Microsoft Groups is getting a brand new characteristic your boss will love (and you will not)

Everybody has these days at work once they’d reasonably be left alone to focus with out pointless distractions or their boss bothering them. Nevertheless, it appears Microsoft has determined to make it more durable so that you can have a peaceable day within the workplace, and it is all due to an upcoming replace to Microsoft Teams.

In its Microsoft 365 Roadmap, the tech big has revealed that it’s engaged on a brand new characteristic for Microsoft Groups that may mechanically replace your location in Groups everytime you connect with your group’s Wi-Fi.

“When customers connect with their group’s Wi-Fi, Groups will quickly be capable of mechanically replace their work location to mirror the constructing they’re working from,” Microsoft explains in its roadmap.

So because of this if co-workers are looking for one another, it ought to make it a lot simpler, however on the flip facet, if you happen to’re attempting to cover in a nook within the workplace someday to get some work executed with out distractions, that sounds prefer it’s about to develop into a lot more durable.

The characteristic won’t be enabled by default

It is nonetheless in growth, and will launch earlier than the tip of the 12 months

Fortunately, the 2 silver linings of this characteristic are that it is not enabled by default, so when it launches, your group will truly should determine to allow it, and it additionally requires end-users to choose in. Which means, if you happen to do not consent to it, your location will not be tracked if you’re related to your organization’s Wi-Fi.

In keeping with its roadmap, Microsoft lists the characteristic as “in growth” with a rollout begin date of December 2025, which means firms might begin utilizing it by the tip of the 12 months. The characteristic will solely be out there on desktop and Mac, so you will not have to fret about your organization monitoring you from the Groups app in your telephone.

Microsoft additionally says the characteristic can be out there worldwide, however past all the pieces I’ve talked about, it does not go into a lot element about precisely how the characteristic will work or look on Groups, or the benefits or disadvantages it might have for firms.

This is not the primary Microsoft Groups characteristic to boost eyebrows. Earlier this 12 months, Microsoft partnered with Mercedes-Benz to combine its Conferences for Groups app into the 2026 Mercedes-Benz CLA, making it simpler to attend work conferences whilst you’re driving — one thing I am unsure many individuals are wanting to do.