Article
Yammer’s Unseen Potential
We all have one of those crazy aunts who absolutely refuse to have a Twitter or even a Facebook account due to her “serious” take on personal security. What if she had an option to use a completely secure system where she could share pertinent information with her respected co workers? Yammer is a community of closed “Twitter-like” platforms that allow corporations (large and small) to interface with each other in a microblogging like format that is closed off to anyone outside the company. They accomplish this by tying your account to your work email.
Well ok, that might be nice, but how can most normal companies leverage this platform within their walls? Below I highlight 3 simple use cases to assist your current company to become more internally social, while giving productivity across the graph a juice in the kidneys.
Case 1 Brian is a project manager who, like most PM’s work on multiple projects. The rife is that Brian is forced to also compile a load of keynote slides per day to show the higher ups that something is being accomplished. Some of these slides are created by Brian; however, approximately 75% come from his employees. Brian needs a collaboration protocol where he can keep direct tabs on his work force, have them share the finished slide, and be able to export the conversation with each engineer in case there is inconsistency with the slides and finished product…BOOM, Yammer.
Case 2 Territa is a well known graphic artist who has crafted wonderful web experiences for several Fortune 500 companies. She employs 2 UX Developers along with outsourcing all of her HR to a good friend who she went to college with. None of these people live within 200 miles of each other, yet they all need to be able to freely collaborate with one another. Territa dislikes IM because it breaks her concentration and she feels that she looses her creative momentum. She strives for something that is personal and closed off to only her company, customers, and suppliers…BOOM, Yammer.
Case 3 Keir is the CEO of One To The Left Wing Nuts Software who employs over 200 employees and has a massive creative office in downtown Manhattan. Kier is growing lonely at the top and resolves to eat his employee’s own “dog food.” Kier realizes that he can’t interact with all employees during the course of a day, yet he craves something that will alleviate anxiety that most people exude when the boss IM’s them and keep his inbox empty of unneeded email. Kier also needs an application he can use on his iPhone when he is usually away from the office…BOOM, Yammer.
Own a business or need a more efficient way to interact with your fellow employees? Give Yammer a whirl and come back and share your own use cases.
