Microsoft 365 introduces pronouns on user profiles

Companies around the world have been joining the push to encourage more inclusivity in many aspects of their operations. Some of the biggest multinational corporations have been at the forefront of the movement, and now Microsoft has announced a new feature that will allow MS Teams and Outlook users to choose and display their preferred pronouns on their personal profiles.

In a statement shared by the company, they explained the importance of "using the right pronouns" at an age where we all operate in a "hybrid multicultural workplace." Microsoft insists that the ability to assert one's choice of pronouns can build better communication and trust among colleagues.

In the announcement, Microsoft goes on to explain that "pronouns are the words we use to replace someone's name in a sentence, such as "he," "she," or "they" in English."

In recent years, due to the gender inclusivity movement, pronoun use has become less straightforward as it used to be. Pronouns are primarily divided according to male and female, but the wide spectrum of non-binary genders have given way to the use of plural pronouns such as "they" and "them" to represent individuals who choose not to identify as either male or female.

What are the rules and restrictions?

It is worth noting that a team administrator needs to turn on the feature before team members can customise their profiles to reflect their preference. That said, even if the feature is turned on for the group, an individual can still choose to publicly display pronouns or not.

Furthermore, no other user can assign gender-specific pronouns to another individual. Only the user has the ability to customise a personal profile or not, as it is not mandatory. Microsoft also warns that using certain pronouns should never be used to make conclusions about a user's gender identity.

The company also issued a warning to users to be mindful about "local laws, regulations, or cultural norms that may pose additional risks to transgender or non-binary people" when deciding whether or not to take advantage of the pronouns feature.

How important is the ability to customise pronouns?

Acting Director of the Sexual and Gender Diversity Office (SGDO) at the University of Toronto, David Pereira (he/they), spoke about the significance of the new feature.

Pereira pointed out that one of the advantages of having one's pronouns displayed is being able to eliminate the awkwardness of colleagues having to ask. "In trainings offered by the SGDO, participants often ask how they should ask for someone's pronouns," said Pereira.

He adds that trans and nonbinary individuals can also easily confirm their pronoun preferences without having to correct their colleagues which sometimes leads to uncomfortable situations. "Rather than assuming their pronouns, you can type in their name into Teams and hover over their profile to see whether they've indicated their pronouns. To me, that's pretty exciting, and it's a new innovation that can benefit everyone," he added.

How can the feature be used?

Administrators are reminded that this feature is OFF by default, and they need to turn it on to allow their members of their network to take advantage of the update.

Once the feature is enabled, a user may not be able to immediately make changes to their profile. The feature could take up to six hours to be fully accessible to affected team members. Likewise, if the feature is turned off, previously set pronouns may stay visible for a number of hours. Furthermore, once the feature is turned off, the users' preferences will be deleted from their profiles within 30 days.

Microsoft has shared the steps on how to turn on the new pronouns feature for Administrators:

1. Log into the Microsoft 365 Admin Center as a global administrator.
2. Go to the Settings > Org settings > Security & privacy page, and then select Pronouns.
3. Check the box to turn pronouns on. Uncheck the box to turn pronouns off.
4. Select Save.

End users are warned that once enabled and displayed, preferred pronouns will be visible to people at work or school who have accounts at Microsoft 365.

1. Go to Teams and open your profile card. To open your profile card in Teams, you can select your profile picture in the upper right corner in Teams.
2. On your profile, select + Pronouns or the pronouns listed below your name.
3. To add or change your pronouns, select from the examples (only available in English), or enter your own. To delete, remove your pronouns.
4. Select Save and then Got it. Changes are updated immediately.