Inovalon reaches enterprise-wide objectives and empowers employees with Microsoft Viva Goals

Inovalon, a leading provider of cloud-based software solutions empowering data-driven healthcare, puts data at the center of its mission to improve healthcare outcomes and efficiencies. With 2,000 employees all working together in service of Inovalon’s important mission, the business needed to keep the entire organization aligned on key goals and track success. However, disparate tools and a reactive approach to goal setting hampered results. Enter Microsoft Viva Goals, a goal setting and management solution the business uses to standardize objectives and key results and keep a large organization working together towards common goals. “We knew we needed a tool that we could use to align on our core objectives and all share a single view,” says Todd Rowe, Vice President of Business Strategy and Operations at Inovalon. “Today, we use Viva Goals across the entire enterprise to define top level objectives and cascade them down to teams to build their own projects and key results to support our organization-wide efforts.” 

At the same time, Inovalon undertook a culture change, using Viva Goals to support an Objectives and Key Results (OKR) framework and implementing a new progress tracking cadence to ensure that company goals stay top of mind throughout the year. The result is a more connected organization where objectives and key results are a driving force behind daily tasks. “We have definitely seen an increase in our ability to meet our objectives as a result of deploying Viva Goals,” adds Rowe.  

Bringing disparate teams together in service of enterprise-wide goals with Microsoft Viva Goals

In the days before implementing Viva Goals, Inovalon employees set goals at the beginning of each year, but struggled to stay aligned and updated on progress as time went by. “We found it difficult to create one centralized view of how we were making progress in achieving our goals across the company,” says Rowe. Varied tools added to the disconnect between goal setting and progress. “We found that projects were flying under the radar, not being resourced appropriately, or not getting the level of attention they needed to be successful,” remembers Rowe. “Our goal was to put eyeballs and resources on our goals.” To do that, the business chose Viva Goals to complement a company-wide commitment to implementing an OKR framework. “We use Viva Goals to gain a cohesive view of how our goals are progressing and check in with more continuity throughout the year,” says Rowe.

Inovalon chose Viva Goals in part for its ability to bring disparate teams together in service of overall goals. “The deciding factor behind Inovalon choosing Viva Goals was the tool’s ability to centralize an objective and cascade it to different individuals across the company,” says Rowe. Another stand-out feature of Viva Goals was the ability to bring third-party information into the platform through integrations. “Connecting external data sources to Viva Goals to report things like revenue progress has been extremely helpful and allows us to save time by drilling into data from directly within the tool,” says Rowe. Compared to static presentations, this interactive capability has been a game changer at Inovalon. “We hold monthly reviews with the leadership Team using Viva Goals and use the tool to identify resourcing needs and troubleshoot in the moment,” adds Rowe. 

To ensure a successful roll-out, Inovalon put the findings of the Viva Goals Adoption Guide into practice. “To help with the roll out of Viva Goals to our organization we used the tips outlined in the Viva Goals adoption guide. One of the best practices from the guide that we implemented was appointing 'champions' for each department," says Rowe. In a testament to Inovalon’s commitment to goal setting, the business rolled out Viva Goals enterprise-wide in just 90 days.

Empowering employees with better insights and cross-functional connections

For Nick Panayi, Chief Marketing Officer at Inovalon, using Viva Goals has proved to be an ideal tool for the marketing organization he oversees. “In marketing we like our metrics, we like our stats,” he says. “With Viva Goals, we can see how these pieces of data line up to an overall objective. We use the tool to create more clarity.” That clarity extends to other functions within the business, helping create a more connected company. “Not only do we use Viva Goals to gain insights into how our own work is supporting top-level objectives, but the tool helps connect disparate functions and build a better understanding of the organization overall,” says Panayi.

And, for leaders like Panayi, Viva Goals has helped create a more empowering work environment for employees who are now equipped with more information. “Viva Goals allows me to not micromanage, because I can see how everything is progressing without having to constantly tap people on the shoulder and ask for updates,” he says. In fact, Panayi sees a connection between Viva Goals and team morale. “There is no better feeling for an employee than to see that their work is valued and has meaning,” he says. “Viva Goals supports that because employees can see how their individual efforts impact the objectives of the business—they can see the forest and not just the trees.”

More effective meetings supported by Viva Goals and a commitment to OKRs

With Viva Goals, Inovalon has found a tool that complements the organization’s focus on tracking and achieving goals. “To make an OKR framework work, you need a cadence and a process in addition to a great OKR platform like Viva Goals,” says Panayi. For instance, Panayi hosts weekly Viva Goals check-ins with his team. “It creates a virtuous cycle between the platform and the cadence,” he says. “We can work more efficiently because meeting around this platform saves everyone from having to send status reports and updates all the time.” Coming together as a team around Viva Goals also helps Panayi and his team uncover new insights. “We have used Viva Goals to discover correlations we might not have seen otherwise,” he says. “For example, we have found areas where a project is behind because of a resource constraint on another team. We use Viva Goals to shine a spotlight on how to fix those issues in real time.”

Together, Inovalon has used Viva Goals to improve outcomes across the business. “Last year, we managed and completed 100% of our objectives on the Viva Goals platform,” Rowe shares. “Without Viva Goals and our commitment to an OKR framework, I doubt we would have had such an impressive outcome.” While Inovalon uses Viva Goals to support success within the business, the tool is helping create great outcomes for customers, too. “Viva Goals is a tool that helps us stay on track and provide accountability so that we can deliver for our customers faster,” adds Rowe. 

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