One of the challenges of working from home with Microsoft Teams is that it’s much harder to gauge how those in a meeting feel about what someone is saying. In person, we intuitively pick up on what people are thinking about what’s being said, based on their body language. On a screen during a video call, it’s not quite as easy 😭.
A new feature, being introduced over the next month, aims to restore the ability to show how you feel about what’s being said, without interrupting the speaker. Borrowing somewhat from social networks like Facebook, Microsoft are adding emoji-based ‘reactions’ to the video meeting experience.
Participants in a Teams meeting will be able to select one of four different reactions: Like 👍, Love ❤, Applause 👏, and Laugh 😂, in the direction of any other attendee on screen. The reactions will then gather over the person’s video for everyone to see.
The emoji reactions will be available from the same place as the ‘raise hand’ feature in the Microsoft Teams control bar. The feature will start rolling out in January 2021, and we expect everyone to have it by early February. 👏👏👏