Copilot for Microsoft 365 is Microsoft’s new AI tool that helps you take advantage of AI language models to superpower your workplace. With the multitude of benefits that Copilot brings to any organisation, it’s a no-brainer to implement it into your organisation.
However, the process of adopting Copilot — while incredibly straightforward — has a few key considerations that you need to make to ensure that you’re getting the most out of the AI companion. Ensuring that you have a data strategy is vital to having success with Copilot, as it uses organisational data to power its responses meaning that your data strategy empowers your Copilot.
In this article, we’re going to go over the keys to adopting Copilot for Microsoft 365 into your organisation, as well as going over the basics of Copilot for the uninitiated. We’ll also let you know how we can help you get started with using Copilot today.
What is Copilot for Microsoft 365?
Copilot for Microsoft 365 is an AI companion recently introduced by Microsoft to assist users in their daily tasks. Utilizing OpenAI’s GPT-4, a highly capable language model, Copilot leverages a comprehensive dataset to enhance productivity and drive efficiency.
Functioning seamlessly within your existing Microsoft 365 applications, Copilot integrates with organizational data to assist you with anything you need. Through straightforward commands and minimal clicks, users can generate diverse outputs, simplifying complex tasks and optimizing workflows.
For example, Copilot eliminates the need for manual email drafting, enabling users to swiftly generate personalised email drafts with a few words and a click. It also proves beneficial for generating detailed meeting reports, incorporating insightful data and actionable recommendations to get the most out of it. All of these benefits and so many more help simplify the workday, allowing you to focus on essential tasks.
Copilot is powered by GPT, which accesses a vast pool of data from the internet. Because of this, GPT empowers users with extensive information to ensure that they have access to all the information that they need.
Keys to Adoption Success
Define a vision and identify how the product will be used
The first step to having a successful adoption strategy is by defining what you want from Copilot, and how you’re going to use it within your organisation. By ensuring that you have a solid vision to build towards, you can keep your eye on the objective and inform all of your decisions on that target.
For example, let’s say that you want to use Copilot to boost the number of emails sent out by your employees, you can ensure that all of your training, communication, and preparation goes into ensuring that you can meet that target and ensure success.
By doing this, you can find tangible benefits in using Copilot at an organisational level rather than just a personal level.
Complete Technical Readiness
To get started with Copilot for Microsoft 365, you need to ensure that you’re technically ready to implement it into your organisation. This means ensuring that your data management and strategy is robust, to ensure that Copilot can easily take advantage of your data to do what it does best.
The most important step is to get your data and information ready for indexing. This means organising it and using the built-in tools to correctly file data to ensure it’s in the right place. Another key step is to ensure that the correct prerequisites are in place to ensure that your internal data isn’t overshared and that only those who need access to certain data to work will have access.
To ensure that you can use Copilot correctly, you need to also install the right updates and applications to be able to use it, as well as make sure that you have the right licenses to be able to give your users access to Copilot.
This guide from Microsoft is a great in-depth guide on how to get ready for Copilot for Microsoft 365.
Obtain support from key roles to accelerate usage
Getting support from key roles will help you further accelerate usage throughout your organisation, as key roles will be able to drive the use of Copilot from their position.
By receiving support from key roles, they’ll be able to leverage their role to help adoption grow throughout your organisation, meaning that you can more effectively show people that Copilot is incredibly useful and worth putting time into using and training for.
Enable Champions and provide training
The next step is to provide training for those who need it, to ensure that they can fully take advantage of Copilot, while also rewarding and enabling the champions who are excelling through its use.
By doing so, you’ll ensure that usage only goes up — those who already are utilising it and unlocking their full potential will be ecstatic to continue and those who aren’t yet at that stage will have the training to enable them to do so in the future.
Raise awareness through internal communications
Using your internal communications to make people aware of Copilot and how they can use it to strengthen their productivity and save time throughout the day will help people see the benefits of using it, further driving adoption.
Using emails, bringing it up in Microsoft Teams chats and other announcement methods will ensure everyone is at least aware of its existence so they can take advantage of it.
How We Can Help
Copilot for Microsoft 365 is an essential technology for any organisation looking to take advantage of the power of AI, and ensuring that your data strategy is robust and forward-thinking will help you take advantage of it.
If you’re looking to get the most out of Copilot but need extra support in doing so, reach out to us today. Our experts will ensure that you’re ready for Copilot and that your data strategy is as tight as it can be.
Get in touch with us now and see how we can help.