{"id":19106,"date":"2025-05-08T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-05-08T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cm-edgetun.pages.dev\/insidetrack\/blog\/?p=19106"},"modified":"2026-05-07T11:04:05","modified_gmt":"2026-05-07T18:04:05","slug":"deploying-microsoft-places-at-microsoft-with-our-works-councils","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cm-edgetun.pages.dev\/insidetrack\/blog\/deploying-microsoft-places-at-microsoft-with-our-works-councils\/","title":{"rendered":"Deploying Microsoft Places at Microsoft with our works councils"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Our strong partnership with our works councils has led to the successful deployment of many Microsoft 365 Copilot applications, including one of the latest, Microsoft Places.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Microsoft<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Places is a workplace scheduling tool that uses AI to make scheduling in-person meetings and working in hybrid work environments easier for you and your colleagues. It helps hybrid and non-hybrid teams align and manage schedules so they can know when the best times might be to collaborate in person or hold on-site meetings. It does that through location tracking, which can be turned on and off. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We are Microsoft Digital, the company\u2019s IT organization, and before we deployed Places globally here at Microsoft<\/a>, we consulted with our works councils, groups of our employees who work in various geographies that advocate for the interests of employees in their region or country. One of the hot topics for works councils in today\u2019s workplace is the introduction of AI into many areas of work. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

More and more, we\u2019re being exposed to new ways of working with AI, and we\u2019re still learning how to use it in responsible ways. Many still have questions about its use, especially around issues of privacy. Initially, the way Places uses AI has brought up some questions from our works council countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cPlaces is actually a very simple product, but it touches on something that has huge interest in a number of works council countries, which is the aspect of tracking people’s location,\u201d says Allan Hvass, regional experience lead for Microsoft Digital. \u201cSo even if the technology is simple, it’s a high, high-interest topic.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

{<\/em>Read our guide for deploying Places at your company.<\/em><\/a>}<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Works councils provide a \u2018golden opportunity\u2019<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Hvass,
Addressing works council concerns is a focus for Allan Hvass (left to right), Jason McWreath, and Daniel Yuan.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

While we at Microsoft Digital serve as Customer Zero<\/a>\u2014meaning our internal usage and feedback is used to shape the product before it\u2019s launched to the public\u2014we partner with works councils to help inform our product groups of potential concerns. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the keys to our strong partnership with our works councils has been being transparent with the purpose and benefits of the features we plan to roll out and being proactive with our communications. We work closely with them to ensure that everyone feels heard and protected when it comes to employee privacy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Being proactive and starting conversations with works councils early has its benefits, according to Daniel Yaun, a senior product manager for Microsoft Digital.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cIt\u2019s a golden opportunity for us to have an open and transparent dialogue with works councils and for us to understand what the concerns are,\u201d Yuan says.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Part of the conversations around Places with works councils involved detailing the benefits of enabling location sharing. Being clear about the benefits, such as knowing when coworkers are in the office, seeing the availability of meeting spaces, and enabling in-person collaboration, helped relieve some of the concerns raised by employees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn a hybrid work environment, we needed to be clear about what the value is for employees,\u201d Hvass says. \u201cWe had to be very strong on the message of why it is a great benefit for me as an employee to be part of this and share my data. What I can gain from it and how can I help my colleagues, versus just being used for tracking whether I show up at a physical place or how many people are in a building. Otherwise, people would find ways of opting out rather than opting in.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the end, having a strong relationship, communicating clearly, and proactively and incorporating feedback into the final product has served us and our customers well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cIt’s really beneficial that Microsoft has a very mature process on the work of council engagements,\u201d Yuan says.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Making a better product through works councils reviews<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Aside from acting as the voice of employees in various geographies, one of the more valuable roles our works councils play is as an extension of Customer Zero. We listen to their concerns and work with product groups to incorporate their feedback to make sure the product meets their requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The factors that made the rollout of Places with our works councils successful were:<\/p>\n\n\n\n