Coordinating teams and workdays across the office in our new normal of hybrid work is a complex task that requires a lot of untapped potential in productivity tools . Microsoft today announced the public preview of Places, a new app that has been in development for a couple of years and aims to use artificial intelligence to help teams synchronize work time.
New tools for a new normal of hybrid work
At its core, Places offers the same “workplace setting” features found in Google Calendar today, but in a more robust way. By asking users to enter the location of their work on different days, Places offers a clear and data-rich interface to display up-to-date information about what your colleagues' plans are, how full or empty the office is on a given day, the availability of conference rooms, shared desks, and more.
Artificial intelligence is coming onto the scene with Places' upcoming integration with Microsoft Copilot, the tech giant's artificial intelligence assistant.
Tom Warren, writing for The Verge:
You'll be able to ask the AI assistant, “What days should I go this week?” and you'll receive a list of suggestions based on personal meetings, times your colleagues plan to attend, and any team days or events. “You'll be able to ask Copilot to adjust your schedule based on this information—changing your work location to an office on recommended days and rescheduling in-person meetings,” Spataro says.
Also later this year, Copilot will be able to automatically book shared workspaces and meeting rooms for you, minimizing some of the extra admin work that is becoming more common in hybrid work environments.
9to5Mac's Opinion
Microsoft 365 is one of the major productivity platforms driving business, so its efforts to help workers adapt to the era of hybrid work will be successful. long haul. Places appears to be a good start to addressing the challenges posed by the new normal, and the AI features coming later this year could be particularly useful if they work well.
