Shared focus plan

To start a shared focus plan, you need to have a premium Viva Insights subscription. For more information, refer to Plans and environments. You don't need to have a premium Viva Insights subscription to participate in a shared focus plan.

Note

This article talks about a focus plan shared between a group. If you just want to block out time on your calendar to focus, refer to our Focus plan documentation.

A shared focus plan in Microsoft Viva Insights helps your team book daily, uninterrupted time to get work done. This plan also helps build shared productivity habits with your coworkers.

For plan organizers

To create a shared focus plan

1. In the Wellbeing tab, go to the Take action to improve your wellbeing section.

2. Find the Start a shared focus plan card and select the Set up plan button.

   

3. In Set up a shared focus plan, select:

   1. Who you want to invite to your shared focus plan. Use the search bar to find people by name.
   2. The number of hours you want your team to focus each day.
   3. Whether to schedule focus time in the morning or afternoon.
   4. The earliest you'd want your team to focus.
   5. Whether you want a Teams reminder to start focusing.
   6. Whether to silence Teams notifications during focus time.
   7. Whether you want to add a custom message. If you do, add your message in the text box provided.
   8. Share when you're ready to send out your invite.

   

   Screenshot of the "Set up a shared focus plan" window. The subtitle reads, "Get started by selecting recipients, choosing plan settings, and customizing your invitation. If anything changes, you can always update the team's plan later." The subtitle also includes a "Learn more" link. The setup window contains three main sections. The first section is "Recipients," which contains the profile image and name of one recipient. Next to "Recipients," near the right edge of the window, there's a "Clear all" link. The next section is "Focus time preferences," which has five options: "Duration," "Time of day," "No earlier than," "Focus mode reminder," and "Teams chat notifications." All options have dropdown menus to select options. The last section is "Custom message." Beneath the section header, there's a checked box with the label, "I want to include a custom message." Beneath the label, there's a textbox that contains a typed message. There are two buttons at the bottom right of the window: "Cancel" and "Save." In the bottom left of the window, there's an "Is this helpful?" label with a "Yes" link and a "No" link.

After you send the invitation, Viva Insights sends invitees a notification in Teams.

For plan recipients

To join a shared focus plan

When someone invites you to join a shared meeting plan, you get an invitation in Teams. Select the notification to view the plan's settings and choose whether to join it.

Your join options differ depending on whether you're already enrolled in a focus plan.

If you're not currently enrolled in a focus plan, you can select Join plan, which automatically books time based on the preferences the organizer set. After you join, you get a confirmation card. If you need to change your settings, select Change settings there.

If you don't want to join, select the X in the notification's top-right corner. The invite remains on your Wellbeing tab, so if you change your mind, you can join later.

If you are already enrolled in a focus plan, you can select:

• Join plan, which switches you from your individual plan to the shared plan.
• Edit settings, which switches you from your individual plan to the shared plan, but lets you change some of the settings first. Adjust your focus hours per day, when you focus, and whether you want to silence Teams notification during focus time. Then, select Join plan.

If you don't want to join, select the X in the notification's top-right corner. You stay enrolled in your individual plan, but don't join this new shared one. The invite remains on your Wellbeing tab, so if you change your mind, you can join later.

Screenshot of a plan recipient's invitation. The title reads, "You are already enrolled in a focus plan." The subtitle reads, "To get the benefits of having the same focus hours as the rest of your team, you can join a shared focus plan." Beneath the subtitle, there's a profile image of the inviter. To the right of the image, there's a header that says, "Emily Braun's shared focus plan," and beneath that header, there's the message that the inviter included with their invitation. Beneath the message, there's a summary of the plan settings, which are listed as bullets: "2 hours per day," "Afternoons," "Notifications silenced." Beneath the list of settings there are two buttons: "Edit settings" and "Join plan."

For all participants

View and edit plan details

To view details about your shared focus plan, go to the Track your progress section of the Wellbeing tab. Use the arrows to right of the section header to find the Shared focus plan card. Here, you get a summary of the plan's settings: how much time your team focuses a day, what time of the day focus time occurs, whether you get a reminder to start focus time, and whether Viva Insights mutes Teams chats during focus time. To change any of these settings, select Change settings.

Screenshot of the Shared focus plan card on the Wellbeing tab. Beneath the card header, "Shared focus plan," there's a summary of the plan's settings: "2 hours per day," "Afternoon," "Reminder to begin focus," and "Teams chat notifications muted." Beneath the plan summary are the profile pictures of participants. At the card's bottom left, there's a Leave plan button. In the card's bottom center, there's a "Change settings" link. In the card's bottom right, there's an ellipses to access more settings.

Leave a plan

You can also leave a plan through the Shared focus plan card. Select Leave plan, and then confirm you want to leave.

Note

When you leave a shared focus plan as a participant, you don't remove anyone else from it. Other plan participants stay in the focus plan until they leave it. When you leave a shared focus plan as an organizer, you end the plan for all participants.

If you have a personal focus plan, you'll still be enrolled in it even after you leave the shared focus plan. To leave the personal focus plan or change its settings, refer to our Focus plan documentation.

Concepts

To learn about how Viva Insights schedules focus time, refer to Focus plan.