Introducing Copilot for Microsoft 365: Your Everyday AI Assistant
We’re stepping into an exciting new era of AI, and it’s clear that this technology is transforming how we interact with and benefit from our tools. With chat interfaces and large language models like ChatGPT, you can now ask for what you need in plain English, and the tech is smart enough to respond, create, or act on minimal prompts.
In today’s fast-paced business world, bringing AI into the workplace is crucial for optimising operations and driving growth. So, what exactly is Copilot for Microsoft 365?
What is Copilot for Microsoft 365?
Think of Copilot as your trusty sidekick, ready to help you tackle any task. It’s integrated right into the Microsoft 365 apps you use every day — Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Teams, and more. With Copilot, you can boost your creativity, productivity, and skills.
You’re always in control with Copilot. You decide what to keep, modify, or discard. It lets you be more creative in Word, more analytical in Excel, more expressive in PowerPoint, more productive in Outlook, and more collaborative in Teams.
Key Features
- Copilot in Word: No more staring at a blank page. Copilot gives you a first draft to work from, saving you hours of writing, sourcing, and editing. You’re still the author, shaping your unique ideas with a little help from AI.
- Copilot in PowerPoint: Create stunning presentations with just a simple prompt. It can even pull in relevant content from documents you made ages ago.
- Copilot in Excel: Analyse trends and create professional data visualisations in seconds.
- Copilot in Outlook: Clear your inbox in minutes. It summarises long email threads and drafts replies quickly. Early adopters found that emails written with Copilot were 18% clearer and 19% more concise.
- Copilot in Teams: Every meeting can be a productive one. It summarises key points in real time, noting who said what and highlighting agreements and disagreements. Microsoft found that Copilot users summarised a 35-minute meeting nearly four times faster than non-Copilot users.
Copilot Adoption: A Departmental Approach
Different business functions are handled by different teams, each with its own expertise. Understanding this is key when adopting Copilot. Your marketing team will use it differently than your finance team.
- Marketing: From drafting content to creating presentations, Copilot makes tasks more manageable. It can also help schedule and manage meetings, making collaboration easier.
- Sales: Streamline workflows with Copilot. Draft emails, create presentations, and analyse sales data in Excel for insights that drive strategies.
- Finance: Precision is crucial. Copilot helps create financial reports and analyse data. It also assists with emails and meetings, ensuring smooth communication.
- HR: Manage HR activities efficiently. Draft documents in Word, schedule interviews in Outlook, and keep team communications on track in Teams.
Copilot offers a tailored approach to productivity, catering to the unique needs of different teams. Adopting Copilot can enhance efficiency, improve work quality, and boost productivity. A study by Microsoft showed that 70% of Copilot users felt more productive, completing tasks 29% faster.
Ensuring a Return on Investment
Copilot for Microsoft 365 is packed with features designed to significantly boost productivity, making the investment worthwhile. On average, users save 14 minutes per day. For example, a UK marketing employee earning £32,625 could save £87 per month by using Copilot, which costs £24.70/month. This translates to a return on investment of 252%, and even higher for power users.
Using a departmental approach allows businesses to measure Copilot’s effectiveness within each area before a wider rollout. Administrators can track adoption across groups to guide training initiatives.
What’s Next?
Stay tuned to our blog as we explore how Copilot can transform each department within your business. If you’re eager to learn more about Copilot and boost productivity, contact us today.
