Google is rolling out a new feature called Time Insights on Google Calendar to help users plan their time better. “You can now use Time Insights in Calendar, a personalized, analytical experience on the web, to see how your time is spent across meetings and collaborators,” Google said in a blog post.
“With the changes to our working environments in the past year, some people have more meetings and may feel less control over how their work time is spent. Time Insights can show you this data, and help you plan your time better,” it said.
Time Insights in Google Calendar will appear on the right side of a week view.
It will provide information such as time breakdown based on a user's working hours and the types of meetings they have. It will also show information such as the time spent in meetings, highlighting meeting-heavy days and time frames, as well as meeting frequencies. It will also show the people that the user spends the most time meeting with.
“You can also pin key stakeholders to make sure you’re keeping in touch with them. Hovering over an individual will also highlight the meetings on your calendar that include that person,” it explained.
Also read: Google brings Samsung 5G modem tech to U.S. market with new Pixel phone
The information is visible only to the user and not their manager. If a user is managing other people’s calendars and have “manage sharing access” permission to those calendars, they can view their Time Insights as well. Users can only view Time Insights on a computer.
For Admins, this feature will be 'On' by default and can be disabled at the domain/OU level. There is no admin control for Google Workspace Business Standard domains. There is no end user setting for this feature but users can close the right hand bar out of view at any time.
The rollout of the Admin setting for the feature has begun, starting August 30. The end user feature will be rolled out on Rapid Release domains starting on September 6, 2021 and on Scheduled Release domains starting on September 20, 2021.
It will be available to Google Workspace Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Plus, and Nonprofits customers.
The feature will not be available to Google Workspace Essentials, Business Starter, Enterprise Essentials, Education Fundamentals, and Frontline, as well as G Suite Basic and Business customers.