Outlook will tell you who is in the office

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.

  • king_tronzington@lemm.eeEnglish
    1882·
    3 months ago

    Wouldn’t your coworkers already know you’re working from home by, you know not seeing you at the office?

    • afk_strats@lemmy.worldEnglish
      128·
      3 months ago

      When I worked in an office, most of my team was in other offices across the world. But we had to be in the office for that TEAM BUILDING

        • imPastaSyndrome@lemm.eeEnglish
          18·
          3 months ago

          Yup.

          Daily stand-up meeting

          On the phone because we’re decentralized

          Everyone’s actually sitting + hardly anyone’s even paying attention because they’re at their computers

        • FordBeeblebrox@lemmy.worldEnglish
          11·
          3 months ago

          Even if the whole team is actually in the conference room…it’s one dude with a laptop who struggles to get the display working for 10 min then proceeds to just read the PowerPoint out loud.

          None of this required me putting on pants or being part of traffic.

        • SlopppyEngineer@lemmy.worldEnglish
          7·
          3 months ago

          Even worse, it’s completely real. It was the common situation for me before corona. Also driving an entire day for a 1 hour meeting.

      • vinnymac@lemmy.worldEnglish
        2·
        3 months ago

        I had to read this like six times, because it was so illogical my brain refused to comprehend.

    • PerogiBoi@lemmy.caEnglish
      202·
      3 months ago

      If your company is nationwide and has offices all over the country and you work on a distributed team where some people are on the west coast, some are central, and some are on the east coast. In this such event, none of your teammates will physically be able to tell if you are in the office. That’s what this feature is for.

      So we can all continue to work from home, from a prescribed office of our employers choosing.

        • Fester@lemm.eeEnglish
          18·
          3 months ago

          We’re concerned that your home doesn’t look soul crushing enough. Please upgrade your home office by installing fluorescent tube lights and covering your walls with rough faded blue grey cloth, or we’ll need you to come into the office.

      • Alexstarfire@lemmy.worldEnglish
        10·
        3 months ago

        What? How would this change anything in that scenario? You’re still doing a video call if you want to talk to them.

    • faltryka@lemmy.worldEnglish
      7·
      3 months ago

      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.

      • king_tronzington@lemm.eeEnglish
        211·
        3 months ago

        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

        • edric@lemm.eeEnglish
          121·
          3 months ago

          Yeah, that’s what the meeting invite RSVP is for.

          • candybrie@lemmy.worldEnglish
            3·
            3 months ago

            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.

            • edric@lemm.eeEnglish
              3·
              3 months ago

              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.

        • 0x0@programming.devEnglish
          3·
          3 months ago

          OTOH, you should hold calls and meetings in specific rooms - even if the other party is WFH, not in the open space, so…

        • sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
          1·
          3 months ago

          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.

      • orclev@lemmy.worldEnglish
        101·
        3 months ago

        Sounds like all the meetings should just be done by video and nothing would be lost.

    • DoucheBagMcSwag@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
      1·
      3 months ago

      Maybe head honchos don’t go into the office all the time and aren’t aware if the lower managers are working from home potentially