Good News

Good News is the employee recognition feature in GrndCtrl. It brings team members together in small groups to share positive updates, personal wins, and celebrations. Whether it’s a project milestone, a great weekend, or a team accomplishment, Good News gives everyone a space to connect on a personal level.

How Good News Works

Every employee who participates is assigned to a group of approximately 10 members. Each group is named after its group owner — for example, “Dana Whitfield (10 members).” You share positive updates, photos, and celebrations within your group.

Viewing Your Group

1. Open Good News — from the Apps button in the header, or from its widget on your Home screen.

2. You’ll see your current group with:

   • Group name — The group owner’s name and member count.
   • Members — Click Members to expand and see all group members with their names and office locations.
   • Posts — Shared updates from group members with photos and reactions.
   • Total Posts — The number of posts in your group for the current period.

Sharing Good News

Creating a Post

1. Navigate to Good News.
2. Click Create Post or the + button.
3. Write your update in the text field.
4. Optionally attach photos — drag and drop, paste, or click to select images.
5. Click Submit to share with your group.

What to Share

Good News is about celebrating the positive. Here are some ideas:

• Work wins — Project completions, successful inspections, client compliments
• Personal milestones — Birthdays, anniversaries, new hobbies, family events
• Team celebrations — Office events, team lunches, group outings
• Learning moments — Certifications, training completions, conferences attended
• Weekend highlights — Travel, outdoor activities, cooking, sports

Adding Photos

Photos make your posts more engaging. You can attach multiple images to a single post:

• Drag and drop images onto the post form
• Paste images from your clipboard
• Click the attach button to select files from your device

Images are automatically processed and optimized for display.

Interacting with Posts

Reacting to Posts

Each post has emoji reaction buttons below it. You can react with:

• Like (thumbs up) — show appreciation
• Love (heart) — show strong support
• Celebrate (party) — celebrate a major win

Reactions are a quick way to show support without writing a full comment. The reaction count is displayed next to each emoji. Click a reaction again to remove it.

Commenting on Posts

Show your support by commenting on your group members’ posts:

1. Find the post you want to respond to.
2. Click the comment area below the post.
3. Type your comment and press Enter to submit.

Editing or Deleting Your Posts

You can edit or delete your own posts:

1. Find your post in the feed.
2. Click the action menu on the post.
3. Select Edit to modify or Delete to remove.

Edited posts are marked as edited so your group knows the content was updated.

Good News Admin (Administrators)

Administrators can manage Good News by clicking the Admin button at the top of the Good News page. The admin panel shows a dashboard with key stats:

• Total Users — All users in the system
• Participants — Users currently selected to participate in Good News groups
• Group Owners — Number of group leaders
• Total Posts — Posts across all groups

The admin panel has five tabs:

Tab	Description
1. Users & Participants	Select which users participate in Good News. Search by name, email, office, or department. Shows each user’s name, title, email, office, and department.
2. Groups	View and manage Good News groups and group owners
3. Post Moderation	Review and moderate posts across all groups
4. Settings	Configure Good News group settings
5. Photo Gallery	Browse all photos shared across all groups

Keeping the User List Current

The user list comes from your organization’s Microsoft directory, so new joiners appear without anyone adding them by hand. Click Refresh, beside the filters on 1. Users & Participants, to re-read it — useful right after someone has been added to the directory.

Refresh clears your row selection

If you were part-way through a bulk change, make the change first and refresh afterwards.

Managing Participants

Not all users are automatically included in Good News. Administrators select participants using the checkbox list:

1. Go to Good News Admin and stay on 1. Users & Participants.
2. Use the search bar or the office, department, and role filters to find people.
3. Use the Active toggle on a row to include or exclude that person.

There is no Save button here

Each toggle saves as you click it. Removing someone as a participant also removes them as a group owner, so check the group assignments afterwards if you have just dropped an owner.

For several people at once, tick the checkboxes in the left-hand column — the header checkbox selects everyone currently visible after filtering. A bulk action bar appears with Add to Participants, Remove from Participants, and Clear selection.

Best Practices

• Post regularly — Even a short update keeps your group connected
• Add photos — Visual posts are more engaging and personal
• Comment on others’ posts — Show your teammates you’re reading and appreciate their updates
• Keep it positive — Good News is a space for celebrating wins, big and small
• Engage with your group — The more you participate, the more connected your group becomes

Troubleshooting

I cannot comment on a post

Solutions:

• Comments are an organization-wide setting an administrator controls. If they are switched off, no one can comment and the section does not appear.
• Ask your administrator whether comments are enabled.

I am not in a group

Solutions:

• Being in the directory is not the same as taking part. An administrator has to add you as a participant before you are assigned to a group.
• Groups are assigned in a batch, so you may be a participant but not yet placed. Ask your administrator to check.

A colleague is missing from the members list

Solutions:

• New starters arrive with the directory sync. If someone joined recently, an administrator may need to run Sync directory from Tenant Administration.
• They may be in a different group. The list shows your group, named after its owner, not everyone in the organization.

Related Articles

• Getting Started with GrndCtrl — Learn the basics of navigating the portal
• What’s Happening — Company news and announcements
• Good News Admin — For administrators: groups, participants, and settings