Error message - view server state permission was denied - when connecting to SQL Server 2014 using SQL Server 2012 Management Studio

The least intrusive way to get this working is to either use the following command or have the DBA issue this command for you:

use master
go
GRANT VIEW SERVER STATE TO <user_name>

Just for reference, this problem seems to be related to this Connect bug:

Cannot view properties of database when using db owner account - by Jimmy Rudley

Posted by Microsoft on 7/9/2013 at 2:47 PM
[...] We have corrected this for the next version of SQL 14.
Walter A Jokiel, Program Manager, SQL Server

I have the same problem with SQL Server 2012 Management Studio 2012.

If anyone finds themselves stuck with this problem, try to update SQL Server Management Studio. This way, you don't need to grant the permission VIEW SERVER STATE to the user.

Using SQL Server Management Studio 2014 (12.0.4213.0) now, and the problem seems to be gone.