Get everyone on Chatter.

Chatter is free for everyone and there are hundreds of ways to use it. See examples of how you can use Chatter at your company.

 

Three ways to get people engaged

 

Add all employees to Chatter.

Use the Data Loader to add all your employees to Chatter at once. To find the Data Loader, click Setup > Administration Setup > Data Management > Data Loader, then follow the instructions.

Add new users one at a time.

If you want to add employees one at a time, click Setup > Administration Setup > Manage Users > Users > New User.

Turn on invitations.

Let employees invite co-workers to join them on Chatter for free. Invitations are limited to the domains you approve. Click Setup > App Setup > Customise > Chatter > Manage Your Chatter Settings.
 

Good things to keep in mind

 

Some suggestions for rollout.

Rolling out Chatter will be as unique as your organisation. It could take anywhere from a few minutes to a few weeks, depending on the number of users and their comfort with social media tools.

Craft your message to management.

It’s a good idea to educate and inform your executive sponsor(s) about Chatter, so they can help establish a Chatter culture and make sure your deployment is a smashing success.

 

Meet with key stakeholders.

Meet with key Salesforce stakeholders to discuss the Chatter rollout and address any questions. Getting right people are on board and will help your deployment be more successful.

Hold a webinar for your users.

Webinars highlight what your company can do with Chatter. Include business use cases, do’s and don’ts, and examples of how other companies are using Chatter. 

 

Hold a Q&A session.

Set up a meeting where users can ask questions and share feedback or suggestions. This is a great way to share additional resources and examples of how your colleagues are using Chatter. 

Take Chatter to the next level with free add-ons.

On AppExchange, you can find lots of great add-ons that make Chatter an even more fun and productive tool.

 

Get the word out.

 

Define a clear value proposition.

Explain through email, webinars, or phone calls why Chatter is a game changer for your organisation.

Use a drip email campaign before you launch.

Send an email one month before the launch date to your whole organisation about Chatter and its benefits. Send another every week until launch with new information to get everyone excited.

Share videos on how to use Chatter.

Another part of your prelaunch communications could be to highlight how to use Chatter through videos. Either record your own or use one of the ones we’ve created.

Spread the word.

During launch, have fun spreading the word about your Chatter deployment. Try putting up posters on how to use Chatter, throw launch parties, and set up dedicated webinars to train people.

After the launch, redirect to Chatter.

Redirect all collaboration to Chatter. Encourage employees to stop using email and communicate through Chatter groups instead. 

Email users and the executive team.

Tell your users about Chatter. This is a great way to get everyone excited and explain how to use Chatter. Executive adoption is the best way to ensure high user adoption.

 

Drum up some support.

 

Championing Chatter

Gaining executive support for your Chatter rollout is critical to helping employees understand the value it adds. They bring the conversation to life and show people great ways to use the application.

Executive Sponsor

An executive who believes in Chatter means more people will adopt and use the application. He or she will inspire others and promote Chatter to the rest of the executive team and help fuel the excitement.

 

Who’s typically an executive sponsor?

Executive sponsors are often in senior roles, such as CMO, CIO, VP of Sales, VP Customer Service, Head of HR, or even CEO.

Internal Champion

It’s critical to find evangelists who love Chatter and can act as torchbearers. They can guide, answer questions, and explain advanced functionality to users who might be apprehensive about the application.

 

Taking it to the next level

Want Chatter to take off? Reward users that do something cool on Chatter. It shows that Chatter is the best way to collaborate, and inspires people to use Chatter in new and innovative ways.

 

Ready, set … you’re good to go!

 

Load new users.

You can load new users one at a time, or all at once, using the Data Loader wizard.

Enable Chatter feed tracking for objects and fields.

Enabling the “Owner” field will ensure that users are following the records they create.

 

Set key executives for all users to follow.

Use the Data Loader to automatically have users follow key company leaders. You can read more about the Data Loader here.

Set up groups with members and seed with content.

Create an “All Chatter” group for all users to ask questions and share best practices. You can use the Data Loader for this.

 

Post FAQ and user guidelines in the All Chatter Group.

Post these documents to the system admin's feed and then update the group description with links to these documents.

Manage email notifications for your organisation.

Turn on email notifications for users so they’ll be notified of important updates from Chatter.

 

Get involved in some groups.

Collaborate and share all in one place.

Chatter groups reduce email, make collaboration and project management easier, and are a great way to keep up with your team. Here are some groups that have been successful at other companies.

public

All company

Add all employees to this group to discuss companywide topics and make announcements.

Competitive

Connect customer-facing employees with competitive and product experts in your company to crowdsource answers and beat the competition.

private

My team

Add team members to this group to discuss projects you’re working on, give feedback, and share presentations, spreadsheets, and documents.

Human Resources

Discuss employee issues, compensation, benefits, bonuses, and morale in a private, confidential group so sensitive emails aren’t forwarded on.

Customer meetings

Create groups where all the key players on a deal can collaborate more easily on presentations, agendas, and products.

See what Chatter can do for you.

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