In our Microsoft Copilot blog - Copilot Champions: One Month with Copilot for Microsoft 365, we spoke about the internal working group we formed named the ‘Copilot Champions’ where various members of the team from our IT Services division trialled a pilot programme of Copilot for Microsoft 365, to gain greater insight into the technology, to enable us better educate our clients on its benefits. Read the blog for a recap of how their first month with Copilot for Microsoft 365 went.
So far we have explored how Copilot has supported the roles of a Regional Sales Manager, Head of Managed and Professional Services, Business Central Functional Consultant and Support Services Manager. The next blog in our Copilot for Everyday blog series (where each Copilot Champion will explore how Copilot for Microsoft 365 supported their specific job roles) is from James Miller, Head of Support Services and Data Protection at Sharp UK.
Introduction
The role I occupy is Head of Support Services and Data Protection. Both these roles require continuous, constant input not only from a functional standpoint, but from a position where supporting teams and individuals is crucial to their success and the success of the business.
The role demands knowledge and involvement in the strategy and budgets within the business and is placed within the senior management team for Sharp IT Services.
Leadership is a huge part of the role and so excellent judgement and awareness of the people and the business is necessary at all times. Communication is therefore an endless stream of requirements for information, task completion, and updates on statuses.
My role also extends beyond the boundaries of Sharp IT Services, into Sharp Business Systems and Sharp Europe, meaning my scope of comms is very wide and includes all levels of the hierarchy on a lot of days. Often this means a change in communication style and focus as I change between conversations and tasks.
How I Will Use Copilot to Help My Role
I have only recently taken on a Copilot licence, and so I am still learning the best ways to write prompts. Taking guidance from those who have been using it longer than myself, I am beginning to ask more if Copilot can assist in any given situation. As time progresses, I hope to utilise Copilot as a standard operation in my day-to-day tasks by;
- Using Copilot to summarise Teams chats where I have arrived late to the party
- Using Copilot to take notes and summarise meetings held over Teams, assisting with task generation
- Using Copilot for better email communications, especially when matters might be of a sensitive nature
- Using Copilot to assist in the creation of documents and templates, which are heavily used within my role and stream of work
The Use of Copilot So Far
As yet, I have not noticed a huge increase in productivity or output due to using Copilot. For several tasks, such as email summaries, counts, and organisation, Copilot has not been of much assistance as the results are often not what I need.
A lot of my role includes also ad-hoc tasks and conversations that need to be had, and so unless the meeting is scheduled with a defined result in mind, the employment of Copilot can feel unnecessary. I accept that some of this is likely down to my learning curve of using the application.
That said, Copilot enables me to find alternative ways of wording communications, and it is also very useful when it comes to creating a template or list of requirements for things like process writing or seeking some good pointers for achieving a task.
