Insights

What is Insights?

Insights in Microsoft 365 refers to a suite of AI-powered data analytics features designed to help individuals and organizations become more productive, efficient, and balanced in their workday. Powered by Microsoft Viva and Microsoft Graph, Insights provides personalized recommendations and data-driven visibility into how time is spent, collaboration patterns, focus hours, and overall wellbeing.

You’ll often encounter Insights in tools like Viva Insights (personal) and MyAnalytics, embedded within Outlook or accessible via Microsoft Teams.

Why Use Insights?

Insights gives users and managers the power of self-awareness and team-level trends to drive better productivity and work-life balance. Here's why you should use it:

• Understand how you're spending your time— on emails, meetings, focus work, or after-hours communication.
• Get actionable suggestions to schedule focus time, reduce meeting overload, or improve collaboration habits.
• Managers can identify burnout risks or meeting fatigue within teams (via organization-level insights).
• Personalized nudges in Outlook help you follow up on unread emails or prepare for upcoming meetings.

In short, it empowers smarter work habits and healthier routines.

Is Insights Free?

Yes — basic personal Insights features are free and available to all Microsoft 365 users with supported plans (like E1, E3, and E5).

However, premium features (like organizational insights, manager/team insights, and advanced data visualization) are part of Microsoft Viva Insights, which requires a separate Viva license.

Version	Free?	Available In
Personal Insights	✅ Free	M365 Enterprise (E1/E3/E5)
Manager/Org Insights	❌ Paid	Requires Viva Insights license
Advanced Reports	❌ Paid	Viva Insights only

Key Features of Insights

Here are some of the most valuable features included under the Insights experience:

Personal Productivity Insights

• Daily briefing emails from Cortana
• Focus time recommendations
• Email follow-up reminders
• Quiet hours & wellbeing tips

Manager & Team Insights (Viva license required)

• Team collaboration trends
• Meeting overload detection
• After-hours work patterns
• Recommendations to improve team productivity

Organizational Insights

• Cross-functional collaboration metrics
• Meeting culture health
• Business process effectiveness

Integration with Microsoft Teams and Outlook

• Viva Insights app in Teams
• Inline reminders and insights in Outlook

How to Access Insights in Office 365?

You can access Insights in several ways:

In Microsoft Teams

1. Open Teams.
2. Click on Apps from the sidebar.
3. Search for and open Viva Insights.
4. Pin it for easy access.

In Outlook

• Look for the Insights add-in in Outlook (desktop or web).
• It appears automatically with supported subscriptions.
• You’ll get reminders to follow up, schedule focus time, or wrap up your day.

Via Web

• Visit https://insights.viva.office.com (if enabled in your organization).

In Summary:

Insights helps you and your organization work smarter, prevent burnout, and foster a healthier work environment—using intelligent analytics and Microsoft 365 activity patterns.