Actually, maybe there is a better alternative than Twitter for intra-staff instant communications. Yammer is something to consider if you believe the TechCrunch Top 50 folks know their stuff. But first a bit of history.
It was somewhere back about 15 years ago that I was on a church staff where the top dozen or so staff members were given cell phones to keep in better touch. State of the art technology at that time involved walk talkie capabilities. This feature proved incredibly effective for us since the campus was spread out over quite a few acres. Furthermore, there were another 15 or 20 additional staff members in the mix so constant communication was necessary to co-ordinate services, events, etc. with up to the minute information. We didn’t want everyone in on our conversations. We didn’t want the church listening. But we did want each of us listening and we wanted instant access to each other.
Fast forward to today. What’s the most efficient way to accomplish the same thing? You think I’m gonna say Twitter right? Actually no, unless everyone locks their profiles and stays off the public timeline. The newest winner on the “apps to dazzle you” list is Yammer.
Yammer is similar to Twitter; it is an online status updating service. But Yammer’s distinctive is that it’s intra-organizational. If you have an email address for any particular business organization (in this case a church) a communication hub can easily be developed around those who share company addresses. Yes, it’s like a closed circle. But sometimes, communication should be private.
Plus Yammer can perform tricks. Can’t remember your youth pastor’s birthday? It’s in his/her profile, along with other important info that co-workers often need handy access to (like spouse’s names, etc.) And you can work on projects on Yammer together. Hashtags (tags for short) are used to signify project names, etc.
I haven’t used Yammer but I do know a couple of early adopting organizations that do. Fellowship Technologies is using it and Curtis Simmons, Senior VP of Operations, told me he loves the interface. Additionally, LifeChurch.tv started using it and their Online Community Pastor, Tony Steward, relayed to me they had 50 people using it within the first couple of days of implementation.
If you think such a service might be good for your church, you can watch this simple video clip to preview Yammer.
This looks perfect for a church staff, or in my case a volunteer creative team or even a small group with confidential prayer requests, etc. Thanks for passing this on.
luv it…looks great…hope more churches start using it.
rhett
Rich – the thing that makes Yammer different from Twitter is that you must have an email account that allows you access to your network. So, your volunteer creative team could be on it together if they all have church emails. On the other hand, your small group could not. Here’s more from TechCrunch -
“Yammer is a tool for making companies and organizations more productive through the exchange of short frequent answers to one simple question: “What are you working on?” As employees answer that question, a feed is created in one central location enabling co-workers to discuss ideas, post news, ask questions, and share links and other information. Yammer also serves as a company directory in which every employee has a profile and as a knowledge base where past conversations can be easily accessed and referenced. Anyone in a company can start their Yammer network and begin inviting colleagues. The privacy of each network is ensured by limiting access to those with a valid company email address. The basic Yammer service is free. Companies can pay to claim and administer their network.”
Cynthia,
Yammer has been a very powerful communication tool for the LifeChurch.tv staff in a very short period of time. Currently about 1/3 of the staff has signed up and connected into the network with no “official” push or requirement.
Twitter or Yammer? For me I need both. Twitter is for personal and Yammer is a corporate communication tool….Yammer is a tool for me that is replacing some needs for Email and IM.
Terry – thanks for the feedback. We wanna hear from those of you who are pioneering out ahead so there’s no wasting time on services that really don’t deliver what we think they might.
And great advice – use both for what they’re designed for. Anything that cuts down on inter-office email would be worth it.
A couple of us in our office have been using this for a couple of weeks and we really enjoy it. Our guys (who are not Twitter savvy) are calling it texting on steroids.
I like it. I like that it can be controlled in or out by email, text and IM. I am not impressed with the desktop version though. There is no way to search and to me that is a plus to keep in touch with key tags.
I think we are going to use this for a while though.
Just signed up and it appears that I’m the first on the Northpoint Campus… I’ll have to drop a line this week and see how it rolls.
Over at the Bible Society in New Zealand we are testing Yammer and trying to work out whether it is a valid alternative to our intranet or a complement. Jury is still undecided.
Church groups without corporate emails might want to check out wiggio.
Was designed for student work groups , but seems ideal for small groups like churches and teams. Has some very useful features.
dave – just checked out wiggio because I’d never heard of it. thanks for adding it here as a resource.