Microsoft announced a file Microsoft 365 An app called Microsoft Places that will look to “improve” the management of mixed workplaces.
When presenting the app at an Ignite event, the company explained that the idea was to inform team members when colleagues would come to the office, and to suggest if it might be a good idea to hold certain meetings in person.
It also raised Smart Summary, a feature that will use artificial intelligence to analyze meeting recordings in order to assign tasks to team members, take minutes, and share “personal insights.” Smart Summary will be available as part of the new Teams Premium package.
Microsoft Places and Hybrid Work
The introduction of Microsoft Places, the company claims, is backed by survey data. According to the last company Work direction indicator (Opens in a new tab)More than 80% of employees go to the office in order to meet and collaborate with each other.
Microsoft believes that a software solution is needed to bridge the gap between the pre-pandemic world of current physical work and the allowance for remote work caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Places claims, it will provide accurate insight into the workplace, and tips on how offices can benefit from remodeling as businesses adapt to it. Hybrid work environments.
Other features will include an “updated” conference reservation system, as well as insights for business leaders to assess how office space is being used, and how best to approach mixed business policy.
But the employees who became comfortable with them video conferencing There is no need to despair. Microsoft claims that Places is being developed for “[connect] virtual and physical spaces”, and to make offices safer and more transparent after the onset of the pandemic.
While at least some allowances for remote work are stuck in many workplaces, the transparency in office spaces that Microsoft wants to offer with places may renew employee confidence in office environments, with a renewed focus on employee safety.
But discussion of the tool’s long-term impact on business practices will have to wait. As of now, Microsoft Places will “soon be available in preview.”