Post on 28-Apr-2015
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43 Ways to Use Yammer | 2
Yammer makes communication faster, easier, and more relevant to each person—not to mention that it’s been a breeze from an IT standpoint.
Tobias Klauder | VP of Global Information Technology | Razorfish
Yammer is as awesome as you make it.Whether you’re the new guy at a tech start-up or the founder of a multi-national corporation, your work
environment is an important key to the success of your job and your company. Communication is key—
and Yammer is the most valuable communication tool in the office. Here’s how to get the most out of it.
Start here
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WHERE TO USE YAMMER: ONLINE + ON YOUR DESKTOP + ON YOUR PHONE + AT HOME + ON A + ON A BUS + IN A + ON YOUR IPAD + IN BED + IN LINE + IN A WAITING ROOM + ON A + AT SCHOOL + BY THE POOL + AT THE THEATER + UNDER THE SEA + ON A + AT THE SALON + IN KANSAS + AT THE OFFICE + AT THE LIBRARY + ANYWHERE WITH AN INTERNET CONNECTION.
but not while driving
during intermission
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Tell everyone what you’re working on.
We’ve found Yammer to be an excellent tool for identifying and connecting to the correct set of people for any given project, idea or opportunity.
Wilbur Swan | Senior Director of Product Management | ContactNet
Tell people exactly what you’re an expert in. Play tag.
If you mention someone in
a post, tag them by using
the “@” symbol—that way
they’ll know they’ve been
mentioned and get to feel
popular.
Your job title doesn’t always
do your background justice.
List languages you’re fluent
in, musical instruments
you play, that certificate in
conflict resolution, and your
excellent marshmallow
roasting skills. You never
know when those things
might be needed.
Show your true face.Post a profile picture
that’s actually of you.
When the people who
notice you on Yammer
recognize you in the
hallway, the conversation
might just spread into
the offline realm.
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USE YAMMER ON SICK DAYS
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But wait, it’s not about work—or is it? You’ll make connections that you
wouldn’t have otherwise. Then, if you ever happen to need something
work-related from a group member, they’ll be happy to help. Because
heck, anyone who loves daschunds can’t be all bad.
Start a group for everyone else who loves dachshunds.
Because we’re better connected, we have more of a sense of community and can operate at a higher level of efficiency.
Nick Weaver | Chief Operating Officer | Stanford Student Enterprises
Seek out coincidences.
Upload the project.Whether it’s the new logo
or a sales spreadsheet,
Yammer is the perfect
place to share what you’re
doing. Post almost any
file type of almost any
size, and the people you
choose can preview and
download it right from
Yammer. Don’t forget to
give it a topic to make it
easily findable later.
Check out other people’s
profiles. You might discover
a hidden connection with
a colleague, like a shared
birthday or mutual love
of medieval folklore. Point
out the coincidence and
see where the conversation
leads.
Give every post a topic.Topics make posts easy to
find later, and easy to link
earlier conversations to
new ones.
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All organizations have hurdles. Maybe it’s reaching a
certain target market, finding a bigger office space,
or making a department more appealing to job
seekers. Sharing these issues on Yammer is only the
first step—once they’re resolved, let everyone know
and thank them for pitching in. Next time, they’ll be
even happier to help.
Say “Thank You”
Any company which isn’t running Yammer right now is missing out on the best communication and productivity tool available in the market today. It’s a massive game changer. We got everyone [at Mahalo] to agree to do 1-3 updates a day and it’s taking the level of communication to a new height that we didn’t think was possible.
Jason Calacanis | CEO | Mahalo
Share what the competitors are doing.
Share best practices.Maybe you’ve developed
your own, learned some
at a recent conference, or
downloaded a white paper.
Share them with the team
so you can spend less time
justifying and more time
working.
Next time you read a blog
post on the Joneses, share
the link! With everyone in
the company keeping an
eye on the other guys, you’ll
be able to carve out that
corporate niche like never
before. Plus, nothing unites a
team like a common enemy.
Post something every day.You can post anything—
your progress on a project, a
link to something inspiring, or
that rumor you heard about
the company’s biggest
competitor.
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We know you have them.
POST AN IDEA
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People in the office aren’t all that different
from people out of the office—they can’t
resist pictures from events. Yammer is the
perfect place to record the whole thing—
up until the projector died.
Post pictures from the big meeting.
Employees from one continent ask a question and employees from another continent respond with crucial real-time information and suggestions. Our client service has improved through Yammer: as it’s demand-led, these connections wouldn’t occur otherwise.
Niall Cook | Worldwide Director of Marketing Technology | Hill & Knowlton
Answer questions.Ask questions.Need to find a third party
vendor? A location for
the next shoot? A caterer
for the big meeting? Tap
the invaluable pool of
knowledge that is your
Yammer network.
If someone took the time
to ask a question, reward it
with an answer—even if your
answer is just “you should
ask @Bill from accounting.”
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START A GROUP FOR YOUR DEPARTMENT
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Everyone loves to feel like an expert. Don’t be shy!
Ask someone for advice in their area of expertise.
People feel more connected to the company, more engaged, and more empowered. At the end of the day, that can only be good. It’s been amazing—Yammer is a bit of a celebrity at our company.
Jaimee Clements | Sr. Online Project Manager | AAA of Northern California, Nevada and Utah
Ask everyone what they think.
Put what you’d like to be doing more of in your profile.Your job title says nothing
about your aspirations.
Maybe you’re a copywriter
but you’d really like to be
doing more content strategy.
Pop it in your interests
and see what happens.
Or, if you prefer the hot
corporate buzzword:
crowdsource. Yammer was
made for crowdsourcing
anything from new taglines
to new water cooler
suggestions.
Post your challenge.Solve problems in real time
by sharing them and using
the power of every brain in
your company.
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FOLLOW SOMEONE
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Borders are meaningless on Yammer. Swap some war stories and
see what you can learn from each other.
Introduce yourself to your counterpart in Dubai.
If you’re an employee, you want to work in a great community, where you have friends and relationships. We’ve found Yammer to put those relationships in a focused, centralized and managed space. The number of people that follow and interact with you isn’t about who you are but about what you say, and that’s one of the great things about Yammer.
Nigel Dessau | CMO | AMD
Meet the vendors.
Ask the receptionist what she thinks.Great ideas can come from
anywhere, from the corner
office to the front desk.
Communities are that happy
place in the Venn diagram
where two networks can
interact.
“Like” the kind of thing you’d like to see more of.It’s basic psychology—
reward desirable behavior
with something nice. What’s
nicer than being liked?
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INTRODUCE YOURSELF IN PERSON WITH, “I’VE NOTICED YOU ON YAMMER!”
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Magic happens when people of different backgrounds begin to understand
each other in deep, practical ways. Cross-discipline collaboration results
in new ideas and new ways of seeing—and solving—problems. So when you
see someone you haven’t met on Yammer, don’t think “They’re not in my
department, I have nothing to learn from them.” Instead, think “They’re
not in my department! I wonder what I can learn from them?”
Talk to strangers.
Yammer is a learning goldmine. It enables those special connections we had created by bringing people together in the classroom to happen all the time.
Mike Petersell | Management Center for Learning and Performance Director | Pitney Bowes
Learn.Swap war stories.Share an environment
with someone long enough,
and you’ll inevitably start
swapping knowledge. It’s a
basic human behavior that
makes small groups nimble
and efficient. Yammer is the
environment you share with
everyone in your company,
no matter where they are,
so get swapping!
What if every water cooler
idea could be shared with
anyone in the company at
any time? Now that people
are sharing those ideas on
Yammer, they can be read
and contributed to by anyone
who’s interested, whenever
they’re interested—not just
when they’re thirsty.
Send private messages.Some ideas need careful
fostering in a safe environment
before they’re set free in the
Company Feed. Give them
that environment with a private
message that includes only the
people who’ll help it blossom.
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INTRODUCE YOURSELF TO THE NEW GUY
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It’s for their own good. The more information you and your
colleagues share about a client, the better you can meet
their needs.
Talk about clients behind their backs.
Yammer has enabled us to harness the wisdom of our people who are spread across multiple teams, geographies and brands to help achieve our purpose of delivering business solutions for competitive advantage.
Jeff Smith | CIO | Suncorp
Host a Yam Jam.From 10:30 to 11:30, we’ll
be brainstorming for the
new ad campaign in the
group “We Will Rock You.”
Be there or be square.
Plan events and invite people to them.Meetings. Office get-togethers.
Brainstorming sessions.
Movie night. Holiday parties.
Conferences. Happy hour.
If you want people there,
put it on Yammer.
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FIND OUT WHAT EVERYONE ELSE IS WORKING ON
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Hold a Yammer drill.
It is amazing how much this tool has cut down on email traffic and how much more efficient the interchange of information and ideas becomes.
April Downing | CFO | Dachis Group
Skip email.Email gets burdensome for
things like pictures of cute
kittens and brainstorming
with a group.
Answer a question with a question.After awhile, all the most common
questions will have been asked on
Yammer and every conversation on
Yammer is findable, linkable, and
joinable at any time. So send your
curious co-worker a link to the last
time someone asked that question.
No more repeating yourself.Yammer is a great for getting the feel of the office when you can’t
make it to the office. But what if no one can make to the office?
Snow happens. Hold a Yammer drill once a year, where everyone
works from home for a full day. Then they’ll know exactly what to
do when it counts the most.
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FINALLY LEARN THE NAME OF THE GUY YOU TOOK TOO LONG TO INTRODUCE YOURSELF TO, WITHOUT THE AWKWARD INTRODUCING YOURSELF PART
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Tell us how you use Yammer.Email us feedback@yammer-inc.comIt helps us make Yammer more awesome.
now get to work!
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