Yammer is one of 27 apps designed to work in harmony with the Microsoft 365 suite to enhance collaborative working and business culture.
Whilst it’s used predominantly by many large organisations, it has its place with SMEs too.
Yammer is used by 100,000 organisations worldwide.
What is Yammer?
Yammer was launched by Microsoft in 2014 and is used by 85% of Fortune 500 companies worldwide. But, with the increase of remote working, its popularity with smaller businesses is growing.
You can think of Yammer as your internal Facebook. Instead of friends you connect with colleagues, and ads are replaced with corporate updates and events. It’s perfect for sharing employee achievements, company news, policy updates, and other useful information for staff.
Is it the same as Teams?
Whilst Teams and Yammer have their communication similarities, each has quite different intentions. Microsoft Teams is the perfect platform for project work and collaborative group working. Yammer has a much more casual approach, providing a space where all employees can interact on any topic from business-related trouble-shooting to organising an open lunch.
How would Yammer benefit my business?
Yammer is no longer only beneficial to larger organisations spread across various sites. With businesses of all sizes embracing remote and home working more than ever, there are benefits to be had by all:
Team morale
If you don’t engage your employees, they won’t engage with your business. Yammer is a great tool to keep a remote workforce informed on developments and to consult with them on potential changes within your business. Employees who feel included are far more likely to stay with a business than those who simply feel like a cog in the machine.
Employee wellbeing
Offering the ability to run polls and set up casual chat rooms, Yammer is a great platform to check in on your colleagues.
Informal training
If your business is cyber security savvy, your employees won’t be unable to access their personal social media from the office during their lunch break – what will they scroll!? If you get clever with the information you post on Yammer, your employees could be reading posts and articles packed with helpful information relevant to your industry they might otherwise not have found the time to read.
Culture
Yammer can be a light-hearted place where colleagues can interact and get to know each other – home or office based. A platform to share those jokes and gifs relative to work that only colleagues would get. There’s even the option to safely involve those you might work with outside of the business.
The future of Yammer
If you’ve heard Yammer is end-of-life, you’re right. But don’t worry, if this blog has you sold on introducing the platform into your business, you still can. Beginning March 2023, Yammer will slowly transform into Microsoft’s Viva Engage. We don’t expect to see much functionality change, just more of a re-brand.
More Than IT Support – It’s IT Consultancy
Remember, at Jupiter IT, we’re about more than just resolving your IT issues and installing new hardware; we’re here to guide, advise and train our clients to make sure you’re getting the most from your tech.
As a Microsoft partner for over 15 years, we have certainly seen Microsoft 365 deliver on its objectives; for our clients and us as a business as well. If you’re running Office 365, make sure you’re using it to its full potential; drop us a line and we’ll be happy to show you the ropes.
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