How to Discover Unanswered Questions in Yammer and Increase User Trust

What's the one key factor that determines whether your company's use of Yammer is successful?

Trust.

A survey conducted by the Human Capital Institute found that the most successful companies share a common characteristic: high levels of employee trust and engagement. In fact, companies that had a high degree of trust saw 69% of workers feeling safe to communicate their ideas and opinions, and 61% of workers felt that their organization was effective in rewarding them for their work. From an HR perspective, these companies were 60% more likely to retain their key employees than those who reported a disengaged workforce.

Just as trust is a key factor in determining organizational health and alignment, it also predicts whether Yammer users will actually use Yammer. When users ask questions in Yammer and don't receive timely responses, they quickly lose trust that Yammer is actually a forum meant for business collaboration.

We've resoundingly heard through our conversations with Yammer administrators and users that the biggest challenge to improving reply rates is discovering questions that haven't yet been answered. The manual process of scrolling through hundreds of groups or thousands of posts is extremely cumbersome, and in many cases simply not feasible. This is where actionable Yammer analytics can really help:

With actionable Yammer analytics, Yammer admins can track:

• Total number of unanswered questions on Yammer
• Number of users who have asked a question without a response
• Average reply time by group

Working from the executive summary, administrators can drill into lists of unanswered questions, and bring in subject matter experts from across the organization to drive conversation. Additionally, administrators can identify users who may experience diminished trust in Yammer and can help alleviate some of their concerns by coaching them on better ways to phrase questions, or a better group to ask it. Lastly, as administrators begin to be proactive on Yammer, they can monitor the average reply rate to gauge their success for adoption and engagement.

Is there another way you address Yammer adoption and engagement on your network? Let us know in the comments or on Twitter at @gooddata. We'd love to hear from you!

This is part three of a five part series on how your organization can use Yammer analytics to unlock the full potential of your Yammer investment.

Part 1: There's 365% ROI on the line. How solid is your Yammer investment?

Part 2: Identify Top Performing Groups and Replicate their Success

Part 4: Uncharted Territory: How to Find Top Yammer Influencers and Champions

Part 5: How to Use Yammer to Measure Employee Morale and Sentiment