Google Calendar, one of Google’s most popular apps, is adding a new feature—ability to share where you are working from. This new feature will help you to properly organize office meetings.
For users on select Google Workspace plans, the new feature will start working from August 30th. Accessibility will be via the Calendar settings menu alongside the existing working hours option. This can also be accessed via the weekly calendar view below where it shows each day’s dates. Among work stations available to users are “Office,” “Home,” “Unspecified,” or “Somewhere else.”
Google in a blog post announced that the option is being added to make it “easier to plan in-person collaboration or set expectations in a hybrid workplace.” This is understandable considering the surge in the popularity of remote working caused by the pandemic. There has been an increase on the need for employees to keep track of people’s working hours, location, and planning of in-person meetings and other events.
“By showing others which days of the week you plan to be in the office, working from home, or working from another location, it’s easier to plan in-person collaboration or set expectations in a hybrid workplace.”
The working location option is switched off by default, but you can enable it after it starts rolling out a couple of days from now. categories of users that will be able to access the new feature include: Google Workspace Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Plus, Nonprofits, and G Suite Business.
G Suite Basic customers as well as Google Workspace Essentials, Business Starter, Enterprise Essentials, and users on Education Fundamentals plans will not be able to access the feature.
In 2019, Google updated the Calendar in Gmail with new features that will enable you propose a new meeting time. The update also includes adding a new note to Calendar invites from Gmail.
When you open a Google Calendar invite in Gmail, you will see a new “More Options” dropdown menu that was added by Google. the new More Options feature allows you to propose a new time for the meeting or add a note to your RSVP. Selecting either option opens the respective event section in calendar.google.com, where you will then be able to directly make those updates.
