Remote work changed a lot of things. One of the less-talked-about ones is the weight people now place on presence indicators. Whether it is a green dot in Slack or availability in Microsoft 365, many remote workers are not fully sure what those signals mean.
This isn't a paranoia piece. Most employers aren't running surveillance operations. But knowing what's actually possible — and what your employer is likely doing — is just useful information to have.
What "Presence" Actually Means
In workplace software, presence is whether you appear active or idle. Usually shown as a status dot:
- Green — active right now
- Yellow/orange — away or idle
- Grey — offline or inactive for a while
These indicators were built so colleagues know whether you're available for a quick message or whether to leave it for later. Designed for convenience. In a remote work context, they've taken on a different kind of weight.
What Each Major Platform Tracks
Slack
Slack monitors in-app activity. Clicking, typing, navigating within the desktop app — that's active. Go about nine minutes without doing anything and you're Away.
Workspace admins on paid plans can pull an analytics dashboard showing:
- Messages sent per member
- Active days (any day with at least one message or reaction)
- Channels accessed
- Days logged in
What they can't see: what you're doing in other apps, messages in private channels without a compliance export, or your cursor position.
Microsoft Teams
Teams is more deeply wired into the Windows ecosystem than most apps. It reads system-level activity, not just in-app signals, and your Teams status pushes into the broader Microsoft 365 stack — Outlook, SharePoint, and anywhere else that reads presence data.
Admin visibility is more extensive here, particularly on E3/E5 plans with Viva Insights enabled. Managers can see:
- Time spent in meetings
- After-hours collaboration patterns
- Response time averages
- Focus time (blocks without meetings)
Teams presence data can also flow into HR and workforce analytics platforms that some organisations bolt on.
Google Chat / Google Workspace
Google's presence signals are lighter. Admins can see login activity, Drive access, and Gmail metadata through the Admin console, but the real-time green-dot style monitoring is less central to how Google Workspace works.
Zoom
Zoom tracks call attendance, duration, and participation, all feeding into detailed meeting reports. Some enterprise deployments integrate this with workforce management tools.
Beyond Chat Apps: Deeper Monitoring
Some organisations go further than chat app presence. Worth knowing these exist:
Employee monitoring software (ActivTrak, Teramind, Hubstaff): keystroke logging, periodic screenshots, websites visited, active vs idle time per application. Requires installation on the work machine and is generally disclosed to employees — legally required in most jurisdictions.
Time tracking integrations: Tools like Clockify, Toggl, or Harvest are sometimes company-mandated and tied to project systems. Usually about billing and capacity, not surveillance.
VPN and network monitoring: IT teams can see what traffic goes through the corporate network. Not typically about productivity tracking — it's a security thing — but your browsing on a work VPN is potentially logged.
Who's Actually Monitoring Closely
The employers that genuinely scrutinise presence data tend to be in one of a few situations:
- Customer-facing roles where being reachable is part of the job description
- Organisations that moved from office to remote without updating how they manage people
- Highly regulated industries where compliance requires activity records
For most knowledge workers, the practical reality is less intense. Nobody's staring at your green dot. Some organisations do review workplace analytics, and unusual patterns can raise questions. That is why it helps to understand the tools and use presence settings responsibly.
What You Can Do
Find out what your employer actually has deployed. HR or your IT department will often tell you. In many jurisdictions they're legally required to disclose monitoring tools.
Stay naturally active when you're available. Real work and clear communication are always the cleanest signals. When you're stepping away briefly, a status message or controlled presence tool can help set expectations, as long as it fits your workplace policies.
Use presence tools proportionately. If your job needs you to be reachable, use tools that reflect that. Using any tool to misrepresent availability during core hours may breach workplace expectations.
Set expectations when you're going to be away. "Back at 2pm" or "On calls until 3" as a status message is simple and honest. Manages things clearly and honestly.
The Green Dot as a Measure of Work
Here's the uncomfortable reality about presence monitoring: a green dot is a terrible measure of actual output. Being visibly active in Slack all day doesn't mean someone's doing good work. Being offline for an hour might mean someone wrote the best thing they've written all year.
Most decent managers know this. The organisations that use presence as a primary performance signal tend to have broader management problems that go beyond what any app can address.
That said, managing your own presence in reasonable, controlled ways can be useful. That is what Green Dotter is designed for.
Download Green Dotter — Mac and Windows.