YAMMER

Master guidelines

Overview1. Understanding What is Yammer?2. Getting set up on Yammer3. Understanding the basics: how it works / the system4. Working out the basics: how to make it work for you /

your practice5. Working it out further: how to make it work for us

all / our Yammer etiquette6. Working it up and out: for advanced users …7. At events – Yammer workshop etiquette8. Some examples: Yammer use cases9. Additional info: troubleshooting, guidelines & help

1. What is Yammer?

1. What is Yammer

• Yammer is a corporate social network• It was originally set up to help organizations:– Share information among staff and partners

(updates, current work, important outputs etc.)– Discuss different issues outside email– Plan events– Network / build a team (through conversations,

likes and praises)

2. Getting set up

2. Getting set up

• Create an account (on invitation)• Update your profile– Include your center name in the job title field in your profile– Add a picture of yourself

• Set your notifications and direct messages to get for each network you are part of

• Set your applications and preferences• In details…

Create an account (based on an invitation)

Accept the invitation

Create an account

Fill out all the details

Indicate your centre / organization in the job title field

Choose a strong password which you can remember

Then press ‘next’

Create an account

Join groups which you think will be useful to you / where you would like to engage with others

Then press ‘next’

Don’t start a group straight away, see if existing ones cater for your need

Create an account

Add a photo (from your files) to give yourself a face for others. It makes Yammer more ‘human’.

Create an account

You may (you don’t have to) decide to download and use Yammer via the desktop application

Create an account

Check the welcome message you receive upon entering Yammer

Create an account

You are now set and ready to use Yammer!

Update your profile (mention your CG center and position)

1. Click my profile

2. Edit profile

Include your center name in the job title field in your profile

Add a picture of yourself

1. Click Basics (while editing your profile)

2. Choose a picture file on your computer

1. Click Notifications (while editing your profile)

Set your notifications(per network)

3. Select what changes you want to be notified about

2. Select digests’ frequency (summary of Yammer network messages by email)

New notifications are displayed in this icon

What direct messages do I want to receive?

1. Click ‘subscribe to feeds’ to open this menu

2. Select what messages to receive by email or else

Select your applications (phone etc.)and other preferences

3. Understanding the basics: how it works / the system

Where it all happens: the news stream

(updates from the people you follow)

Where you share updates (simple updates, polls,

praises, questions and events)Where you find & can

edit your profile

Where you read important

notifications and private messages

Where you can check all networks you belong to

3. Basics: How it works(the system)

• Work across closed groups (CGIAR only) and open networks

• Follow others to see their updates• Share updates about interesting work, links, questions,

events, documents etc. • Send each other direct messages for private

conversations• Upload files, pictures, videos, add links, and create

pages (to keep important information)• Follow the flow of messages on various media: on the

web, via email, on a smartphone…

Work across open networks and closed groups (CGIAR only)

Follow others to see their updates (select who you follow!)

BE SELECTIVE WHO TO FOLLOW

Select who you follow BE SELECTIVE WHO TO FOLLOW

Share updates about interesting work, polls, links, questions, events etc

Send each other direct messages for private conversations

1. Select who you want to write to (multiple recipients possible)

2. Type your message in the main box

Upload files, pictures, videos and create pages (to keep important information)

Create pages (to keep important information)

1. Select ‘pages’ in your apps menu

2. Create a page

Follow the flow of messages on various media: on the web, via email, on a smartphone…

Through various ‘applications’ (under your profile)

3. Basics: How it works(the system)

• Use Topics (with # e.g. #innovation) to find all content and conversations related to specific topics

• Notify People can be notified when they’re mentioned with @ (e.g. @eleborgne). Just typing name suffices (Yammer turns them into links)

• Find all content collections links, topics, files etc. in one place

And again:• Having an updated profile matters to know who is who

– update your profile!• Notifications help manage traffic: adjust your account’s

notifications for each of your networks

Find common topics

Use Topics (keywords) They help find all content related to specific topics. Add a topic to a message with # (e.g. #Yammer)

Notify people when it concerns them

Find all content collections in one place

4. Working out the basics: how to make it work for you / your practice

4. Basics: How to make it work (your practice)

• Active listening: Follow and learn– Follow people that matter, that you know or like

• If you follow people you will receive emails when they post (change your notification settings?)

• Follow specific people rather than everyone?

– Join networks (open) and groups (only for CGIAR staff) that are relevant for you

– Follow the flow of updates– Ask yourself what you like and don’t like about it:

Reflect, learn new stuff and learn how to learn more…

4. Basics: How to make it work (your practice)

• Active engagement: Engage and converse– Post (relevant) updates on new documents,

events, ideas– Share summaries of important events you’re

attending– Ask questions, seek feedback and ideas– React to what others post: reply, like, (very)

occasionally praise people you admire– Make Yammer a conversation space!

5. Working it out further: how to make it work for us all / Our Yammer etiquette

5. How to make it work for us all (Our Yammer etiquette)

• Lurking (active listening) is normal• But for Yammer to work we must all engage• It requires trust (in oneself and others)– Get trained or coached?

• We need to understand the value to invest in Yammer

• But the value comes from practice and feedback

5. How to make it work for us all (Our Yammer etiquette)Do’s

•Update on activities, resources, events•Comment others’ work•Ask questions•Be constructive, not condescending

Don’ts•Post irrelevant status updates – I am eating now, I just had a fabulous…•‘Like’ resources without reading them first and providing comments why you like them •Accuse or blame people publicly

5. How to make it work for us all (Our Yammer etiquette)Do’s

•Post short, crisp, focused updates•Follow Yammer updates at least (digest!)•Provide feedback to improve Yammer•Post regularly•Invite others to post and help them

Don’ts•Monopolize the space•Be impatient: it takes time to master Yammer (alone and collectively)•Condemn Yammer without giving it a try

5. How to make it work for us all (Our Yammer etiquette)

• Yammer is only one of many engagement tools– It’s good for conversations, questions, reactions– It’s not so powerful for filing documents,

workflows, coordinated work (use wikis instead!)• It works more powerfully in combination with

other tools (blogs, wikis, CG Space, Twitter, FlickR, YouTube) and link from Yammer to the other tools

6. Working it up and out: for advanced users

6. For advanced users

Help yourself: help others creatively•Provide important information on specific pages? •Develop simple and useful tutorials for your team?•Buddy someone else on Yammer?•Coach your colleagues?•Organize Yam-Jams?•Consider creating groups?•Assess the use and usefulness of Yammer?•Invite others to use Yammer (if CG staff, invite them to the main CGIAR network before any other network!)

7. At eventsYammer workshop etiquette

How to use yammer for workshops

• Yammer is a good tool for synthesizing information from workshops and sharing with those who are not there.

• However, many scientists are concerned that there words will be taken out of context or repeated.

• Therefore, the focus of using yammer should be on synthesizing workshops on Daily/half daily basis

Do’s and Don’ts

Do’s• Provide a half-daily or daily

synthesis of 1 to 2 posts• 1 post 1 thought• Summarize and synthesize

into crisp summaries• Refer to notes on another

page, wiki or document

Don’ts• Posts should not be long. 4-

5 sentences maximum• If you want to post more

use the comment tool or make another post

• Do not transcribe verbatim what people say

• Don’t quote people • Do not make Yammer the

‘notes’ for the meeting.

Short synthesis posts are good

Don’t make too long

Do not quote people or provide notes of meetings

8. Some examples?Yammer case studies

Yammer use case: network

• Nile Basin Development Challenge (CPWF): Working together as one program– 5 projects under the banner with different aims– All communicating via Yammer and sharing

important issues for all– Connecting with the program wiki and blog to

keep everyone up to date– Summaries of events on the wiki– Mapping important partners and events

Yammer use case: network

• Comms4Uptake network (CPWF): a peer-support network to find concrete solutions– Monthly peer assists around practical problems

faced by one person across 5 basins– Full documentation and planning on Yammer– Finding solutions that help everyone– Sharing challenges and ideas around ‘engaging

research comms process for engaging science’– Organizing a series of online meetings to plan

documentation of the phase 2

Yammer use case: group

• ILRI engineering: Sharing information and building a team– Little exchange before– New members trained on Yammer– All keeping each other posted about their activities– Fastening the learning pace for newcomers– New team dynamics with vibrant exchanges– Giving new ideas to work as a team face-to-face as

well

Yammer use case: individuals• Olive Thiong’o posts about farmer-to-farmer learning experiences

in Tanzania– 4 people share questions and answers and references about this and

find out about wider CCAFS work that is ongoing• Ewen Le Borgne looks for references on impact assessment across

CGIAR– References from 12 CG centres come in 1.5 days

• Bernhard Hack talks about the ICARDA KM retreat and ‘putting focus back on Drupal’– 21 messages from 14 participants in 3 days

• Tezira Lore encounters a problem on Wordpress and is asking for troubleshooting help– 6 people in a conversation leading to an IT solution

• (e.g.) Maren Radeny has joined Yammer– 6 people welcome her! Great to catch up with someone you’ve known

for a while!

9. More information?Troubleshooting,

guidance and help

Troubleshooting• Lost your password?– Go to www.yammer.com and click ‘Forgot password?’ and

write your password somewhere safe for next time

• Can’t open a Yammer page?– Your connection might not be good enough. Try later or

with a better Internet connection• Overwhelmed with Yammer messages?– Set your notifications better

• Mind not to delete your account (you cannot recover it!)

More guidance information?• Yammer network usage policy • Yammer essentials page• 3 short and useful Yammer video tutorials: – http://www.screencast.com/t/iGGeCnlysVCu (basics)– http://www.screencast.com/t/LcCk0aV7IDTm (other

posting options)– http://www.screencast.com/t/9Tax4zczUc6i

(notification settings)• Tinkering with tools: What’s up with Yammer? A

reflexive blog post about the CGIAR's use of Yammer and links to further resources.

More human help?

• Power Yammer users:– Peter Ballantyne (ILRI) head of Knowledge Management & Information

Services

– Michael Victor (CPWF/CRP 5) Comms coordinator

– Simone Staiger-Rivas (CIAT) Leader of capacity strengthening and knowledge management

– Susan MacMillan (ILRI) Head of Public Awareness

– Jeremy Cherfas (Bioversity) Senior science writer

– Tsehay Gashaw (ILRI) Web communications officer

– Ewen Le Borgne (ILRI) Knowledge sharing and communication specialist