Sneaking in a work from home day could soon be a bit trickier thanks to a new update coming to Microsoft Outlook.
The email provider is rolling out a new feature that will allow users to spot which of their co-workers or colleagues is currently in the office, and therefore possibly free for a quick meeting or able to reply to a message.
The update will use the Work Hours and Location information stored within Outlook to offer up this information, meaning there may be some awkward conversations if your colleagues believe you to be in the office.
In its entry in the Microsoft 365 roadmap, the company notes that the feature will be “always on”, meaning there may be no getting around what it represents as your office presence.
My “office” is a network of interconnected multi-story buildings. It’s actually really convenient for me to know if I need to go meet someone in person or just use video.
Sometimes we have a room booked ahead of time and I learn they are wfh when I get to the empty room.
That’s just poor common courtesy by your coworker. If you have a physical room booked and they are WFH they need to tell you so you don’t waste your time. You shouldn’t be relying on teams status
Yeah, that’s what the meeting invite RSVP is for.
Does your RSVP have options for remote vs in person? My options are “accept”, “decline”, and “tentative.” If I want to tell someone I’m remote that day, it needs to be a separate message.
You can respond with a message included. If I see the location as a physical room and not a zoom link, I accept/tentative and add a comment that I won’t be at the office on that day/time and if we can do it online instead.
OTOH, you should hold calls and meetings in specific rooms - even if the other party is WFH, not in the open space, so…
Yeah, I only mark a meeting room if I’ll be in that meeting room, and I’ll only do that on the 2x/week when we’re expected to be in the office.
Sounds like all the meetings should just be done by video and nothing would be lost.