2 min Applications

Google Calendar lets users show how they will attend a meeting

Google Calendar lets users show how they will attend a meeting

With the introduction of COVID-19 vaccines, many businesses and offices are now requiring their workers to come into the office at least a few times a week. Few things can replace the hands-on experience needed for some industries.

However, it is common for most of these meetings to happen with participants who are on-premises, while others attend from remote locations. This model is what has created the hybrid workplace environment.

There is also the issue of people being in offices at different times, which is why Google has updated its Calendar.

How the update works

Google updates the RSVP feature for Calendar, to make it more suitable for the flexible workplace models. The tech giant rolled out the new RSVP options for Calendar invitations, allowing users to easily accept meetings, while on the Calendar interface.

So, when users click ‘Yes’ to an invitation for a meeting, a drop-down menu will appear, allowing them to indicate whether they will attend the meeting in-person or virtually.

Both the meeting host and guests will see how the attendees will show up, by looking through the event details. 

Expansion plans

When viewing the attendees’ list, users will be able to see an icon next to the name of the attendee, that indicates how they plan to attend the meeting. The details are also summarized in such a way that a simple glance will tell you how many will be in attendance and a summary of their preferred method of attending.

The RSVP options are useful, but they cannot be shared with users on other platforms like Microsoft Outlook and will only show up on the Google Calendar itself. That may change in the future but if the feature is expanded, it will go to other Google apps first, with Gmail possibly next on the list, according to a statement by the company.

Tip: Google Workspace takes the lead over Microsoft in hybrid working