Recently I was asked
" What are the top 10 points you think are important to get across to staff at all levels in an organisation about Yammer? "
My initial reaction was "Tough ask", mainly because I've seen great write ups on what organisations get out of Yammer but very few that talk directly to the user benefits. Many articles give the usual cop out "users can't see the point, until they get it"
I admit I was in that boat when I started using Twitter, a public micro blogging platform. But just like they said "once I used it I got it". What they didn't say was that it took a while and it suits certain people better than others. So as with all things in the social media space, be aware that culture change not the technology may be your biggest challenge.
So what does Yammer, a microblogging platform for organisational use, do for real employees that is compelling enough for them to spend the time to "Get it" ?
First off Yammer is setup to be for anyone who has the same email address as you.
What does that give you ?
It gives you an instant level of trust with the other people also using Yammer from your organisation. Many people won't notice this implicity trust between members of the same organisation, but if you ask about it you'll find it exists. It all has to do with a shared experience all employees have with the organisation.
Trust is important in this system that is why I mention it first.
Yammer benefits you the staff member
1 - Yammer means you are able to benefit anyone in the organisation.
You can either reply to questions asked of all staff, asked of groups you’re a member of, or asked of you. Others may ask you directly, because you've filled out your profile with details meaning other staff are able to find you or because what you say via Yammer is of interest to them.
During performance reviews you can use your Yammer contributions to illustrate the tangible value you're delivering to the organisation.
2 - Yammer means you will have less email to deal with.
Email can go back to being for 1 to 1 interactions or specific requests. No more everyone.xyzproject@mycompany.com emails to deal with. No more CC everyone "just in case". Create a yam, tag it with #xyzproject or post it to the project group on yammer, and everyone who knows the project can find it again.
See Bill Winer's outline of how Yammer like tools help project managers and team leaders specifically.
3 - Yammer increases your productivity.
You check Yammer when it suits you. Yammer doesn't interrupt you.
4 - Yammer helps you find experts.
Unless you know an expert in the field you need you can't find them easily. Yammer gives you a way to find them by searching profiles. You can then see if they're real experts by looking at what they've got to say, what they have Yammed, then you can make your own mind up about the value they deliver.
5 - Yammer involves you in the organisation as a whole.
Yammer gives you a window onto the entire organisation and what they're collectively thinking about and working on.
6 - Yammer gets you answers fast.
When finding the answer any other way would take a lot of effort Yammer can get it for you quickly.
Yammer benefits the organisation too
1 - flatter
Yammer gives those who participate the opportunity to benefit from the knowledge of all the other participants.
Yammer gives the organisation the benefits inherent in smarter faster better decisions being made and work being done.
2 - Sharing
Yammer facilitates sharing and thus benefits the organisation.
Great diagram of what sharing leads to.
3 - Serendipity
Yammer provides a way for opportunities within the organisation to be grasped rather than lost.
How serendipity helped elephants
4 - Speed
You get responses quicker.
The image at right covers an interaction that would have taken days of effort, or a very lucky break, to resolve prior to Yammer.
5 - Reach
Yammer lets individual staff tap the abilities of ALL the organisation's staff, not just those they know.
6 - Trust
Yammer helps build trust
"Your staff can create value within your business if you let them - or outside of it if you stifle them"
7 - Connectors
Yammer lets organisation see who those staff are that connect the organisation. Meaning organisational value of those staff that connect the organisation can be recognised.
Some other benefits of Yammer
Yammer is to organisations what rain is to puddles.
With rain puddles form and then overflow into each other creating a stream.
With Yammer the human networks and communication channels within the organisation come together so that any individual can add value to the organisation. It is no longer a matter of being on the right committee or the correct email group, or known to the movers and shakers.
It isn't all sweetness and light though - as with any tool, social media or otherwise, it is A TOOL. use it for what it is good for within your organisation, don't use it if it doesn't help. My goal with this post was to shed light on where and why it can be useful. Guidelines, ambassadors and examples are also improtant in ensuring your organisation gets the most value from any tool, including Yammer.
What makes microblogging valuable, and compelling, for those within your organisation ?
" What are the top 10 points you think are important to get across to staff at all levels in an organisation about Yammer? "
My initial reaction was "Tough ask", mainly because I've seen great write ups on what organisations get out of Yammer but very few that talk directly to the user benefits. Many articles give the usual cop out "users can't see the point, until they get it"
I admit I was in that boat when I started using Twitter, a public micro blogging platform. But just like they said "once I used it I got it". What they didn't say was that it took a while and it suits certain people better than others. So as with all things in the social media space, be aware that culture change not the technology may be your biggest challenge.
So what does Yammer, a microblogging platform for organisational use, do for real employees that is compelling enough for them to spend the time to "Get it" ?
First off Yammer is setup to be for anyone who has the same email address as you.
What does that give you ?
It gives you an instant level of trust with the other people also using Yammer from your organisation. Many people won't notice this implicity trust between members of the same organisation, but if you ask about it you'll find it exists. It all has to do with a shared experience all employees have with the organisation.
Trust is important in this system that is why I mention it first.
Yammer benefits you the staff member
1 - Yammer means you are able to benefit anyone in the organisation.
You can either reply to questions asked of all staff, asked of groups you’re a member of, or asked of you. Others may ask you directly, because you've filled out your profile with details meaning other staff are able to find you or because what you say via Yammer is of interest to them.
During performance reviews you can use your Yammer contributions to illustrate the tangible value you're delivering to the organisation.
2 - Yammer means you will have less email to deal with.
Email can go back to being for 1 to 1 interactions or specific requests. No more everyone.xyzproject@mycompany.com emails to deal with. No more CC everyone "just in case". Create a yam, tag it with #xyzproject or post it to the project group on yammer, and everyone who knows the project can find it again.
See Bill Winer's outline of how Yammer like tools help project managers and team leaders specifically.
3 - Yammer increases your productivity.
You check Yammer when it suits you. Yammer doesn't interrupt you.
4 - Yammer helps you find experts.
Unless you know an expert in the field you need you can't find them easily. Yammer gives you a way to find them by searching profiles. You can then see if they're real experts by looking at what they've got to say, what they have Yammed, then you can make your own mind up about the value they deliver.
The Question is at the bottom with replies sequentially up the list [reverse chronological order]
5 - Yammer involves you in the organisation as a whole.
Yammer gives you a window onto the entire organisation and what they're collectively thinking about and working on.
6 - Yammer gets you answers fast.
When finding the answer any other way would take a lot of effort Yammer can get it for you quickly.
Yammer benefits the organisation too
1 - flatter
Yammer gives those who participate the opportunity to benefit from the knowledge of all the other participants.
Yammer gives the organisation the benefits inherent in smarter faster better decisions being made and work being done.
2 - Sharing
Yammer facilitates sharing and thus benefits the organisation.
Great diagram of what sharing leads to.
3 - Serendipity
Yammer provides a way for opportunities within the organisation to be grasped rather than lost.
How serendipity helped elephants
The Question is at the bottom with replies sequentially up the list [reverse chronological order]
4 - Speed
You get responses quicker.
The image at right covers an interaction that would have taken days of effort, or a very lucky break, to resolve prior to Yammer.
5 - Reach
Yammer lets individual staff tap the abilities of ALL the organisation's staff, not just those they know.
6 - Trust
Yammer helps build trust
"Your staff can create value within your business if you let them - or outside of it if you stifle them"
7 - Connectors
Yammer lets organisation see who those staff are that connect the organisation. Meaning organisational value of those staff that connect the organisation can be recognised.
Some other benefits of Yammer
- Yammer helps staff get to know and help other staff across business units / segments / timezones and continents.
- Yammer helps staff to brainstorm and get immediate responses.
- Yammer helps to leverage the creativity of it's staff, as Delloitte have done for advertising tag lines
- Yammer helps to fill the communication gaps between meetings and email, especially useful for staff in multi location/timezone teams
Yammer is to organisations what rain is to puddles.
With rain puddles form and then overflow into each other creating a stream.
With Yammer the human networks and communication channels within the organisation come together so that any individual can add value to the organisation. It is no longer a matter of being on the right committee or the correct email group, or known to the movers and shakers.
It isn't all sweetness and light though - as with any tool, social media or otherwise, it is A TOOL. use it for what it is good for within your organisation, don't use it if it doesn't help. My goal with this post was to shed light on where and why it can be useful. Guidelines, ambassadors and examples are also improtant in ensuring your organisation gets the most value from any tool, including Yammer.
What makes microblogging valuable, and compelling, for those within your organisation ?
Comments
DorejM
http://laconi.ca/
Good point I am a little vauge. My intention was to write about Yammer, but as you point out there are a number of other tools that organisations can use for micro blogging internally. So I tried to outline the benefits to the fundamentals, though my exerpience is with Yammer specifically.
DorjeM
One more for you is the sense of equality that Yammer gives businesses. It gives people on the front line a chance to raise issues they have and feel that they're actually being listened to. And it gives the senior managers a real feel for what's going on and an an open channel to communicate what they're doing.
DorjeM