If you've found this guide, then you're probably one of the many people in the Microsoft network wondering when to use Yammer, and when you should stick with Microsoft Teams. There have been several thought-leadership posts on this topic, including those from Microsoft experts, and the consensus is that the two tools are very similar. However, while Yammer acts more like a social intranet for the workplace, Microsoft Teams is more of the standard team collaboration tool we've come to expect from groups like Atlassian with Slack.
According to a comment made by Ron Markezich, VP of Office 365 marketing on BusinessInsider.com, Microsoft had previously considered building Teams functionality into Yammer, but they worried that doing so would make the experience too cluttered. Instead, they felt that separating the two solutions into one bulletin-board style app, and one community hub was a better way to allow companies to choose the kind of collaboration solution that appeals best to them.
Microsoft Teams vs Yammer: The Team vs the Collaborative Group
The first and most obvious difference between Microsoft Teams, and Yammer, is that one is intended for intimate team settings - while the other is intended to be a sort of announcement strategy for an entire business. As Kevin Crossman, the IT Manager of Juniper Networks states in his LinkedIn blog, both applications offer their own unique way of working.
Teams is the solution you turn to when you're trying to bring together a few select experts to work on a project. You might have a channel that's devoted to your marketing team, and another one specifically for sales.
Generally, "Teams" are smaller collaborative experiences made up of a handful of your best and brightest. They're like a group conference, rather than an enterprise event. Microsoft says that it's designed for the "inner circle", and that's certainly the intimate experience you get.
On the other hand, if Teams is like bringing your community together for a quick chat, Yammer is more like standing at the head of your enterprise with a megaphone. Where Teams is a constant stream of information, Yammer is about big, important announcements designed to include everyone - even those on the outer circle of your business.
Microsoft Teams vs Yammer: Connecting Employees
Now, you might be wondering why anyone would need something as broad as Yammer when Teams gives you everything you need to connect the disparate workers in your group. The simple answer is that Teams might be too intimate to give company messages the level of discoverability they need. Yammer allows organisations of any size to achieve the level of creativity and conversation you'd get from people discussing a business newsletter by the watercooler.
With Yammer, you don't have to be in the same business silo or space to connect over something important. You can see all the trending topics about your organisation in the same location and respond to them as and when you like. On the other hand, Teams is a bit more of a "clique" experience.
