In March 2023, Gartner estimated that 39% of global knowledge workers will work in a hybrid model, up from 37% in 2022. Hybrid work has and continues to rise in popularity, with many companies customizing their hybrid work arrangements to work best for their team members and their business needs. With many varying schedules and teams coming into the office on different days or times, it’s essential to have tools available to coordinate in-office and remote work time.
Fortunately, for organizations that use Google Workspace, Google Calendar includes the ability not only to set working hours but users can also set their location. In this guide, we’ll show you how to set your working location in Google Calendar and answer common questions about this feature to help you make the most of it.
How do I set a working location in Google Calendar?
Google announced the rollout of the working location feature in August 2021 and noted that “it’s easier to plan in-person collaboration or set expectations in a hybrid workplace.” This feature is incredibly valuable for team planning purposes, and the good news is that it’s effortless to use!
Before we start, it’s crucial to mention that you can only use this feature if your Google account is part of a work or school organization. That includes Google Workspace Business Plus, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Fundamentals, and other upgrades and editions.
Additionally, you’ll need to enable a setting to see the working location option, so if you don’t see it when following the steps below, your administrator may have turned off the setting for your organization.
Now, here’s how to set your working location in Google Calendar:
1. Open Google Calendar and click “Settings” in the top right corner.
2. Select “Working hours & location” in the left-hand navigation panel.
3. Click the checkbox next to “Enable working hours.”
Once you enable this setting, you can set your working hours. You can set a daily schedule for all seven days of the week. Or you can unselect days you don’t want to set a schedule for, like Saturday and Sunday.
When you set your working hours, you can specify your work location for the day of the week. Keep in mind that you may want to leave this setting “Unspecified” and add your working location manually (more on that next) unless you plan to be at the same place on that day every week.
Think about your schedule. If your hybrid schedule includes going to the office every Wednesday, it makes sense to set your location by day of the week rather than set it manually every Wednesday. If your location varies, consider putting your location on each day manually.
If you choose to set a location by day of the week, you should see it listed near the top of each day in your calendar view.
4. If you didn’t set your working location by day of the week, add your location manually for the upcoming week. Hover below the date in the Week or Month view until “Add location” appears.
5. Select your location from your options and press “Save.”
You’re all set!
Can I set a recurring work location in Google Calendar?
Yes! You can set a recurring work location in Google Calendar. If you work at the office every Wednesday, you can set up your calendar to reflect your office location every Wednesday without manually updating it.
Revisit steps 1-3 above and set your recurring work location in your Google Calendar settings under “Working hours & location.”
Or, you can navigate to a day of the week and follow steps 4-5 above. When you press “Save,” a pop-up box will ask if you want to save your changes for the selected date only or every week. It looks like this:
Can I set a work location for specific portions of the day in Google Calendar?
Sure thing! You can now set work locations for part of a day in Google Calendar. This can be an excellent option if you plan to work from various locations throughout the day or can only make it to a particular site (like the office) for a few hours and have limited availability to meet in person.
Follow these steps:
1. Navigate to the time and day you want to set your work location for and select it.
You may need to click and drag your mouse to highlight the full-time block you want to set your location for. Or you can click on a blank space on your calendar and manually adjust the time and date if needed.
2. When the event details pop-up appears, select the “Working location” option.
3. Set a recurring schedule if you’d like, or leave the default setting as “Does not repeat.”
4. Select a location from your current options or add a new location.
5. Press the “Save” button.
Instead of your location appearing at the top of your calendar directly under the date, it will now appear only for the time block you selected when creating the event.
If you set your working location for the wrong date and time, no problem! Once you save it, you can easily drag and drop it to a different date and time if needed.
Your partial-day working location won’t affect your meetings or availability.
Can I set my working location from my Android or iPhone?
Yes! It’s easy to set your working location using the Google Calendar app on your Android or iPhone. The steps are the same for both device types.
1. Open your Google Calendar app and tap the “+” button to create a new working location.
2. Select the “Working location” event type.
3. Enter the details, including whether it’s an all-day location, a partial-day location, and where you will work from.
4. Press “Save.” You’re ready to go!
Can others view my work location?
Yes, others in your organization can view your working location. That’s what makes this feature helpful for hybrid scheduling. (A note: Workspace administrators need to know that the working location is on by default and that they can disable it at the domain level in the Google Admin console. Follow these step-by-step instructions!)
Additionally, when you share your calendar with someone, they can view your working location. If you give “Make changes & manage sharing” permissions to someone, they can edit your default working location. This is a helpful option for executive assistants and others who help manage multiple calendars.
Pairing Google Calendar with Clockwise
Google Calendar’s location feature is one of many that makes it a great tool to support your workday, no matter where you are. Clockwise is an AI-enabled calendar management tool that can take your Google Calendar game even further. With Clockwise, you can take back control of and optimize your workday, whether in person, remotely, or on a hybrid schedule. Clockwise can help you preserve Focus Time, find the best times to meet with your teammates, add travel time and lunch holds to your calendar, and so much more. Try Clockwise for Google Calendar today.
About the author
Alyssa Towns is a freelance writer for Clockwise based in Denver, CO. She works in communications and change management. She primarily writes productivity and career-adjacent content and has bylines in G2, The Everygirl, Insider, and other publications. When she isn't writing, Alyssa enjoys trying new restaurants with her husband, playing with her Bengal cats, adventuring outdoors, or reading a book from her TBR list.
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