identified the key desired features to be:
- Enabling employees to engage with the content
- Designing the site to align with the company brand
- Hosting content such as;
- Digital resource library
- Video and animation
- 'What's new'
- Management toolkit - Ability to filter content based on tags
We proposed a well organised, functional digital library that would ensure frequent use of the training and development resources, and increase interest from Santen employes in the Santen Patient Centric programme. The digital library should act as a living SharePoint in terms of topics, news, and shared information, rather than an archive.
Results
Following on from launch in December 2020, the site has seen:
- A 166% increase in unique viewers
- A 95% increase in site visits
- The average time spent on the site is just under 3 minutes
- The most popular area of the site is the new media library
Mondelēz Learning & Development Platform
Mondelēz International, Inc. wanted to create a hub to elevate their Research, Development & Quality (RDQ) teams’ knowledge of marketing, business and R&D best practices. The outcome would be one custom on-line platform for learning and development videos, as well as downloadable assets.
Silicon Reef partnered with Design Bridge to create an environment that ‘pulled’ people in, rather than ‘pushing’ content onto them. Together, we created a SharePoint site which integrates Microsoft Stream to incorporate videos within the intranet site.
The UX & UI was designed and developed to aid continuous learning and echo that of other familiar content platforms, like TED or Netflix.
In addition to creating an engaging hub for learning content, we wanted to ensure the user experiences were maximised as much as possible to aid them in their leaning:
First 3 months after launch:
- 3,000+ sessions
- 26,500+ page views
- 8,600+ views per session
- 1,600 repeat visitors
- 16 minutes 9 seconds – avg. time spent on site per session
The Mondelēz International, Inc. team told us they were very happy with the product and had received really good internal feedback on the project – including being asked to present the training hub at their big innovation event in front of the Mondelēz International, Inc. CEO and executive team.
Collaborative Hair Hub for Global Giant Unilever
The global Unilever hair specialist team is responsible for the development of new formulations and product launches within the hair category.
Part of Unilever R&D, this team works across continents and manages a vast range of existing and developing products. This brings with it a massive data challenge: to move, to manage, to store and access data from multiple locations over multiple time zones.
The team was overwhelmed with vast quantities of data based in disparate systems and data centres across the globe. Locating packaging, formulation and product information was a constant challenge.
As part of a global programme to deliver a faster, more agile Unilever, the team were focused on identifying a bespoke library system that allowed easy access to a wide dataset. The new system needed to store detailed product information, imagery and packaging data. The objective was to not only categorise the existing database more efficiently but support the product development team when creating new formulations – helping them to get new products to market faster, and with greater accuracy.
We began by creating a strategic roadmap with a three-year vision. We mapped out milestones and, using agile methods, developed a MVP (minimum viable product) version of the solution and used continuous improvement to learn-and-develop, with later iterations seeing the launch of the wider scope elements.
We understood that – as with most of our engagements – the solution’s success would hinge on it meeting the exact needs and behaviours of the end users. Hence UX sat at the forefront of the project with a focused aim to ensure maximum user adoption post launch. Before developing wireframes and designs, the project team conducted interviews with the focus group and studied the team’s style of working and requirements. Well-embedded user testing became fundamental throughout the project and involved the user group through each milestone to ensure a truly people-led design.
Unilever: Global Collaboration Tool
The Client
Global consumer goods manufacturer Unilever were established over 120 years ago and, in 2010, set out to create a programme that would deliver against key positive social impact goals by 2020. Through this initiative they hope to improve health and wellbeing for 1 billion people, reduce environmental impact by half, and enhance the livelihoods of millions.
Aim
Committed to their Unilever Sustainable Living Plan, Unilver wanted to allow colleages around the world to input and participate in this industry-leading progrfamme. They were looking for a Microsoft 365 platform to gain insights into their plans and activities, and measure interest in issues so that they could prioritise their focus. They were looking for a tool that could work in multiple languages, locations and across different devices.
Approach
We tackled the challnge by building a highly engaging, creative SharePoint-based solution that gave this international company live access to the input of 1,000s of employees across the globe.
Unilever employees at any level can now view incoming qualitative quantitative data in multiple geographical and data-based formats, to suit their different needs.
We worked hand-in-hand with the internal communications team to develop an easy-to-use, engaging survey and results dashboard. Running the project through our continuous-improvement, 6Ds process, we were able to develop, test and interate until we delivered a solution all parties were happy with. The end result surpassed all KPIs and reached a far wider audience than initially anticipated.
Results
Unilever now have:
- A tool for employees across the globe to air their voices and choose the programmes they want to get involved with
- A fully customisable site with mobile responsive access
- Security and confidentiality trough the secure network of Unileve's Microsoft 365 platform
Reviews
the project
Custom Software Dev for Biodiesel Manufacturing Company
''Silicon Reef is price-accessible and quick, and their consultants know what they’re doing.''
the reviewer
the review
A Clutch analyst personally interviewed this client over the phone. Below is an edited transcript.
Introduce your business and what you do there.
I’m a project manager at Argent Energy, a biodiesel manufacturing company.
What challenges were you trying to address with Silicon Reef?
When I took my current position, our organization had no company intercommunication, so we wanted to create an out-of-the-box solution that fit our security model.
What was the scope of their involvement?
Silicon Reef did custom software development for us. We had a week of feedback sessions to determine the project’s scope based on our requirements and goals. After that, they defined a solution for what we wanted and came back with an internet suitable for us to start building. After that, we approved their proposal, and they started working on the product.
The product they created helps operators communicate between them when they log into the system. Silicon Reef’s team developed everything from scratch, but we handled the design ourselves. Moreover, it was important for us that the system matched our security model.
What was the team composition?
We worked with about five developers, a consultant, and an account manager.
How did you come to work with Silicon Reef?
The head of IT of a company that had previously worked with them referred them to me. We liked what we saw about their previous work, so we decided to engage with them.
How much have you invested in them?
We spent about £30,000 (approximately $37,000 USD) with them.
What is the status of this engagement?
We worked together from May–July 2022.
What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
We’re 100% satisfied with their work.
How did Silicon Reef perform from a project management standpoint?
We organized feedback sessions, did boards, and had a design dashboard where we could all log in to add information. This helped us review the process live, which made everything so quick.
Moreover, they were always on time and even early with some deliverables. In addition, they went even above the budget we thought.
What did you find most impressive about them?
Based on what I saw when we chose to work with them, they seemed more mature than other service providers. Some of the projects they showed in their website were way above their competitors in terms of quality.
Are there any areas they could improve?
I didn’t think there was anything they could improve on.
Do you have any advice for potential customers?
I suggest people go with them; Silicon Reef is price-accessible and quick, and their consultants know what they’re doing.
the project
Outlook 365 Consulting & Training for Consultants
"The interaction with Silicon Reef is faultless."
the reviewer
the review
The client submitted this review online.
Please describe your company and your position there.
I am an IT training consultant currently managing a number of global IT rollouts for a major Oil and Gas company.
For what projects/services did your company hire Silicon Reef?
We engaged with Silicon Reef to assist in the upskill of our trainers. Specifically around O365 and its applications.
What were your goals for this project?
Our goals were to upskill our trainers in O365 to a level that they could support and train our end users.
How did you select this vendor?
Having worked with Silicon Reef in the past our choice was an easy one. We wouldn't consider using any other supplier.
Describe the project in detail.
As above, we engaged with Silicon Reef to upskill our trainers in all areas of O365.
What was the team composition?
We were provided with the support of a number of Silicon Reef staff. Each with their own area of O365 expertise.
Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?
As a result of the sessions that Silicon Reef ran with our trainers, our trainers are now able to support our end users. Both on a training and consultancy level.
How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?
The interaction with Silicon Reef is faultless.
What did you find most impressive about this company?
It is hard to identify what I find most impressive about Silicon Reef. They excel in all areas. They have never let me down. They always go above and beyond.
Are there any areas for improvement?
No, certainly not that I can identify. However maybe on future projects something may come up.
the project
SharePoint Development for Agricultural Nonprofit
“Their best selling point is their willingness and desire to understand our operating model.”
the reviewer
the review
A Clutch analyst personally interviewed this client over the phone. Below is an edited transcript.
Introduce your business and what you do there.
I’m head of technical services for a company that works across five countries in East Africa in three areas: agriculture, natural resource management, and market value chains. My role is to ensure the technical quality of each of our programs so they’re able to serve our beneficiaries, provide information, and report back to our donors.
What challenge were you trying to address with Silicon Reef?
One of our major challenges is that we’re spread across six different countries, some of which lack the IT capabilities that we have in the United Kingdom. All of our information was being hosted on independent servers in each country, without any central document repository for our core information that everyone across our organization needed to access.
What was the scope of their involvement?
At the start of the engagement, we had a SharePoint in name only. The person who originally created it was self-taught and without any experience. That led to a dysfunctional solution that was not being utilized at all internally.
Silicon Reef was brought in to redesign our SharePoint in two major projects. The first was to create a central document repository for all of our project and program information, which functions essentially as a final documentation library. Contracts, reports, and other public information are stored there. They designed that system and made it so new and future projects could be added as needed.
The second project is a tool site, containing resources like manuals and other documentation that field teams may need to access. That’s been set up differently in SharePoint to encourage users to actively search out helpful tools for their work.
What is the team composition?
Across the two engagements, there were about 6–7 resources allocated to the project. We only interfaced directly with 2–3 of them.
How did you come to work with Silicon Reef?
I conducted a simple Google search of SharePoint providers, approaching a few for tenders. We received many, but Silicon Reef was the most understanding of our needs and able to take a practical, tailored approach to the work. They also clearly understood our pricing model.
How much have you invested with them?
We’ve spent about $15,000 on their services to date.
What is the status of this engagement?
The first project lasted between June–August 2019, and our second project with them was from August–October 2019. We have an ongoing engagement as well, looking at areas we want to improve upon for our future work together.
What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
There was a 67% increase in the number of files stored on our SharePoint within the first month of implementing the changes. The average active files increased from 50 and 60 to 110 and 140. On top of that, home page hits increased by 113%. This all occurred within the first month of the project launch.
How did Silicon Reef perform from a project management standpoint?
From the beginning, they encouraged us to use Microsoft Teams. We have the complete Office 365 package here, utilizing it as our primary tool for communication. I’d never used Teams before, and no one else here had. Despite us being unfamiliar, they decided to educate us on the platform to develop our capacity to utilize those resources to our greatest benefit. That’s been helpful. They created clear, open, regular, and well-managed lines of communication.
What did you find most impressive about them?
Their best selling point is their willingness and desire to understand our operating model. They visited our offices to discuss our challenges, not having any experience working with organizations in East Africa. Despite that, they took the time to consider what our situation meant for our file system to optimize it for us. They’re also very personable, nice people to work with.
Are there any areas they could improve?
Nothing, at the moment. We’re holding a workshop with them next week to develop areas for improvement. Our continued relationship is a testament to their success with us.
Do you have any advice for potential customers?
Listen to their advice and guidance, utilizing our face-to-face time to develop an output that suits your business.
the project
Custom Software Development for CPG Company
"I liked their professionalism."
the reviewer
the review
The client submitted this review online.
Please describe your company and your position there.
Technology Manager at a CPG Firm
For what projects/services did your company hire Silicon Reef, and what were your goals?
Multiple Excels floating around for Data Collection internally and externally
How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?
Technical Expertise and Feedback out of previous engagements
Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.
Requirement Gathering on the exact expectations; Feasibility for MVP and other phases; Build and Roll-out
How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?
5. 1 Delivery Manager, 1 Consultant, 3 Developers
Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?
A system which works as expected to ensure we now have a single space to rollout questionnaires and collect responses
Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.
Agile
What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?
I liked their proffessionalism.
Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?
A bit more on time and in full
The client was 100% satisfied with Silicon Reef's work. They were organized and used a helpful dashboard to keep a communicative project management process. The client also praised their mature and professional work, distinguishing them from other providers.