Issue link: https://epubs.iltanet.org/i/58400
www.iltanet.org "Our Yammer site has offered employees a very productive way to communicate IT outages." It will also be important to consider the level of license that is required. Yammer offers a free license, but the more expensive licenses offer better management and governance of the site (e.g., giving management a quicker method to remove inaccurate information). Organizations should also consider designating a team of business leaders to monitor the site — identifying and promptly removing any misleading/inaccurate information that may be posted. This designated group can also help drive the company Yammer site to its optimal level of productivity by sparking collaboration through new discussion threads and by showing good examples of how to use the site to educate and increase productivity. Adhering to company policy should be a given, but blogging often makes individuals more candid. It is important for a company to consider the policy it will implement to handle employees who post inappropriate material and a quick approach to remove it. It is equally important to stress that Yammer should not be used to discuss sensitive company information. Advice When Using Yammer Yammer should be a communication supplement rather than a distraction. Like any information forum or social media website, Yammer can be distracting — even for the most capable multitasker — if the user does not have a particular purpose for joining in. Employees need to 12 ILTA White Paper become familiar with that threshold where "useful" shifts to "distracting." All users should learn how to customize their Yammer settings to receive a comfortable level of email alerts (i.e., a weekly alert versus a daily alert). Users should also consider their audience and remember that different levels of management may view their posts. Unlike traditional personal social media sites that allow users to manage the individuals who can view their content, the individuals in the Yammer business community cannot be managed. Yammer offers private groups and forums, but employees should always remember that each post reflects on them professionally. A Looking Glass into the Company's Interests As its Yammer community grows, an organization gains a valuable opportunity to learn about some of its more influential groups and people. Yammer can be used to discover specialized groups or areas of knowledge. At Rockwell Automation, it was surprising to see how quickly special interest groups populated within our Yammer community. We have many different assemblies of engineers, and it was amazing to see our diverse groups of talent using Yammer to not only collaborate with their very specialized peers, but to also enhance their skill sets.