Microsoft Loop Is The New Office App For The Hybrid Work Era

Microsoft at its online-only Ignite conference today announces the newest tool that helps you stay on top of work – The Microsoft Loop,  This is said to be the biggest change to come to Microsoft Office. The New Office application called Loop will enable people the opportunity to collaborate on projects. The Microsoft Loop can be described as a re-branding for Microsoft’s Fluid work and brings a new collaborative component to Office content. With the Microsoft Loop, Office content can now go live independently and be copied, pasted, and shared with others. Jared Spataro, a Microsoft corporate vice president said “Essentially what we’re doing with Loop is we’re blowing up the document.”

Jared explained in a comparison with well-funded start-ups such as Airtable, Coda, and Notion, he said that “Emerging productivity software from those companies can handle content creation, but they’re lacking in communication. He further explained that “the combination of communication and creation is more well suited to hybrid work configurations, where not everyone is located in the same physical space” which is what Microsoft has envisioned and is striving to achieve. Due to the restrictions associated with the pandemic, many organizations have been pushed to adopt remote work at a greater scale. Tech companies like Cisco’s Webex, Salesforce’s Slack, and Zoom have been pushed to develop enhancements to better accommodate hybrid work.

With similarities much like the Fluid, Microsoft Loop showcases three main elements: Loop components, Loop pages, and finally the Loop workspaces. The Loop components are referred to as live pieces of content that can exist across multiple apps, it can be updated in real-time and are free for anyone to jump right in. This could include a list shared in a Teams channel and also editable in a Loop page, or notes entered into a calendar and is also available to be pasted into Outlook and edited in real-time within an email.

All these components exist within the main Microsoft Loop hub, inside what Microsoft refers to as the shared Loop workspaces. It’s quite similar to a project board, that gives you a chance to see a list of all Loop components and Loop pages and who is currently working on them. This element can best be described as a modern File Explorer, where files and content appear live and can be collaborative.

Loop pages can be described as individual canvases that give various people a chance to share and collaborate on Loop components. It can be related to the modern version of a whiteboard with a far more powerful characteristic because users can insert and share components that other people have created outside of Loop. Not everyone is required to be a part of the entire Loop page, as individual components can be worked upon in real-time from other apps.

For the past couple of years, Microsoft has envisioned collaborative spaces in which the Loop components present and it’s clear the company has adjusted the way Loop works to fit the realities of working remotely. According to The Verge,  a central Microsoft Loop hub looks like a modern tool to track and organize these components — and a clear response to the new hybrid work era in which many businesses have transitioned to.

So far, Microsoft’s demonstrations of Loop components have been truly remarkable, which is in line with the seamless experience that Microsoft keeps promising. Notion Labs Inc. developers of the Notion Application have been challenging Microsoft’s traditional Office tools with many concepts that are similar to Loop, and Microsoft’s response with the Loop looks like a more powerful version of Notion.

While Microsoft has been hinting to users about the Microsoft Loop for the last 18 months. Microsoft says it’s still not something that should be expected inside Office apps just yet. Microsoft Loop components are said to arrive in Teams, Outlook, and OneNote later this month. Users are should expect the release of the main Microsoft Loop app at a later date. Wangui McKelvey, General Manager of Microsoft 365 says that “We will share more about the availability of the Microsoft Loop app in the upcoming months.” The effort shows that Microsoft is set to provide more value to its Office subscribers, as subscription prices go higher from next year.