In the family of digital tools that facilitate collaboration, the enterprise social network is a weapon of mass cohesion. Yammer is a historical player in this field, and has been inspired by the best social media in its functionalities.

Yammer joined Microsoft in 2012, to integrate with the Office 365 suite and help teams connect. But those teams may need a little help getting started and bringing the network to life. That's why it's essential to animate your Yammer community. Without it, the network quickly loses interest. Here are some of our best practices to make your Yammer network a collective cement in your company.

See also our article that compares Yammer and Teams

1. Set up Yammer properly, with the right tools and features

Before you launch the big action and invite all your employees to share posts on your corporate social network, you need to prepare the interface so that it is engaging. Here are a few parameters you should not overlook if you want your employee community to feel welcome on Yammer:

  • Define a friendly name: "Company Yammer" should not be the name by which your employees will identify it. Name the network as you would a friendly lounge, a club...
  • Choose third-party applications that can communicate with Yammer, and in particular integrate those that are in use in the company. If they are not present, employees will tend to go back to their usual usage.
  • Personalize the look: colors and logos should be in line with the company's visual identity. You can even go as far as creating a visual identity specific to the network, to create a sense of belonging.
  • Have "flexible" technical settings: it is tempting to limit certain uses, but do not be too restrictive. For the network to be attractive, the user experience must be pleasant.

2. Designate a facilitator and identify a few "Yam'bassadors

Running a Yammer community requires... A facilitator. Or a group of facilitators. This can be the role of internal communications, your office manager or a volunteer from among the most committed and motivated employees. And as for "classic" community management, this facilitator will have to define an editorial line. He or she will have to have an engaging content strategy, respond, guide, and develop the community by gathering the largest number of employees around topics that will affect several aspects of the company.

An alternative strategy is to offer this role on an ad hoc basis to different people. Each month, a different facilitator takes charge of the network and sets its tone. This can help, especially in multi-site companies, to create a link between the different entities, buildings, departments, cities, etc.

Whatever the strategy, it will in any case be necessary to plan regular "editorial committees" to be sure that the messages transmitted are consistent with the company's communication, its governance style and its internal culture.

3. Create Groups on topics that encourage the sharing of information and experience

Of course you will create groups related to the company's activities and projects. In almost all Yammer communities you will find the group "New customers", "Communication", "HR info" etc.

To engage your employee community, you can also suggest or create more informal groups. In multinational companies, we see groups shared by different countries to practice "home exchange" for vacations. More simply, some people spontaneously create groups around common passions, such as the Chocolate Fanatics Club or the Musicians Club. These lighter groups allow for considerable development of exchanges between employees who do not always meet on a daily basis.

4. Moderate moderation, reopening discussions

Is it necessary to moderate exchanges on Yammer? In general, it's not necessary. Unlike public social networks, where anonymity allows some people to vent their frustrations, on Yammer you are among colleagues, and as such there is a certain amount of self-censorship. Nevertheless, it is important to make sure that certain debates do not get out of hand, and that they are held within a framework that you define in a charter. We will come back to this.

On the other hand, don't hesitate to intervene in some discussions to relaunch them, by feeding them with new documents, information, news...

5. Organize regular events to extend the discussions

Yammer is also the place where you can organize, prepare and extend internal events. For example, you can prepare a Lunch & Learn around a topic, documenting the event beforehand, then extending the debate after the meeting (which you can play in real time via video conference, record and replay).

6. Create a Yammer community charter and communicate regularly about it

In order for the exchanges to take place in a peaceful manner, it is important that you write a charter of use. You will have to remind some basics such as legal prohibitions (racism, sexism etc.). You can also propose to avoid certain sensitive subjects. For example, political opinions could be banned.

If an employee gets out of hand or is a little too forceful in a discussion, don't call them out in public. Send them a private message to ask them to modify their speech or moderate their temper, in a diplomatic way. The point is not to censor, but to keep everything in order.

You will also be able to specify the management rules you choose, such as whether or not you can freely create groups, which applications are allowed, to keep the experience smooth.

7. Educate new hires by integrating Yammer into Onboarding

Finally, in order to keep the network alive, it is important to integrate the Yammer presentation into the welcome of your new employees. Not everyone is used to having a corporate social network, it is important to explain its role and rules and to encourage everyone to welcome newcomers.

Yammer can even become a strategic place to introduce a new colleague, even to those who are geographically distant. For example, you can create a specific "Welcome on board!" group where everyone can introduce themselves, for example in a 1 minute video.

A well-functioning Yammer network can become the glue for companies with dispersed employees or critical sizes that don't allow everyone to meet at the coffee corner. It becomes a place where collective intelligence can develop. Integrated with Office 365, it has its full place in the strategy of developing collaborative work. To explore more precisely how these tools can transform your organization, contact our experts!

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