Real conversations about workplace collaboration

Our Senior Change and Communications Consultant Charlene Cottle talks about the beauty of Yammer and collaboration in the workplace.

I've just completed my first (part-time) working week after returning from maternity leave after 11 months off. I'm happy to say - it feels like I've never been away. Not in the sense that nothing has progressed without my presence, but for my own personal confidence - I haven't forgotten a thing!

So I'm not bragging (okay so maybe I am) but being able to jump straight back in with this fantastic team I work with has been a blessing. And the highlight of it all - a brand new client embarking on their Office 365 journey, full of energy and ready to achieve business-wide adoption, and a sell out event, of which I had the opportunity to jump on the panel and talk about something I know really well - workplace collaboration through Yammer.

Now, it might sound cheesy (maybe it is a bit) but the idea of a workforce feeling genuinely engaged, embracing culture and being able to work together with ease is something that really sets my world on fire (too far?) Okay, it gets me jazzed up. But I'm being honest. Because I love working at WM Reply because we practice what we preach. We collaborate, work out loud and empower each other to do the right thing with confidence - these are all of the things we discussed at our latest #FallInLove event.

We had lots of questions about, what's best practice when it comes to Yammer, how do you build a successful Yammer network and what are the benefits of that, how do I 'sell' Yammer to my organisation? Legit questions and my response - let's forget about technology for a minute and focus on the people - what do they want, what are their issues (in the work sense), what are their daily struggles? Then let's focus on how we use the technology to support our colleagues.

Yammer genuinely has the potential to engage and empower your employees in a way that supports a collaborative and open workplace. Are you trying to generate cost savings? What better way to do that than to ask your people doing the job how they think you could save or generate money? Guess what, Yammer gives you an open space to engage them, get their ideas and drive them forward. Are you trying to improve the culture within your business to improve staff retention? Guess what, you can use Yammer to help shape your culture by being honest, taking it on the chin and using the information you discover to do things a better way. Looking to streamline business processes to avoid teams doing similar jobs in different locations reinventing the wheel? Guess what, you can use Yammer to share knowledge right across your organisation.

This is just the tip of the iceberg - there was a much deeper conversation at this fantastic event and I hope those who attended left with lots of ideas to solve their business problems. Of course, it doesn't happen over night, it takes planning, effort and loads of training - best of all with champions so you can provide them with the skills to train / support others. As we hear regularly, your biggest asset is your people, so let's invest in them the right way.