Microsoft Outlook improves with every release, but some changes are out of Microsoft’s control. Googel Workspace meetings are a prime example, where organizers would invite Google Calendar users and then deal with a bunch of confusion. That’s because Google Calendar didn’t play nice with Outlook, didn’t show the organizer’s name, or even list them as a meeting attendee. Starting today, one of the biggest Google Calendar and Outlook problems is finally getting fixed, and the two will place nicely together.
Announced by Google on its Workspaces Blog, anyone using Outlook to organize a meeting will be listed as an attendee and the organizer. It’s such a silly problem that has caused a lot of confusion for far too long. Imagine seeing an important-looking work meeting invite in your Google Calander, but you don’t see your boss listed as the organizer or that they’re even attending at all. That’s a meeting I might skip. As a result, the bug has caused many miscommunications, especially with more and more people working from home on different operating systems and platforms. Now, that’ll no longer be a problem. It’s easy to change an organizer inside Google Calendar, but only if that’s another Google user.
More importantly, admins don’t need to make any changes, nor do end users, as it’ll all happen automatically. This is a behind-the-scenes update that will slowly roll out to all users. The change and bug fix went live on August 24, 2023, but Google states it could take upwards of 15 days to roll out to all users. Now, planning your day in Google Calendar and being more productive will be easier than ever. This change follows several updates lately, including the ability to schedule meetings that check both users’ calendars for availability or conflicts, and create paid appointment bookings for business users. Earlier this summer, Google added a feature where colleges could see if you’re traveling.
As for Outlook users, this is icing on the cake on top of all the recent improvements like customization in the new Outlook, improved settings options, managing emails and calendars in a single place, nav bar controls, and more.
Source: Google Workspace Updates via TechRadar