Introduction
Organisations understand that successful strategies, teamwork and outcomes require excellent communications.
Meetings are an important element in the process of setting the direction, generating ideas, sharing perspectives, working on projects and tracking progress.
Microsoft Teams, part of the Microsoft 365 ecosystem, is the go-to choice of collaboration tool for many organisations. And more and more leaders are beginning to see the benefits of making use of Microsoft’s integrated AI assistant, Copilot, as well.
As a Microsoft applications trainer, I can vouch for the value Copilot brings to the table. And I can also see it has some limitations.
I’ve talked about using Copilot for more effective collaboration and teamworking in a separate blog.
Today – in the latest piece of my Empowering Productivity series – let’s take a look at how Copilot can help savvy Assistants and other professionals with communications and meetings management.
How Copilot Assists to Improve General Communications
Whether you are working in Word, PowerPoint or Outlook, Copilot is by your side to make communicating with others easier, faster and smoother.
Here are the functions where it will give you most advantage:
Information Gathering
Copilot has access to the entire internet and can delve into search engines fast. It’s like having a super savvy research assistant on your team.
Ask Copilot what you want to know and it will find the information (and list the sources of information) for you. Copilot can refine the search and even summarise content from multiple sources for you.
Writing and Drafting Documents
A professional Assistant may have many different types of document to work with: reports, minutes, summaries, schedules, and so on.
If you’re staring at a blank page and not sure how to start, you can ask Copilot to create a draft for you. Use that draft as a template to work from and work on to create a fully rounded piece in the house style.
Editing Documents
You can also ‘prompt’ Copilot to edit or rewrite a document. The clearer your instructions, the more refined the outcome.
Summarising Documents
If you’ve been given a long document (a report or academic study, for example) it can mean a long job to summarise it.
If you ‘feed’ the document to Copilot in Word, for example, it will produce an elementary summary for you. You’ll still have to work through the document but much of the leg work has been done for you.
Sending Emails
Copilot offers time-saving assistance with writing emails, drafting email replies or summarising email threads. It’s clever stuff.
Intranet Communications
If your organisation has an intranet or communication news site in Microsoft SharePoint, Copilot can help with building and designing branded sites and pages that are more engaging for people.
Presentations
Copilot is also integrated with Microsoft PowerPoint. The AI-driven tool offers assistance with creating, designing and structuring a slide presentation of any type.
Managing Meetings Better with Copilot
Meetings are a necessary part of business but can be a source of frustration for teams. Getting communications right before, during and after a meeting can make all the difference.
Here is where Copilot’s assistance will give you most benefit:
Before the Meeting
Copilot has some very clever tricks for supporting the admin and communications around meetings. It can help you to set meetings, create agendas and send out invites.
Copilot can create automated agendas in a number of ways.
1. Draft Agenda from Email Threads – Copilot will review previous email conversations and pull out the key discussion points and decisions. It then creates a pre-filled agenda with topics, objectives and deadlines for you to edit and refine before pressing send.
2. Agenda Suggestions from Previous Meetings – Another way Copilot can generate a draft agenda is by analysing previous meeting notes (e.g. from Teams, Outlook or OneNote). It can suggest topics for discussion and pick up on any actions still requiring follow up.
An example of a prompt for Copilot might be: “Please create an agenda for the quarterly review using last month’s action items.”
3. Time-bound Agendas – If you want meetings to run to schedule, it can help to allocate timings for standard agenda items. Copilot can automate this if you prompt it with details like “20-minute sprint review” or “10-minute Q&A”.
4. Context-based Agendas – Copilot can analyse Outlook or OneNote, for example, and use prompts like “Include budget updates and competitor analysis” to draft an agenda.
You can refine the agenda by adding specific files or deadlines using the Context IQ function within Copilot. The AI assistant can suggest agenda items linked to upcoming project milestones or recommend topics based on meeting attendees’ roles or previous contributions.
Using Copilot for agendas saves times, brings consistency of practice and formatting, helps to ensure nothing important is missed for any meeting.
During the Meeting
As you are working through the agenda, you can call upon Copilot in real time to generate a transcript of proceedings.
You can ask Copilot to come up with relevant questions or suggest follow-up questions based on the discussion. If attendees need fresh or additional information, or a clarification, you can ask Copilot to pull up relevant documents or search the web.
After the Meeting
Copilot can generate minutes or notes of the meeting, including action points and who has been assigned which tasks. Minutes and the next agenda can be synched with Teams, Planner and To-Do, so that tasks get added into the system. Everyone can see who is doing what and by when.
Why You Can’t Escape the Need to Know Microsoft 365 Essentials – even with Copilot
As this summary illustrates, Copilot can do a lot and save you a lot of time. It’s a smart tool for the savvy Assistant.
However, it can’t do everything. And if your working knowledge of Microsoft 365 applications like Word, Excel, PowerPoint, SharePoint, Outlook and OneNote is not up to scratch, you may find yourself losing time.
The outputs of AI are only as good as the inputs – in this case, the prompts you give Copilot.
Copilot can do quite a bit of the leg work. But you are ultimately responsible for your communications, information shared and team ethic.
Use Copilot to help you draft documents but always check information and sources yourself. Use Copilot to create agendas but double check notes, decisions and tasks for accuracy. You don’t want to omit an important task or assign it mistakenly to the wrong person.
If it helps, regard Copilot as a fantastic intern. An enthusiastic worker and smart learner that needs strong guidance and clear instructions.
Seeing the Value of Expert Training in the Microsoft 365 Essentials
As a highly experienced Microsoft applications trainer, of course I am going to advocate people get properly trained.
For the savvy Assistant or other busy professional, the technology is there to help you save time, get things done faster – and better. I won’t apologise for reminding assistants to regularly assess and develop their skills.
At the very least, make sure you know how to work your way around Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and Teams in Microsoft. It will make your life easier. Familiarity with Copilot is a bonus yet also going to become more important as more and more organisations embrace AI.
Reach out if you need help with anything. You can follow me on LinkedIn, or read my blog or weekly newsletter for practical tips.
You could take one of my courses, or book some 1:1 coaching support or a tailored group training session.
As I continue to experiment with Copilot in my own business, I’ll keep sharing about what it can do, how it helps save time and where it could be improved.
It’s not perfect but I love it and use it a lot. I encourage you to do the same.
Until the next one!
Cohort 2 is here!
After the amazing success of our very first Microsoft 365 Fundamentals with AI and Copilot course, I’m so excited to open the doors again.
The feedback from Cohort 1 was incredible—people loved how practical and hands-on the sessions were, and many said they felt more confident and productive straight away.
If you missed out last time, now’s your chance to join us, learn how to make Copilot work for you, and be part of a friendly, supportive group that’s all about getting results.
This course will teach you how to leverage AI tools like Copilot to enhance productivity and efficiency in your daily tasks.
Don’t miss out—sign up today and stay ahead of the curve!
Visit the Course Page Now!