Aug 17 2016 10:55 AM
Hi all,
I've been informed that our EC (excecutive council) members are interested in Yammer. As I prepare for this meeting I have a few ideas on how our own leadership could use Yammer. I was wondering if anyone else has experienced tangible success stories they are willing to share. If so, what are your top recommendations for leaders using Yammer as of 2016.
Inspired by this previous thread (old network): Executive Use Case this is what I'm coming up with...
-Leadership First Friday (our branded YamJam sessions)
-Leadership News (Leadership Group)
-Lead the Way Poll (Leaders post a poll with an open ended questions. For example, Problem solving - If you were the CEO of Lubrizol how would you resolve the...? Answers: A, B,C).
-Global Praise (one employee from each region would be recognized)
Aug 17 2016 03:46 PM
@Simon Terry & @Cai Kjaer are running a session at Ignite this year titled "How to talk to you C-suite about Yammer". Maybe if we ask nicely they'll give us a speak peak at what they will conver in that session. ;)
Aug 18 2016 07:38 PM
Thanks @Angus Florance I am looking forward to Atlanta and this session. @Simon Terry and @Cai Kjaer any previews are welcomed!
Aug 18 2016 07:47 PM
@Simon Terry and I are busy preparing the material right now...stay tuned. But knowing how things normally turn out I'd be more comfortable offering a summary after Ignite :)
Aug 19 2016 09:55 AM
Looking forward to Ignite, thanks @Cai Kjaer
Aug 19 2016 10:17 AM
Some execs may also appreciate the opportunity to browse the community to "get the pulse" of what employees are talking about and what concerns them (this would be idea with use of the Discovery feed in Yammer, if your network is large).
Aug 19 2016 10:43 AM - edited Aug 19 2016 11:12 AM
Great ideas! At Microsoft we have a Yammer group titled "CEO Connection". Once a month Satya does a Q&A (like a YamJam, but recorded so that employees can watch at anytime). Questions are answered based on their popularity in the Yammer group.
Would love to hear how it goes and what gets implemented!
Aug 19 2016 11:11 AM
Excellent! I like that and especially the fact that you record them. So far it seems that one VP (his segment alone is about 4,000) is interested in following something of a Q&A method. I will be happy to share our final implementation so that it can inspire others. Stay tuned.
Aug 19 2016 11:16 AM
You know "check pulse" is a good angle for the Discovery feature. I've made note to add it to my talking points, I overlooked expanding on it. Thanks for that.
Aug 19 2016 12:16 PM
Satya also does a monthly QA using Skype for Business Meeting Broadcast. One of the features there is to attach a Yammer group so you can have threaded, thoughtful conversations with thousands of viewers at the same time.
@Darrell Webster did a great video on how to setup this on YouTube.....
Aug 20 2016 01:21 AM
Like Cai the talk is in development but here are a few things to consider:
Organisations that have leaders that work in these ways are using Yammer to deliver step change in their strategic agendas. Their leaders are building capability to fulfil strategic goals and using the potential of their people in the network to solve problems in agile ways and make work more effective with real financial benefits. That's far more powerful story than asking them to use Yammer because its the latest best communication tool.
Aug 22 2016 08:04 AM
First of all, I AM SO EXCITED FOR YOU! This is tremendous progress and I am so happy! I can't WAIT to catch up at Ignite about it! OK, so here's another piece to add to the story. The above responses are amazing, and I've already shared several of them this morning internally in my network!
Here we see a lot of leaders engaging in periodic YamJams. It's a GREAT way for people to get to know the leader, a great way for the leader to connect with people in their business unit from all across the firm in all different geographies. The YamJams are usually held within a group associated with that leaders purview and responsibility and they have a hashtag like #HiLily or #AskLily. The scope of the YamJam can be personal - asking how they balance work and life, or about strategic direction - to gain insight about a new idea, policy, change, direction, etc. Also they can be used as a time for the leader to ask the community questions about what's going on - and to get some feedback to help tackle a customer problem, a market dynamic or an issue that needs to be explored. Good luck! I can't wait to hear more!
Aug 25 2016 10:00 PM
These are great tips - thanks Simon. I think the focus on value is critical, as is reinforcing the use of the tool/channel to support their role in leading and developing others. In addition to reinforcing key priorities, I think there are valuable opportunities for leaders to be vulnerable, sharing their thoughts, problems and challenges, as well as openly crowd sourcing and seeking ideas from the braoder network. They can discuss strategy and priorities in a more informal and continuous way, all with little time/effort.
Aug 25 2016 10:06 PM
Aug 28 2016 08:47 PM
Jan 04 2017 11:20 AM
I wanted to update this post with a best use case template that worked for us. Due to our organization's confidentiality policies I can't fully share the specifics of the group so the template has been modified but I hope it is helpful to anyone needing guidance in creating best use cases. The current state of the group is good (slowly growing) but the good news is that we have seen a positive response to the leader's open communication through Yammer and hope to see more engagement in the next few months. (FYI - I will also create a new post to share for all)
Jun 27 2017 05:54 PM
Lana O'Brien- so you gather questions on the Yammer feed but record the Q&A via video?
Jun 27 2017 05:58 PM
@Cai Kjaer since the presentation has been givem would you be willing to share it? :) Thank you in advance!
Nov 10 2017 05:13 AM - edited Nov 10 2017 05:14 AM
@Katie O'Leary, I found the presentation @Cai Kjaer and @Simon Terry gave at Ignite 2016 on YouTube and it is phenomenal!