Google recently rolled out an update to G Suite’s Google Calendar, which includes major changes for employees who rely on Calendar for scheduling workplace meetings, events, and working hours. The update was created to effectively balance the work and personal lives of users, helping them reject meetings during time away from work automatically and further protecting their valuable personal time - all just in time for summer vacation season.
“Working Hours” Feature Helps Better Maintain Work-Life Balance
Being able to develop and maintain a healthy work-life balance is something that happens over time, but has been made much more difficult with the advent of technology and our constant connection to it. One of the new features rolled out in the latest update to Google Calendar helps employees better maintain this work-life balance through the creation of a unique “working hours” feature. Calendar users can quickly set the feature, and the app can also surmise your working hours based on your scheduling patterns and time zone. Further customization of working hours may be prompted, and parameters can be set manually at any time.
This new feature allows G Suite users to set concrete working hours where they will be available for scheduled meetings and other workplace events. The versatile “working hours” feature also prevents other employees from adding users to events or meetings that fall outside of these predefined parameters.
Team members who try to add you to an event that falls outside of your working hours will be informed that of your unavailability during this block of time, taking the pressure off you to explain why you won’t be available and securing your time away from work. This feature goes a long way in avoiding the possibility of being scheduled for meetings outside of working hours, as well as protecting and encouraging more time spent with family and friends.
Easily Let Others Know When You’ll be Away from the Office
In addition to the new working hours feature, the recent Google Calendar update introduces a new “out of office” entry feature that allows users to indicate to others when they’ll be away from the office. When users create “out of office” objects in their Calendar, users who attempt to add them to meetings or workplace events will be automatically declined with a customizable message. Users are also able to easily customize the title of their “out of office” object to indicate things like appointments, family emergencies, or any other reason for being away from the office. Google Calendar will attempt to detect when users are trying to make an “out of office” event, automatically changing the type for added convenience.
The update to Calendar reinforces the versatility of Google’s G Suite platform, with a wide range of solutions that allow for increased productivity and collaboration within the workplace like Docs, Sheets, and slides, supports communication between employees through Gmail and Hangouts, and encourages increased time spent away from the office, creating a much happier and more organized workplace.
For more information on how UpCurve Cloud can help your business increase productivity, employee satisfaction, and your bottom line through implementing a unified workflow featuring workplace solutions like G Suite and other cloud-based software solutions, contact us today.
Contact Us to Learn More about Transforming Your Business