Microsoft Teams may soon reveal when you're in the office: Here's what managers can see

Microsoft Teams is planning to soon unveil a new feature that could make hybrid work from home transparent, however more controversial. The tech giant will soon launch a feature ‘Called Workplace Check-In’, designed to automatically update en employee’s work location. As soon as the employees connect to their company’s Wi-Fi network. As per Microsoft, the feature is designed to help coworkers working from the office and improve coordination for in-person collaboration. Also Read: Google Chat to let you chat with Slack, Microsoft Teams users, but there's a catch

Nevertheless, the feature is announced has sparked questions about workplace visibility along with employee privacy. While the company insists the feature is not a surveillance tool, there are still workers that might see it as an another example of workplace software that provides insights about where work is taking place. Also Read: Microsoft to roll out Teams app on Android Auto

Companies continue to refine hybrid work policies and return-to-office requirements. Hence, Microsoft’s latest Teams update is already generating a buzz and debate about how much workplace information should be shared and who gets to see it. Also Read: How to host a meeting in Google Meet and Microsoft Teams

What is Microsoft’s Workplace Check-In feature?

Microsoft Workplace Check-In feature is an upcoming extension of company’s Workplace collaboration tools within Teams.

From what company says, when an employee connects to their organization’s Wi-Fi network, Teams will automatically update their work location. It will showcase the building where they are working from.

The feature is an enhancement and designed to work alongside Teams existing workplace and room reservation tools. These utilities feature help employees identify coworkers who are working from the office and making I easier to coordinate in person meetings.

As per Microsoft, the goal behind this tool is to reduce friction and improve workplace collaboration. It doesn’t require employees to manually update their location every day.

What information could Teams share?

One of the biggest questions and concerns related to the Check-In feature is exactly what information will be visible.

According to Microsoft, the feature is expected to:

• It will detect as soon as employee connects to company Wi-Fi.
• The feature will identify the office building where the employee is working.
• It will automatically update the employee’s work location in Teams.
• Check-In feature will allow coworkers and managers to see whether someone is working from an office location.

Ina statement Microsoft said that the feature is not designed to track employee movements throughout the day. Besides this, Workplace Check-In is not intended to record attendance data or maintain historical location records.

However, still, for employees, the variation may not completely remove concerns about workplace monitoring.

Microsoft’s response to surveillance concerns

According to the company, the function is meant for sharing, not to monitor the job.

But, it’s not just Microsoft that’s watching for attendance; the transparency that its workplace software brings could affect how organizations track attendance as well, critics say.

That’s going to be a key point in the discussion as the feature is rolled out.

Check-In feature might affect return-to-office policies

But perhaps the most important one is how organizations could possibly utilize Workplace Check-In?

The feature is aimed at enabling employees to coordinate their in-person work, rather than spy on one another, Microsoft states. But when it arrived is curious. Many organisations worldwide are continuing to make return-to-office conditions more stringent, while working to make more stringent adjustments for the long-term hybrid working.

With automatic updating of the workplace location when employees connect to the company Wi-Fi, Teams could make it more visible when they are present in the workplace, throughout an organization. That data may simply be used to assist teams arrange meetings and arrange office visits in many workplaces.

Meanwhile, others might be asking if greater transparency about where workers are might someday affect the way an organization views whether an employee is actually at the office or adhering to their hybrid work plan.

Microsoft hasn’t indicated that Workplace Check-In is meant for attendance tracking. However, it will likely continue to be a topic of debate on the ways workplace data are utilized once it’s in the hands of users.

Whereas for many employees, it’s not so much a question of whether the technology works, but how much visibility they are willing to give in a highly connected workplace.

Is it possible for workers to switch it off?

A second key issue is whether the employees will have input into the operation of Workplace Check-In.

Microsoft has not released full information on all settings, administrative control, or privacy options available for the feature when it is released. This means that there are a number of questions that remain unanswered.

Staff will want to know more about:

• Is there a way to turn off the Workplace Check-In for each user?
• Will organizations be able to make the feature mandatory?
• Exactly what information will managers be able to see?
• Will there be location data that will be captured or preserved?
• Do employees have the ability to manually change or update their work location?

According to Microsoft, the feature isn’t designed to monitor people’s movement, attendance or past location. The company also states that Workplace Check-In isn’t a surveillance program, but rather a collaboration tool.

But until Microsoft provides more specifics in documentation, and until companies start to roll it out, workers are still going to have concerns about how much control they will have over sharing their workplace location.

One of the reasons for the feature’s popularity outside Microsoft’s “enterprise software” base is the uncertainty that exists.

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