I think we can safely say that AI has made itself comfortable in the workplace. It’s no longer a futuristic notion. It has rushed in and started sharing the load of many of the everyday tasks we perform.
AI still has a lot to learn but it does change the way we work as we use it to communicate, analyse content and generally save us a bit of time here and there.
Microsoft’s Copilot is a big player in the world of AI, and it’s already being used extensively by many businesses. But it’s getting bigger and better with the rollout of Copilot Wave 2!
‘How can I make the most of it?’ I hear you cry. Let’s take a look.
What is Copilot?
Put simply, a trusty assistant that’s always by your side, never gets tired, doesn’t take coffee breaks, and always knows where the latest sales report is.
You can bat ideas back and forth, streamline processes and ask it questions. And that’s not all. It’s an AI-powered assistant built into the apps you use every day, like Word, Excel, Teams and the rest of the Microsoft 365 family. It’ll help you craft the perfect email, summarise your meeting notes, analyse data or build you a presentation from scratch.
It helps you focus on the important stuff whilst ticking off the jobs that would otherwise fill your day.
Real Benefits for Real Business Owners
There’s a lot to get from using Copilot to assist you with the juggling act of running a business.
Save yourself some time on the repetitive tasks: From formatting spreadsheets to drafting email after email, that’s what Copilot is built for. Instead of building a report from scratch, you can just say: “Create a summary of last month’s sales performance.” Copilot pulls the data, writes the summary, and even makes it look good.
Make better decisions: Copilot + Excel is quite the combo. Previously nothing short of having a data science degree was necessary for getting what you needed from Excel. That is the case no more! Now you can use Python in Excel to analyse trends or forecast performance just by typing in plain English! Phew.
Improve collaboration: When working on projects there seems to be an endless sea of documents, meetings, notes, chats… The list goes on. Copilot Pages and BizChat keep everyone on the same page, bringing together the data, conversations and updates.
How Does Copilot Work?
The beauty of Copilot is its simplicity. It’s always at the ready within your Microsoft 365 apps and you don’t have to learn special commands to use it. Just interact naturally.
For example:
- “Draft a follow-up email to this client.”
- “What are the key trends in this spreadsheet?”
- “Summarise our last three team meetings.”
Copilot then brings you what you need in a format that you can use, or tweak to suit.
What Copilot Already Does Well
Before we dive into Wave 2, let’s briefly remind ourselves of the epic work Copilot has already been doing.
In Word: Enjoying staring at a blank page for hours, not knowing where to begin? Just describe what you need and Copilot will begin creating! For example: “Draft a letter to a supplier asking for an updated price list.”
It’ll help draft polished documents, letters and reports in no time at all, which is great if writing is not your strong suit.
In Excel: For many, Excel is a mission to use because of all the formulas you have to learn to be able to get any benefit out of it. However, Copilot was a turning point, making sense of the numbers, creating charts and delivering insights without the need for formulas or trawling through reams and reams of data.
In PowerPoint: A time drain for anyone. But no more! Just describe what you need and BOOM! Copilot creates you a slick, on-brand presentation about your marketing strategy, for example. No more fiddling with bullet points and slides. If you want to share highlights from your recent performance data, Copilot can grab it and add it to your presentation. Bish, bash, bosh!
In Outlook: Email can seem like a never-ending sink hole of messages that you need to action, reply to or just delete. Copilot can sort your inbox for you, making it a much nicer place to be. It will prioritise messages, summarise long threads and draft replies for you. Before you know it, you’ve caught up!
In Teams: Another meeting, another list of actionable points, if only you could remember them. Good job Copilot was with you. It provides real-time summaries of transcripts and detailed recaps afterward. Perfect.
One of the impressive features of Copilot is its ability to work across different apps. Using BizChat, Copilot can pull you notes from Word and use it in your presentation, pull some figures from Excel and put it into a written document and more.
Even with the excitement around Wave 2, these original features are still invaluable. But it’s just got even better!
What’s New in Wave 2?
With over 150 new features added, Microsoft has gone to town with Wave 2. And they’re all designed to make Copilot smarter, more helpful, and more connected.
So, let’s ride the Wave….2.
Collaborate with Copilot Pages
Collaboration is essential for business, but not always easy. Where is that file stored? Who’s responsible for that? And so on.
Copilot Pages is a digital workspace, where all your documents, spreadsheets, meeting notes and web content, is brought together in one place, in real time. You and your team can then focus on the project, not file management.
Easy data analysis with Python in Excel
Python in Excel allows you to use plain English to crunch numbers, provide advance analytics, risk analysis and more, without the need for formulas and code. For example, just ask Excel to analyse sales trends and predict demand, and it will give you clear information within Excel.
Turn conversations into insights with BizChat
With a ton of data, notes and emails generated daily, it can be hard if not impossible to keep it to hand and make sense of it. But with BizChat you can ask “What were the action items from my recent discussions with [Client Name]? and BizChat is on it with a clear summary of it all.
It’s got smarter
Copilot gets even better at writing, designing, and sorting, making drafting documents, creating a presentation complete with visuals, or replying to tricky customers a breeze. Copilot makes you look polished and professional in a fraction of the time.
Nothing lost in Teams
Previously Copilot could provide a recap of meeting transcripts. Now it can recap what goes on in the chat window too. No more ideas getting forgotten or unanswered questions left to tumble weed.
How to Start Using Copilot
Now you know all the awesome things Copilot can do, you need to know how you go about using it.
It’s simpler than you might think. Copilot is available as an add-on for specific Microsoft 365 plans. If you already have one, then enabling it is just a few steps away:
- Log into your Microsoft 365 admin centre.
- Go to settings and find the Copilot section.
- Follow the steps to enable Copilot for your business.
Hot tip: Start with a small group—like your managers or a specific team—so you can gather feedback as people begin to use it and roll it out smoothly.
Train Your Team to Use Copilot
As with any tool, it’s only any good if people know how to use it. Take the time to introduce your team Copilot so they know:
- How to ask it for help using simple prompts
- Examples of tasks it can assist with, such as generating reports, drafting emails, summarising meetings and so on.
- Best practice for reviewing AI-generated content, making sure it meets your standards.
Encourage your team to experiment. The more they do the more Copilot learns and improves as they use it.
Here’s a quick overview of how Copilot can start helping right away:
- Word: Draft reports, letters, and project updates.
- Excel: Forecast sales, track trends, and create charts.
- Teams: Summarise meetings, assign action items.
- Outlook: Stay on top of your inbox with summaries and auto-drafted replies.
- Copilot Pages + BizChat: Centralise information for collaboration.
Track Your Progress
Once everyone is into the swing of using Copilot it’s a good idea check in and get some feedback. Ask questions like:
- Are we saving time on repetitive tasks?
- Are projects moving faster?
- Is it helping us to meet deadlines more consistently?
- Is communication clearer?
- Is the team enjoying it?
And remember that Microsoft is constantly updating Copilot with new features and improvements so keep yourself and your team up to date with these to get the most from Copilot.
Final Thoughts
Copilot is a huge shift in the way we can use Microsoft’s tools. It can help us get more done, be more productive and in some cases create documents that we would otherwise struggle to on our own… and we’re getting even more help now with Wave 2!
Copilot could be the boost your business needs. So, if you would like to take advantage of what AI has to offer but you need help getting started, let’s chat.
