Google is taking a page from Slack and Microsoft Teams, adding instant-on, audio-first “huddles” as a new way to connect in Google Chat.

The new feature is powered by Google Meet, but allows Google Chat users to engage in audio-first collaboration.

Powered by Google Meet, huddles let you start an audio-first meeting, making real-time collaboration easier than ever. Once the huddle has started, you can resize or drag the window, add video, or share your screen for a fuller meeting experience while multitasking in Chat.

Huddles provide a seamless collaboration experience across Chat and Meet, and can be useful in a variety of scenarios, such as two colleagues syncing quickly to discuss a project they’ve been messaging about in their Chat stream.

Google says the new feature is designed to help remove meeting fatigue.

Huddles help to reduce meeting fatigue for hybrid workers, and eliminates the need for lengthy discussions over email or in Chat. Instead of jumping out of the conversation and into a meeting, huddles integrates directly and smoothly into the Chat experience. The format of huddles also supports multi-tasking while in Chat as you can easily resize or share your screen.

The Meet button that currently resides on the Chat compose bar will be moved to the Chat headers, streamlining how users interact with it.

The Meet video button that’s currently in the compose bar of Chat is moving to the Chat header, giving you multiple options such as the ability to call, start a huddle, or share a Meet link through a single entry point.

Google has a long and complicated history with its chat platforms, trying and failing at multiple iterations. The company clearly believes its best recourse is to mimic the market leaders, which isn’t a bad idea.

Either way, the new feature should offer a nice improvement for existing users, although it’s likely not enough to poach new users from existing options.