Speaker

Katja Jokisalo

Katja Jokisalo

Microsoft MVP & MCT | Lead Architect, Modern Work | Partner at Sulava

Helsinki, Finland

I'm an enthusiastic technical consultant, speaker, and trainer helping organizations create a better working life and improve their business with Microsoft 365. I'm a Microsoft MVP (M365 Apps & Services) and Certified Trainer.

I started my career with SharePoint 16 years ago, and nowadays work with a wide range of modern communication and collaboration projects - intranets, Copilot, Viva modules, document management systems and enterprise search solutions.

I really enjoy finding ways to make things run smoother - my main goal is to make the life more productive _and_ fun! In the evenings you're most likely to find me hanging on the wall (aka bouldering) or having my nose buried in a book.

Awards

Area of Expertise

  • Information & Communications Technology

Topics

  • Microsoft
  • Microsoft 365
  • SharePoint Online
  • Microsoft Teams
  • Microsoft Viva

Let's find it!

Efficient search is a top 3 requirement list member in every internal application development project. Shift from SharePoint Search to Microsoft Search has brought some major improvements but also left some gaps to fill when it comes to customizing the search experience to better support your specific needs.

In this session, we'll walk through (with theory and examples)
* basics features of Microsoft Search (compared to SharePoint Search)
* search analytics and feedback options
* how to configure Microsoft Search experience with custom verticals, filters and result templates
* curating search results with promoted results (answers, acronyms etc)
* how to add external content to your M365 search index
* ways to enhance search experience with PnP Modern Search web parts

Come and learn how to boost content findability on your M365 environment!

Best Practices for Document Information Architecture in M365

This session gives you a quick deep dive into document information architecture in Microsoft 365! We start by exploring the roles and features of different content management services. From the big picture, we'll continue to file architecture design and implementation and SharePoint's versatile document management features.

We'll walk through basics of content structures (sites and libraries, views and folders) and have a look at document-centric search functionality. We'll also discuss whether it's better to use metadata vs. folders and how to leverage content types and document sets in your sites.

WORKSHOP: Design your digital workplace on Office 365

Office 365 has been around for years already, and the vast majority of the European companies have already moved to cloud-based applications on information work. We already know the basic roles of different apps, and there’s abundance on “when to use what” infographics available.

However, in many cases, the real digital transformation does not happen with the change of the tools. Sometimes the situation turns even worse than it used to be – instead of just 1000 unread items on our inbox, we now have those same items scattered in multiple Teams teams, private chats, Yammer conversations – an yes, on email as well.

In this workshop, you will learn how to plan and implement your digital workplace in Office 365 so that your organization gets the best of it. We will cover typical pain points in governance and guidance, and walk through the most important settings. With practical how-to tips, you will learn how to create a cloud-based environment where every tool has a clear purpose and information can be shared and found in ease.

Workshop contents in a nutshell:
• Overview of Office 365 apps and services
• What really changes when we move from classic to modern workplace?
• What is Playbook – purpose and scope
• Planning and implementing information architecture on Office 365 environment
• Ways of working - when to use what, and how to define the roles and processes in these modern workplace key areas:
o Communication
o Collaboration and file sharing
o Meetings
o Task & project management

WORKSHOP: Build your intranet on modern SharePoint

Do you plan to build a new cloud-based intranet using modern SharePoint communication sites? This workshop is all you need to get started!

We’ll mix planning guidance and best practices with actual demos and useful tips to give you both: an overview of intranet planning and implementing process, and also concrete how-to steps and script examples. This workshop is a must for anyone participating in modern Intranet projects.

Contents in a nutshell:
- introduction - what is modern SharePoint and modern intranet
- planning information architecture
- navigation and search
- structures and settings of SharePoint sites
- content creation on communication sites
- web parts and content roll-ups
- intranet main page and other landing pages
- files and document management on the intranet
- look and feel
- user roles and permissions
- intranet as a part of your digital workplace on Office 365
- migrating content from classic SharePoint sites

It depends! ...on what? Food for thought about your communication & collaboration playbook

"We have materials about agile methods in our R&D Teams team. Those files could be useful for our internal IT team as well. How should I share the materials with them?"

"There's a need for a quick decision about an optional feature in our project. As a project manager, I should involve the steering group in the discussion and decision-making. What is the best method or channel to initiate this conversation?"

"I just found out that the bakery in our office building offers a 30 percent discount for employees. How do I inform my colleagues about this?"

Do you know the right answers? Actually, are there any correct answers? It depends, says the consultant - but exactly how and why it depends?

Come and join this fun and interactive talk about what really affects decisions we are forced to make in our everyday communication and collaboration - and learn how to take these into account when planning and onboarding the information worker's playbook for your organization!

Intranet in an hour

Do you plan to build a new cloud-based intranet using modern SharePoint communication sites? This fast-paced session is all you need to get started! We’ll mix a bit of planning guidance and best practices with actual demos and useful tips to give you both: an overview of intranet planning and implementing process, and also concrete how-to steps and script examples.

Session contents in a nutshell:
- introduction - what is modern SharePoint and modern intranet
- getting a speedy start with Lookbook and Provisioning Service
- planning and implementing information architecture, hubs and sites, and navigation
- look and feel - creating and applying a theme for your intranet
- configuring intranet main page, section landing pages and SharePoint Home
- content creation: page templates, modern web parts, files and links on the pages
- using PowerShell to create sites and apply settings

Intranet Information Architecture 101

Building a new modern intranet site has never been this easy – in the simplest case you can just visit lookbook.microsoft.com, pick your favorite template and deploy it to your tenant.

Although you no longer need to create your own technical solution or platform for your intranet from the scratch, there is still one critical aspect that can’t be copy-pasted or implemented as is. To build a great intranet, you need to plan and implement a proper intranet information architecture that is unique to your organization.

In this session, we will dive deep into intranet information architecture. You will learn how to plan and implement an intranet where users can find the information they need to thrive at work.

Session contents in a nutshell:
• Understanding the basics – what is information architecture
• Defining purpose, roles and contents of the intranet
• Planning the physical infrastructure (hubs and sites)
• Organizing content with navigation and metadata
• Creating awesome and accessible pieces of information using content pages
• Improving discoverability with functional landing pages and additional paths
• Ways to take care of content findability
• Implementing processes to keep the content up to date

Design your digital workplace on Office 365

Office 365 has been around for years already, and the vast majority of European companies have already moved to cloud-based applications for information work. We already know the basic roles of different apps, and there’s no abundance of “when to use what” infographics available.

However, in many cases, the real digital transformation does not happen with the change of the tools. Sometimes the situation turns even worse than it used to be – instead of just 1000 unread items on our inbox, we now have those same items scattered in multiple Teams teams, private chats, Yammer conversations – and yes, on email as well. File sharing with access links is incredibly easy, but finding the files shared with me afterward and using them in the right context with the right people is a real challenge.

In this eye-opening and interactive session, we will dive deep into the most common pain points on communication and collaboration with Office 365 and discuss the ways to solve them. You’ll get a bunch of proven real-life examples of how to improve the information architecture on your Office 365 environment, and learn how to make sure everyone in your organization shares the common ways of working with these tools.

Modernize your SharePoint - how to move from classic sites to modern sites?

Is your organization still using classic SharePoint sites? In this session, you'll learn how to modernize your existing sites as smoothly as possible.

We'll start with a glance at the differences between classic and modern infrastructure and features. We'll find out what's the difference and how to deal with it in six main areas: structure, pages and web parts, branding, customization, list and libraries, and group connection.

Then we'll walk through best practices for actually planning and implementing your modern, Office 365 connected sites. You'll learn how to take advantage of PnP modernization tools: SharePoint Modernization scanner to prepare your sites for being modernized and Page Transformation Engine, which converts existing classic pages to modern ones. We'll discuss differences between cross-site and in-place modernization, and you will also learn how to use PowerShell scripts to groupify, teamify and hubify your old sites.

Wow, what a view!

Designing beautiful and informative data views has never been this easy! SharePoint lists and libraries are flexible and efficient means to store, analyze and report your files and data. With new column and view formatting capabilities, you can customize the look and feel of your list.

In this session, you'll get a bunch of creative ideas to help your users to understand and use list data. We will demonstrate for example
* conditional formatting - visualize and highlight the most important data
* turning you SharePoint list into a beautiful news bulletin or person directory
* adding actions to make it easier to interact with data

You'll also learn how to implement custom formatting and where to find the best resources to reuse and develop solutions based on your needs.

Content findability and discoverability on Modern Intranets

The modern intranet has a flat and flexible structure, multiple supported usage scenarios, and a broad spectrum of content editors with different skills and mindsets. It's more and more important to leverage proper information architecture in order to keep your intranet valuable and efficient to use. Luckily there are plenty of technical improvements offering help as well.

In this session, we'll walk through (with theory and examples)
* basics of planning and implementing good information architecture
* structure and navigation on modern SharePoint intranet, hub sites, mega menus
* metadata and audience targeting
* what affects findability and how to improve it
* ways to make it easier to discover new and important content
* how to keep content up-to-date and structured

Come and learn how to improve content findability and discoverability on your Intranet!

SharePoint Premium 101: An Introduction to AI-Driven Content Management

Content is crucial for organizations, driving collaboration, transformation, and growth. As the creation of content increases and new AI-powered use cases emerge, it becomes increasingly important to maximize the potential of your content.

SharePoint Premium is a collection of services for intelligent content experiences, processing, and governance. In this session, we’ll walk through key features and their benefits in each category, including AI capabilities, automation, and enhanced security.

We will also discuss the licensing and pricing options for SharePoint Premium, including pay-as-you-go for content processing services and seat licenses for new capabilities and content governance.

Join us to learn how SharePoint Premium can maximize the value of your content, prepare and secure it for Copilot, and revolutionize your content management. After this session, you’ll have a good understanding of the possibilities and concrete information on how to get started with SharePoint Premium.

Viva Intranet!

How to create a modern M365 intranet with SharePoint, Teams and Viva Connections? Employee experience platform Viva brings together new features for internal communication, knowledge sharing and learning, but what is the best way to include Viva in your intranet?

In this session we will walk through the contents and configuration options of Viva Connections. We'll learn what and how to plan and prepare, and what are the pre-requirements, technical steps and best practices for implementing Viva Connections.

We'll also discuss the role and configuration of Viva Connection web parts - Feed and Dashboard, and have a look at different ways to extend your existing modern intranet with Viva Connections, and use Teams as a user interface for your intranet content.

From Stream (Classic) to Stream (on SharePoint) - migrate your videos to Microsoft 365

The old Microsoft enterprise video service - Stream (Classic) - is being retired and replaced by the new Stream, which is built on top of Microsoft 365. While Teams meeting recordings are already stored in the new Stream, many organizations still have their official video archives in the old Stream.

Storing content in two different services might be confusing to users and causes unnecessary hassle in finding, sharing, and maintaining organizational videos. Moreover, Microsoft will not automatically move your content from the old Stream - if you don't migrate your content, it will be deleted when Stream (Classic) is retired.

In this session, you'll learn everything you need to know about the new Stream and migrating your videos from the old to the new Stream. We'll cover
- basic differences between the old and the new Stream
- planning your video storage locations in the new Stream
- finding and sharing videos in the new Stream
- preparing the retirement of the old Stream
- migrating your videos from the old to the new Stream

Elevate Your Intranet: Fresh Features and Top 10 Tips

SharePoint is a dynamic platform that is constantly being updated with new features to improve internal communication. Is it time to give your intranet a facelift? How to make sure that you're utilizing all the latest features?

This session is filled with practical demos and straightforward tips to help you enhance your intranet. We will cover
- Advanced content creation and usage with with AI and Copilot
- Creating beautiful, compelling pages using your own brand - fonts, images, colors
- Keeping the content up-to-date and improving search
- Fostering engagement and content relevancy

Don’t miss this opportunity to update your knowledge of modern SharePoint and its capabilities. You'll leave this session with easy to implement, concrete tips to make your intranet more attractive and relevant for your users!

Additional titles:
Boost your Intranet!
Top 10 Tips for Modern Intranet

Communicate & connect with Viva!

In today’s fast-paced business environment, keeping employees connected, informed, and engaged is crucial. Join this session to discover how to create a comprehensive employee experience for internal communication using Viva Engage, Viva Connections, and Viva Amplify.

Built on top of the existing capabilities of SharePoint and Yammer, these Viva modules offer a new way to foster connections, build communities, and keep everyone up-to-date. With Viva, internal communication is no longer a one-way, one-size-fits-all solution. Instead, everyone can access the information they need, share their ideas, and connect with colleagues using the app or device of their choice.

In this session, we’ll explore the roles and best use cases of SharePoint intranet, Viva Engage, and Teams for efficient communication and connection. We’ll also clarify the pricing and additional features included in the “Microsoft Viva Employee Communications and Communities” license.

Join us to learn how to transform your old intranet into an interactive and personalized communication platform with Microsoft Viva!

Taming the Teams chaos

Way too many teams, all kinds of private and shared and whatnot channels, and a huge amount of private chats with multiple topics mixed together. Tens of (mostly unnecessary!) notifications, an unfunctional search feature, and the feeling of always missing out on something important. Does this sound familiar?

Teams was a lifesaver for big and small businesses during the pandemic, but the toll of never really taking the time to agree on how to use it still haunts us. Keeping your teams, chats and notifications in control is fully possible, but it requires a little bit of shared and personal effort.

In this session, I'll share best practices and proven methods to take control back - from an end-user perspective. I'll share tips for creating and adopting common communication guidelines for Teams, tips for training topics, and real success (and failure!) stories from brave organizations trying to tame the Teams chaos.

M365 Copilot: A Game-Changer (If You Know How to Play)

You got your Copilot license, tried it out a couple of times, grew frustrated and reverted back to your old way of working? Great, this session will change your life!

Or do you ponder whether to invest in licenses in your organization or wait for it to mature a little bit? Awesome, come and see why now is the right time to move on!

Last October, I obtained my Copilot license. Since then, I have actively used it in my own work and collaborated with my customers on Copilot projects across a wide range of business areas. We've created a unique model to identify real world use cases where Copilot not only cuts down the time spent on tedious tasks, but also enhances the accuracy and creativity of your output, and eliminates the dependency on costly third-party providers.

In this session, I'll walk you through the most impressive ways to benefit from M365 Copilot with concrete examples. We'll focus on Office apps, Viva, SharePoint and Teams. In many cases correct way of prompting is the key for awesomeness, so we'll also have a look at that. In the end I'll share our proven method for finding, analyzing and adopting use cases within your organization.

0% marketing, 100% real world experiences and actionable use cases to transform your way of work. Session abstract proudly written in co-operation with my Copilot <3

From Frustration to Fascination: How I Learned to Love M365 Copilot and How You Can Too

Best Practices for Implementing Viva-Powered Company App

Would you like to have a one-stop-shop, beautiful, simple mobile app for your employees, also in the frontline, to access targeted guidance and actionable information, stay up-to-date on organizational news, efficiently tackle their daily tasks and engage and connect with co-workers?

There are tangible advantages in using Viva Connections in Teams mobile app as your frontline employee experience app. However, in many real world cases, implementing Viva-powered company app is not a walk in the park. After taking care of licensing and device management, you still need to overcome some hurdles: options for branding and customization are limited, underlying services like SharePoint and Viva Engage might seem confusing, and targeting the correct information and language versions for everyone is challenging.

In this session, you will learn from real cases how to transform Viva Connections into your branded, personalized mobile app that reaches everyone with relevant content. You will discover how to:

- design an information architecture that supports mobile use
- prioritize, target and boost important content
- deal with multiple audiences and language versions
- make your app branded and beautiful
- enable (or limit) user personalization

Company App with Microsoft Viva - Experiences from the Field

Ready, Set, Stream: A Complete Guide to Shared Videos in M365

New Stream, or Stream on SharePoint, brings equality across file types. Video files are stored, shared and viewed in SharePoint and OneDrive the same way than any other files - and this is great! New Stream also means finding new ways to efficiently save, categorize and showcase shared videos.

Hop in this demo-packed session and learn how to
* Understand different use cases, needs and best practices for video sharing
* Plan your information architecture for organization-wide video channels
* Create video categories and channels with folders, metadata and playlists
* Take advantage of out-of-the-box features like Stream start page, video search and site-level video catalogue
* Build your own customized video portals and showcase videos in your SharePoint pages

CollabDays Netherlands 2022 Sessionize Event

September 2022

Modern Workplace Conference Paris 2019 Sessionize Event

December 2019 Paris, France

SPS Lisbon 2019 Sessionize Event

November 2019 Lisbon, Portugal

Thrive Conference

November 2019 Postojna, Slovenia

SharePoint Saturday Belgium 2019 Sessionize Event

October 2019 Brussels, Belgium

SharePoint Saturday Helsinki 2019 Sessionize Event

September 2019 Helsinki, Finland

SPS Central Europe Sessionize Event

August 2019 Zürich, Switzerland

aOS Moscow - 2019-07-09 Sessionize Event

July 2019 Moscow, Russia

SharePoint Saturday Netherlands 2019 Sessionize Event

June 2019 Vianen, The Netherlands

European Collaboration Summit

May 2019 Wiesbaden, Germany

SharePoint Saturday Doha

April 2019 Doha, Qatar

Microsoft Techdays 2019 Sessionize Event

February 2019 Helsinki, Finland

SharePoint Saturday Bremen/North Germany 2019 Sessionize Event

February 2019 Bremen, Germany

Public speaking 2017-2019

List and materials / recordings of all my public speaking sessions

January 2017 Helsinki, Finland

Katja Jokisalo

Microsoft MVP & MCT | Lead Architect, Modern Work | Partner at Sulava

Helsinki, Finland