Twitter-esque service helps businesses foster collaboration across the nation — even around the globe

When staffers need to collaborate in close proximity, talking across a desk or over a cubicle wall might seem like a fine solution. But long-distance coordination limits your options: Conference calls and the requisite follow-ups? Inbox-clogging e-mails? A never-ending game of phone tag?

The internal micro-blogging service Yammer is a viable alternative. It’s like Twitter in some respects, but it has two advantages — it’s accessible only to designated employees, and there is no limit on the number of characters per blast.

Employees can use it socially, of course, to chat about Lost or The Office, but it serves a utilitarian purpose, as well.

Kari Chisholm, president of Mandate Media in Portland, Ore., says Yammer improves communication among staff in different cities.

“Throughout the day, we work across projects and across time zones,” Chisholm explains.  “… I was wondering — how do we stay on top of projects without cluttering e-mail boxes or using the phone all the time? As I thought about it, I wanted a private Twitter for our team. And, like all brilliant ideas, someone had already done it.”

Like Twitter, the basic service is free, but companies can opt to pay a small fee — $1 or $5 per user per month — for additional features, which include text messaging, guest passes, or archiving old messages. Messages can be organized into topics or by hashtags, and are viewed online through a Yammer desktop client or on a mobile phone. 

Here’s a look at how some companies use the service, and how you might reap the benefits of internal micro-blogging.

Collaborate across time zones

The three-person staff at Mandate Media, a political consulting company, moved much of its interactions from e-mail and phone to Yammer within the last month when it took on a new employee on the East Coast.

Yammer allows employees to keep their schedules in their own time zones without the need for cross-country colleagues to be on the phone or e-mail all day. Two staff members reside in Portland; the other lives in Washington, D.C.

“With a phone call or instant message, you both have to be online at the same time,” Chisholm says. “I can post a message, and three hours later a colleague responds. It doesn’t clutter up the inbox. With e-mail you feel like you have to say hello, goodbye, how are you, hope you have a good weekend. With Yammer, you get right to the point.”

Yammer helps the staff work together, whether they’re 2,800 miles apart or separated by only a wall, as Chisholm and his Portland partner are.

“My partner [and CFO] is not usually involved in the day-to-day with clients, so it’s useful for her to drop in on Yammer and get quickly up to speed,” Chisholm says. “She knows exactly where we are on projects, and I don’t have to brief her all the time on where we are. She feels much more included.”

Although Yammer doesn’t replace phone calls with remote colleagues, it reduces the number dramatically.

“We talk on the phone once a day, but it’s not 18 times per day,” Chisholm says. “When you want to have a deliberative conversation, that’s a phone call, but Yammer’s great for assigning a task or getting a response — transactional communication.”

Spur employee feedback

There are several ways to use Yammer on work projects.

Mandate Media uses hashtags (much in the same way hashtags are used on Twitter) to sort messages by client. If, for example, Chisholm is sending an update like “Hey, I uploaded the video” about client Americorps Northwest, he might tag it with #americorps so he can search and see all updates about #americorps at once.

The online presentation company Real Estate Shows uses one of Yammer’s premium services. Customer service rep Sarah Cooper receives her @ replies via text message to her cell phone.

“It’s great if you need info quickly,” Cooper says. “If someone @’s me, it goes to my phone. If I’m off work and someone @’s me, it comes to my phone and I know they need something, so I’m able to answer them.”

Real Estate Shows has six employees. Cooper works from home in West Virginia, but most of the rest of the company is in California or Arizona. She uses Yammer when she knows one of her colleagues can answer a question better.

Yammer at Fry Inc. has morphed into something similar. It’s become a way for employees to tap into the knowledge base that is their fellow employees. CEO David Fry likens Yammer to one big meeting room that allows employees to share important news and expertise.

“It’s being used to answer questions that otherwise wouldn’t have been asked,” Fry says. “People would have sat and accepted their ignorance about certain things before, but now they have a vehicle to ask questions.”

Fry spurs conversation among the three-quarters of his staff who use Yammer simply by asking questions. The e-commerce strategy consulting company has 300 employees at four locations around the U.S.

“As the head of the company, I can talk all I want, but I want to spur conversation with more people,” Fry says. “I want each one of our 300 employees to engage in conversation … I think the company is more successful when you can get 300 people sharing good ideas, not just me.”

Create a social venue, too

Yammer also facilitates social interaction with colleagues.

Fry employees Yammer primarily for work-related conversation, but there’s a group dedicated to the lighter things, like episodes of Lost or newly released movies. Aptly named “Water Cooler,” it receives about 5 percent of the site’s traffic.

The social applications are more pronounced at Real Estate Shows. Cooper, who was recently hired at the company, can interact with her new colleagues and bond with them, even from across the country.

“Because we’re an online company and there’s no water cooler, we can talk and share links,” Cooper says. “One member just went to Africa, so she put a link up to pictures so she could share them with everyone.”