Your desk is your work home away from home! It’s a place where you can put your head down and get work done or chat with your coworkers to collaborate on projects.
But desks are more than just a functional workspace. They’re a place to express yourself and learn more about the people you work with every day. And when your team feels connected, anything is possible.
To help your team express themselves in Gather and build stronger personal relationships, you can now claim your very own desk and create a work environment as unique as you are!
This experience makes it easy for each person on your team to set up their desk and decorate it in a way that shows off their unique personality. Along with customizing your own desk, you’ll be able to interact with your coworkers, unlocking new ways to connect with one another.
Here are some of the new actions you can take in Gather to personalize your desk and interact with your coworkers!
Claim your desk
Once you join a Space as a Member, you’ll get the ability to claim a desk. To do so, simply hover over any available desk and click Claim Desk.
Once a desk is yours, you’ll see a new menu pop up when you hover over it. From here, you’ll be able to view and customize your profile, edit your desk, and unclaim it if you happen to find a desk with a better view.
Decorate your desk
Decorating your desk is a huge part of making it feel like your very own workspace, so we’ve made customization even easier. When hovering over your desk, you’ll see the couch icon on the new menu. This will open the Desk Build Tool, which makes it easy to place a rug, desk, chair, and monitor.
Want to change your style? Choosing a different object from these four categories will automatically switch it out in your workspace. Making your area feel fresh is as easy as a few clicks!
Looking for even more customization options? We’ve streamlined the Build Tool within your Space. Now in a single-panel display, you can browse all the default objects with ease. Decorate for the holidays, add greenery with an office plant, or show your love for bubble tea with just a click.
Note: To access this Build tool, you either need to be assigned the Builder User Role or your Space needs Global Build turned on. Click here to learn more about user permissions.
Meet at Your Desk
Desks are a great place for quick conversations and coworking with a teammate. You can always meet spontaneously at a desk, but now once you’ve claimed one, you can also schedule meetings there.
When you schedule a meeting in Gather or with the Gather Meetings Chrome extension, you’ll see a new option to “Meet me at my desk.” This will automatically bring meeting attendees right to your newly decorated desk at the time of your meeting.
Edit Profile and View your Coworkers’
Help your coworkers learn more about you! Your profile is the perfect place to introduce yourself, share your interests, and add important information to help others work with you.
In your profile, you can add:
- Your name and pronouns
- Your status (great for sharing what you’re working on or “out of office” information)
- Your timezone and location
- Your job title and start date (to celebrate work anniversaries!)
- Your email and phone number
- A description and photo (to help your coworkers learn more about you both in and outside the virtual office)
Your profile can help your coworkers learn more about you and continue to connect your avatar to YOU, the real, physical person on this wonderful remote team!
Wave to coworkers
Being in a Gather Space allows for spontaneous conversations, just like in a physical office. We know that sometimes, however, it’s not always easy to tell if someone’s actually available to talk.
To give you a more natural way to get someone’s attention, we’re introducing Waving! It’s a subtle action and gives your coworker an easy way to interact back with you. They can choose between waving back, walking up and having a conversation, or sending a message.
One use can be to initiate conversations: If you wave and someone waves back, that’s a sign they’re free for a chat.
Another way to use this feature is for a simple way to say “hello,” with no expectation of starting a conversation. It’s one more way to feel that sense of presence with your team, outside of scheduled meetings.
Leave a note
Want to leave a message for a coworker or show your appreciation? Leaving a note is a great way to show others that you care with a simple gesture within the Space. Click on the note to start a message. If you want to celebrate a win or show someone you care, pair your note with a gift to really make someone’s day. From balloons and sweets to wrapped gifts, there’s an option for any occasion.
Set your availability status
Last, but certainly not least, we’ve added a new availability option to help you communicate your current work status to your coworkers: Busy.
Now, you can set your status as:
- 🟢 Available
- 🟡 Busy
- 🔴 Do Not Disturb
“Busy” is a nice new middle option for when you’re technically working on something, but still available to chat if needed.
You can set your status from the Personal Menu in the bottom navigation bar. Your coworkers will be able to see your status next to your avatar, in the Participants Panel, and when they hover over your desk.
Get started with the new desk features
To start using all these new desk features, you’ll need Desk Area Tiles in your Space. If you hover over a desk in your office and see the “Claim Desk” option, you’re set! (Our newer Templates have these built-in already.)
If you don’t see this option, you can add these tiles to your office with the Mapmaker. They’re a special type of Private Area Tile. Once you place a Private Area Tile, select the Desk Area checkbox to transform it into a Desk Area. This will unlock these features.
We can’t wait to see how you customize your desks and use them to build stronger team relationships within your Space. We’d love to see what you create. Feel free to share screenshots of your office with us on our social media channels. Tag us on LinkedIn or Twitter using #GatherforWork.
If you have any questions about these updates, you can always visit our Help Center.
Making things better, bit by bit.
- The Gather Team
