#YearOfYammer hits Australia

The Yammer Product Team were in Australia this week demonstrating the many improvements coming in the #YearOfYammer and answering all of the hard questions.

Jason Mayans (Group Head of Product), Steve Nguyen (Yammer Evangelist) and Angus Florance (Product Marketing Leader) showcased what’s coming in the #YearOfYammer to an enthusiastic groups in Melbourne and Sydney meet ups and at Microsoft Ignite the Tour in Sydney

I was fortunate to get some time with Jason, Steve and Angus to ask a few questions before the Melbourne event. No spoilers here though, the details of that interview will be released on the Yammer Blog in March.

So this just happened. My big @Yammer fangirl moment meeting @espnguyen and @jmayans organised by the fabulous @angusflorance.

There will be a blog post!#YearOfYammer #Yammer pic.twitter.com/lYG1zv8vIF
— Rebecca Jackson 🤓 レベッカ (@RebeccaJLJ) February 11, 2020

While I remain tight lipped for now on my chat with the team, there is plenty of information out there about the #YearOfYammer which the team has openly shared at the Australian events, as well as answering their specific questions down to the greatest detail.

In terms of what is coming I see a few key themes in the #YearOfYammer

Alignment and integration with Office 365 / Microsoft 365
Strength in community management
Differentiation and purpose

Alignment and integration

Built on Microsoft’s fluent design, the new Yammer still has that “Yammer feel” with subtle yet significant changes that bring visually and functionally in line with Office 365 and Microsoft 365.

SharePoint – improved modern web part
Outlook online – dynamic content
Teams – Yammer application for the left hand rail

Community management

As a Community Manager who has been using Yammer almost since it came into existence the administrative and management features in the year of yammer are particularly exciting.

Pinning posts
Anything can be an announcement
Background images
Close conversations
So many event features

Differentiation and purpose

Without a doubt one of the biggest questions in the past few years has been around Yammer vs Teams. What is the difference? What do I use when? Do I need both? Which to use when?

A very simple change to Yammer creates a lot of clarity around that discuss:

Groups will be renamed to communities

I am very curious to see how this renaming will change behaviour within organisations. But as a community manager I love that it creates a very clear label for the purpose of Yammer.

Extra insights

I captured the tweets from the Melbourne and Sydney Year of Yammer sessions and Microsoft Ignite the Tour in Sydney:

There was also a great interview at the end of the Melbourne session available on Twitter.

Great event last night hearing abt #yearofyammer. Thx for hosting @engagesq! W @jmayans @espnguyen @markwoodrow @angusflorance @_rebeccajackson @ActivateLearn @jenfrahm @GrantRoss21 (film editor:)) @changehacks1 @Yammer @Microsoft #ESN pic.twitter.com/EazeBewiNH
— Lena Ross 🇦🇺 (@LenaEmelyRoss) February 12, 2020

The demo and the details

If you couldn’t get to the Melbourne or Sydney events, do not stress out. The team did an hour long webinar with a detailed demonstration and Q&A which has been published so you can view on demand.