Communities are a new addition to Microsoft Teams. It is a feature within the new Yammer App that allows you to conduct polls and easily leverage the @mentions messaging features. The new Yammer App was meant to enable you to build relationships and share knowledge across teams and your entire organization, without ever having to leave Teams.
Organizations can also take advantage of organizing their video broadcasts all within the new Yammer App via Microsoft Stream.
To make things even simpler, you can now pin the Yammer Communities app to the left side of Microsoft Teams enabling you to engage with leaders, watch live events, ask questions, get answers, and stay up-to-date with news and announcements. It’s Yammer—in Microsoft Teams.
Will it work on my device?
Currently, the new Yammer App is for use on desktop computers or via a Web browser.
How can I install it?
Your IT department or Teams Admin can add the Communities Yammer App for all Teams users, or allow end-users to install it themselves from within Teams. See below for instructions.
Install the Yammer Communities app for Microsoft Teams for your organization:
Admins can choose to deploy and pin the app for all users or particular departments through custom policies.
Install the Yammer Communities app for Microsoft Teams for yourself:
- Open Microsoft Teams on the web or in a desktop client.
- At the bottom of the Microsoft Teams app bar, click Apps.
- Search for Communities.
- Click on the Communities app, and then click Add.
Pin the Yammer Communities app to the left side of Microsoft Teams:
- Go to More, on the left side of Microsoft Teams—this is where you’ll find all your apps.
- Right-click any app icon and select Pin to make your app visible in the purple area on the left.
How Can I use Yammer?
Think of Yammer as communication for the “outer loop” within your organization. It is perfect for broadcasting messages across the masses in your organization where Microsoft Teams is more focused on the inner loop. Microsoft Teams targets specific groups of people working together to accomplish a goal.
Can I experience Yammer through a tab inside my Team?
The Yammer Communities experience can also be integrated as a tab in your Teams channels. See below for instructions.
How to add a Yammer tab to a Teams channel:
- In the Teams channel, select + on the tab bar.
- Select the Yammer tab.
- Select the Yammer group to show on the tab, and then click Install.
- Once you have installed the app, you must configure it. In the Content-Type section, select one of the following:
- Yammer Group: all messages visible to the user in the selected group.
- Topic Feed: all messages visible to the user with the selected topic hashtag, for example, #NewEmployee.
- In the Search box, type the group name or topic you want to include.
- To automatically have a Teams message sent that lets your team know that you’ve added the Yammer tab, make sure the Post to the channel about this tab checkbox is selected. Otherwise, clear it.
- Click Save. The new Yammer tab shows up in the tab bar for all team members.