This Google Calendar update gives your co-workers nowhere to hide

Tracking down your office team mates and other colleagues should soon be easier thanks to a new update to Google Calendar.

The calendar app for Google Workspace is now able to show a range of status options in Google Chat, giving you extra information on what you or your co-workers are up to.

Previously limited to just showing when someone was out of office, Google Chat is now able to show a number of different statuses, including “in a meeting” or “in focus time”.

Google Calendar statuses

“We hope by surfacing these additional statuses, this will make it easier for your colleagues to identify appropriate times to message you,” the company wrote in its Google Workspace update blog post announcing the change.

Admins will also be able to configure specific options for displaying the new status, with the ability to toggle on and off – or completely disable it.

The feature, which will be on by default, has started rolling out now across Android, iOS and web users. It will be available to all Google Workspace customers, as well as G Suite Basic and Business customers. However, it won’t be an option for Google Workspace Individual users or those with personal Google accounts.

The news is the latest update to Google Calendar as the company looks to help employees embracing hybrid working that are splitting their time between the office and home.

Recently, it revealed a tool that means Gmail users will now be able to specify whether they will be attending a meeting either virtually or in-person in their email RSVP.

As mentioned above, Google Calendar also recently launched “Focus time”, where users can block out periods of time where they can avoid meetings and get their heads down for actual work.

Setting such a marker in your Google Calendar will also allow users to automatically decline meetings, meaning no last-minute rush to finish off work.