Thoughts On Where Microsoft Teams Together Mode Might Go

Microsoft Team’s Together mode wants to help you feel better connected by placing you into a shared virtual space with your co-workers. Yesterday, I wrote a rundown of everything Teams is adding this year, and this was one of the features that stuck out to me. I see it as a differentiating factor compared to other video meeting apps. I also see it as a ground-floor glimpse into a potential future of work. If you need to catch up on what Together mode is, Microsoft posted an article announcing it and then followed that up with a more in-depth look into the psychology behind it. Also, if you want a snapshot of it, here’s a quick demo from Microsoft 365’s YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/MGsNmYKgeTA.

It wasn’t that long ago that we were seeing video meeting apps announcing that we could digitally change our backgrounds. To be fair, the need for that sort of thing didn’t arise on a large scale until recent global events. But now that this scenario has happened, it’s forced us to analyze these tools through lenses we’ve never used before. For example, a year ago, we wouldn’t have thought many of us would be performing high profile virtual meetings from our living rooms. And even the cleanest, most organized living room isn’t designed to be your office backdrop. Therefore, digital backgrounds or blur effects have become commonplace.

Psychology of Together

Together mode seeks to take the digital background a step further, however. It isn’t just to give you a different background for your video. It actually takes you out of your background surroundings and places you into a shared virtual space. The types of spaces Microsoft has shown off so far have ranged from an auditorium to a conference table and more. And it’s obvious this is just the beginning. As features like this catch on, they’re going to become more ubiquitous and offer a lot more functionality.

The psychology behind this mode strikes me as fascinating. As far as I can tell in how Microsoft is describing the mode, instead of seeing your video feed alongside those of your coworkers, you’ll simply be looking at your coworkers’ faces because your face will be gone. I know I fall prey to this in a major way, and it’s clear that many other people do as well. When given the opportunity to look at our own faces, we will. We want to make sure we’re not doing anything embarrassing, that we look okay, that we’re presentable. And we do that at the cost of making “eye-contact” with the person we’re working with. Removing that entire element alone gives a much better chance at connecting with the person on the other end of the call.

Future of Together

If Together mode works as intended in that area, it will change the way our virtual meetings have been up until this point. But I think there’s a more interesting prospect hiding just under the surface of this feature: virtual work spaces. As the world continues to develop in light of COVID-19, we don’t know what the next six months to a year hold in terms of returning to the way the world was prior to the pandemic. We already know it’s forced companies from small to large to look at how we work. Many companies have realized the potential of working remotely at least part of the time. And I think even once we’re able to mostly get back to “normal,” many establishments will retain some form of remote aspect. Because of this, I believe the technology popping up now to enhance remote capabilities will continue to develop and improve.

The fourth or fifth iteration of Together mode is what excites me. I can see this progressing to the point where we’re able to have full-fledged virtual spaces that we can move around in. We’ll be able to see our coworkers and exist within those spaces without actually being present together. Remember, this mode in Teams is only using AI to extract your face/upper body from the background and place it on a static background. What if you eventually paired this tech with AR or VR? At that point, we’re talking about the ability to work and collaborate truly together, but hundred or thousands of miles away from one another.

At the same time I call that fascinating, I know there are huge potential pitfalls to that as well. Despite our efforts to simulate connection through computer screens and images, it can’t truly replace the real thing. But you better believe I’m going to be there the whole way to watch it try.