5 ways to use Yammer in Business

This post is for people looking to introduce social media into their organization in a positive, productive way – right away. We’ve been using Yammer (a private social network for organizations) at Softchoice for over 3 years. As part of my onboarding series, this guide offers practical ways people can start using it right away.

Yammer is a communication tool for businesses where you post short messages and respond to your colleagues’ messages. Similar to Twitter, in Yammer you only see messages from the people, groups, and tags that you follow – no one else. Unlike Twitter, Yammer is private. A valid company email address is required to join and access a Yammer network.

How the features compare:

	private access
	> 140 characters
	create groups/lists
	searchable content
	direct messages
	mobile apps
	tagged content
	polls
	events
	host file attachments

1. Share REALLY interesting things.
Post LINKS to things you find you feel are awesome. Stuff like articles, videos & competitive info. Then explain why you think it’s important.

2. Get Help. Give Help. 
Get answers to questions even when you don’t know who to ask. Crowdsource help with RFPs. Get feedback from users affected by your project. Ask advice when faced with competitive threats on accounts. And if you’re in the mood, share wins and best practices!

3. Create Tribal Knowledge.
When you contribute content like presentations, comments, links and posts, you create a searchable, taggable source of knowledge anyone can search. This allows people – new and tenured alike – to discover valuable information in past discussions even when they weren’t part of them. The more content you add, the richer our shared source of knowledge becomes.

4. Collaborate On the Go. 
Use the free Yammer app for iOS, BlackBerry, Android and Windows Phone devices to collaborate and stay connected wherever you are. View, post and reply to messages, and use the directory as a mobile address book your company’s Yammer Network.

5. Create project groups.
With Yammer you can create and join private or public groups to work and collaborate in small teams within your company’s network. Yammer doesn’t replace email – it can compliment it! With Yammer, you create a living record of project work, conversations, deliverables and customer efforts. Most of all, Yammer remains private and employee-only. Only people that work at your company have access to what you post.

You might enjoy the other guides in this series: 5 Ways To Use Twitter in Business and 5 Ways To Use Blogs in Business.

Here’s a handy version of this post as a presentation. Feel free to use and download it. You can make it full-screen by clicking on the icon in the bottom-right corner of the slideshare embed.