Google makes it easier to operate a hybrid workplace with Calendar work locations

Welcome to the Workspace Sessions. Workspace Sessions brings you the latest from Google Workspace, the Google Admin Console, and all things related to Enterprise and Education from the world of Google.

Google Workspace has adapted quite well to the new normal – the hybrid work environment that’s a mix of physical and digital which was born out of the global pandemic. It seems like not a week goes by without an update to its suite of tools and services that make things much easier for those who are forced to work from home in order to make a living. Today, Google Calendar is changing with the times by adding the option for users to specify what location they’re working from during an event or shift.

Teachers, employers, and Admins alike can now see who will be in class or in the office on any given day versus who will stay home and complete their work from a more comfortable or safer environment. Pretty much everyone across the Workspace tiers listed below who has a Rapid Release domain should begin seeing it between today and the next two weeks – up to August 30, 2021. Anyone who has set their domain up for Scheduled Release will have to wait for up to two weeks beginning on September 14, 2021.

In your Calendar’s settings, you’ll be able to explicitly state which location you’ll be collaborating from and on which days and times as seen above. You can choose from ‘Office’, indicating that you’ll be appearing in person, ‘Home’, meaning, well, I’m pretty sure we all know that one by now, ‘Unspecified’ for when you’re operating from an undisclosed secret military black site, or ‘Somewhere else’ for those times when you may be working from a coffee shop or some other place.

Administrators can already access these settings so they can begin planning out how they will be used for their organization. For their users, once this new location setting rolls out, it will be toggled off by default, but admins can force it ‘ON’ immediately if they so choose. I’m interested in seeing how useful you think this may be for your school or company, so please let me know in the settings if you’ll be engaging with this new tool!

Business Standard
Business Plus
Enterprise Standard
Enterprise Plus
Education Plus
Nonprofits
G Suite for Business

Available

Workspace Essentials
Business Starter
Enterprise Essentials
Education Fundamentals
Frontline
G Suite Basic

NOT Available

This installment of Workspace Sessions is sponsored in part by CTL. CTL is an industry leader in the deployment and management of Chrome and Chrome OS hardware. Headquartered in the USA, CTL designs and purpose builds Chrome devices specifically to meet the needs of its customers. Find out more about CTL here.