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Recent weeks have brought the release of two new Microsoft Teams integrations from corporate learning companies Skillsoft and Degreed.
In September, Nashua-N.H.-based digital learning company Skillsoft announced the release of its Skillsoft Percipio for Microsoft Teams App to enable employees to access assignments, discuss important takeaways, and share courses they’ve discovered and found helpful from their workflow inside Microsoft Teams.
Then, this month, Pleasanton, Calif.-based Degreed said its own app is now available in the Microsoft Teams app marketplace. It, too, is aimed at helping organizations and workers learn in the flow of work, with Degreed saying its aim is to “enable workers to engage with personalized learning opportunities and develop their skills within the Microsoft Teams communication tool they use every day.”
Nearly 20% of Degreed clients opted into a pre-release version of the app, and their feedback was used to test the effectiveness of the app’s workforce engagement aspect, Degreed said. Some features of the Teams app are the ability to view learning items shared by other organizations and colleagues, save items for later viewing, and access guided learning paths of content that track completion progress, among others.
Reskilling, upskilling and learning in the flow of work have become a high priority for many organizations as they look to increase their speed and agility. Microsoft Teams’ director Daniel Canning said in a press release that the company is pleased to see partners like Degreed bring their learning platforms to Microsoft Teams. “The Degreed integration will allow professionals to quickly view, build and get status on their learning opportunities while in the collaboration tool they use every day,” he said.
For its part, Skillsoft said its Percipio app will put learning professionals “in the driver’s seat” by giving employees the ability to use chatbots to launch videos, books, audiobooks and skill-building opportunities inside Teams, and then share that content with teammates. Managers will be able to create learning groups, recommend content and assign learning paths.
“A skills gap existed long before the pandemic and digital learning is more crucial than ever to building operating-model resilience,” said Apratim Purakayastha, chief technology officer at Skillsoft, in a press release statement. “As organizations work to bridge this skills gap, providing easy access to valuable learning tools should be a top priority.”
Microsoft Teams offers an opportunity to broaden access to learning content and tools, connecting more than 145 million people worldwide daily, according to company statistics. Further, according to a Boston Consulting Group study of employee sentiment, employees who are satisfied with their social connectivity are as much as three times more likely to maintain or improve productivity.
