Microsoft is readying an update for collaboration platform Teams that it says should help better support hybrid working.

As per a new entry (opens in new tab) in the Microsoft 365 roadmap, Microsoft Teams users will soon benefit from the ability to “record, review, send and view lightweight video messages” in chats and channels.

Available across desktop and mobile platforms, the feature will give teams a new avenue for communication that doesn’t involve crowding calendars with excess meetings.

Microsoft Teams goes hybrid

Since the start of the pandemic, competition between the largest players in the collaboration and video conferencing space has been fierce.

In order to keep pace, rivals have frequently pinched features and concepts from one another; take the fight for the largest gallery view, for example, or the introduction of virtual backgrounds.

In this case, Microsoft appears to have taken inspiration from Slack Clips, a feature introduced last year to help promote asynchronous working on Slack.

The implementations are practically identical: once the feature arrives, both Slack and Teams will allow users to record, review, send and receive video messages across chats and group channels.

It’s perhaps no surprise that Microsoft has chosen to pursue this particular avenue, given the company has been so vocal of late about the need to support hybrid and flexible workers with new toolsets.

The ability to record and send quick video messages will help cut down on the need for meetings - which can be awkward and stunted when some attendees are dialling in virtually and others meeting on-site – and enable time-shifting for those attempting to fit work around other commitments.

The new Microsoft Teams feature is currently under development, but should roll out to all users by the end of September.