Yammer users are often looking for ways to find the specific information they are looking for amidst a sea of resources and posts. They are looking for ways to make Yammer feel small…except when they’re not. Sometimes, people look to Yammer to expand beyond their team and what they already know and who they are connected with. Sometimes, Yammer users want to go BIG.

Here are 1o ways to go BIG with Yammer.

1. Click on the Home icon: Whether it is the first thing you do when you arrive in your Yammer network, or when you get lost in groups and file libraries and need to return somewhere familiar, you can always go home. Click on the home shaped icon in the upper left hand corner of the screen and you will see posts made to all public groups (even groups you don’t belong to), and posts made to all private groups you belong to.
2. Select your newsfeed: Cast a wide net. After you have clicked on the home icon, you can determine the exact newsfeed you will see. There are three options. “Discover” will suggest content you are probably interested in. “All” shows all posts in all groups you have a right to see. “Following” will show you only posts from groups you belong to, and people and resources you follow.

3. Turn off email notifications: There is no better way to restrict the information that you see in your Yammer network than only reviewing your email notifications. Turn notifications off in your user profile settings, and develop the habit of regularly checking your Yammer newsfeed. Connect with all the great information being shared in your network.
4. Set an example of transparency: Yammer works best when it enables us to connect with the work of other departments and teams throughout our organizations. When you create a group in Yammer, unless confidentiality issues demand privacy, set your group to be public. Enable others to go BIG with Yammer by being having access to your work through transparency as you share conversations and resources with your colleagues.
5. Review group directory: Even when your newsfeed settings are properly set, even when you are not using email notifications, it is easy to forget the wide variety of groups that may exist in your network. Check you group directory from time to time. See what groups are being suggested to you, see what are the largest groups and the smallest groups, remind yourself of what is happening in your network.
6. Follow the leader: Visit other public groups in your networks, and follow colleagues who regularly post in those groups so you can better stay connected to their work. These are the people who understand how to work in a collaborative platform. These are people who want to share, and who want to be transparent. You will learn a lot from them.
7. Be vulnerable: Don’t just use Yammer to report and push information out. Bring your questions and curiosity to Yammer. Have you gotten stuck on a problem? Want to learn more about a project being done in another department? Make those posts. Open yourself on Yammer. Doing so will result in a more robust network with more conversation and activity. Set the example.
8. Use a photo in your Yammer profile: This may sound like a strange way to make Yammer a bigger place, but it’s true. Adding a photo to your user profile is a wonderful and easy way to make it easier for people to connect with you. If it is easier to connect with you, more people will connect with you. When more people connect with you, there will be more activity in your network. Go BIG with a profile photo.
9. Use email: Though email does take us out of the network space where we want our communications activities to be happening, email can do a lot of good in actually getting your colleagues to the Yammer network in the first place. Send an email that says “We could really use your input on this conversation happening in our Yammer network. Click on this link to respond.” “Thank you for requesting the form. Click here to find it in our Yammer network.” Yammer networks don’t go BIG on their own, sometimes we have to be strategic get people there in the first place.
10. Think BIG: Your Yammer network can be the place where your organization works. Yammer can be the place where transparency is achieved, greater collaboration is had, and an ongoing legacy of information is created. The more an organization uses its Yammer network, the more money is saved, the more confusion and frustration is avoided and ideas, creativity and enthusiasm can go BIG throughout every team and every department.

All of this is not to say that Yammer, and Yammer alone can save the day. But, if we are open to change, transparency and collaboration, your Yammer network can be a very effective place for these behaviors to take hold and flourish. So, give it a try. Don’t be afraid. Go BIG!