Microsoft to take you to office via virtual commute in Teams

As the pandemic takes its toll on the well-being of workers globally, Microsoft has announced a unique feature in its video meet app Teams which will take you to office as you used to before the work-from-home scenario, virtually though.

Called 'Virtual Commute', the upcoming feature in Teams will let you create mental bookends for your remote workday and make it easier to productively start and mindfully end the workday.

"We're also excited to share that we are partnering with Headspace to bring a curated set of mindfulness experiences and science-backed meditations into the flow of your work in Teams," the company announced during its 'Microsoft Ignite 2020' conference on Tuesday.

"Think about what we were going into in the day and think about clearing up what we are coming out of in a day. And so this virtual commute experience allows you to take a step back, again going into and coming out of your day to just organise your thoughts and to make sure you're really processing, doing some pre- and post-processing of your work," explained Jared Spataro, corporate vice president, Microsoft 365.

The other features include meditation breaks and work habits.

Starting in October, individuals, managers, and business leaders will get insights and recommended actions to achieve a better day, a better week, and a better experience for themselves, their teams, and their organisations.

With a new emotional check-in experience, also coming early next year, people can easily tap into how they and their teammates are feeling to improve the effectiveness of their day-to-day interactions.

"With additional features coming to Teams in 2021, managers will be able to launch and track change programs that remind team members to avoid after-hours interactions and preserve quiet days. And weekly summaries will empower team members to monitor their progress and celebrate successes," Microsoft said.

--IANS

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