5+1 tips for management to maximize the benefits of Copilot
The best time to start utilizing AI was yesterday and the second best is now. You can start quickly, as long as you as a leader take into account some practices that help you get the most out of Microsoft Copilot, both in managing people and developing their use.
As the summer holiday season approaches, we put together a list of tips to get you right up and running on Copilot.
The introduction and utilisation of artificial intelligence is, above all, a journey of change and business development. The benefits come from the businesses. This idea, on which our Copilot implementation services are also based, has only been strengthened by our numerous customer projects.
At Sulava, we have already implemented Copilot for Microsoft 365 to a three-digit number of customers, and we have learned lessons that company management, business managers, team leaders and others can use in their own AI considerations.
1. Find and experiment with different use cases
Use cases have already been mentioned several times before. Copilot’s features include many common use cases that flow from one industry to another to make every day work more efficient. But the use cases typical for the industry can be found within the company itself. When Copilot is deployed so that staff know how to use it and have the courage to experiment, great results are achieved.
A few examples where open-minded thinking produced great results.
In the healthcare sector, the creation of memos was revolutionized with Copilot. One of the nurse’s duties was to make a memo of the appointments in English, which was time-consuming and burdensome. One nurse came up with the idea of using Copilot in Teams, where they would speak the notes and Copilot made a concise and accurate written version in English. Many hours per week was saved for patient work.
For another customer in the retail industry, a management team member took advantage of OneNote’s Copilot while driving. She sketched out a new strategy by speaking while driving, and OneNote transcribed the speech into text. She then used Copilot to shape the text into a logical strategy document. Her goal is to achieve productivity growth of at least 20% with Copilot and considered this strategy process to be an excellent step towards the goal.
In the third example, a media reporter is preparing for an interview. He asks Copilot to build interview questions based on background messages from a communications agency and previously written articles on the subject. The interview is recorded and Copilot helps him to build a story frame based on the conversation. The actual writing of the story is left to the journalist, but even in this case, the process becomes tens of percent more efficient.
2. From problems to solutions
New use cases or areas for business development are sought, for example, with design thinking methods in businesses, teams or otherwise selected groups. A typical way is to find problems that are solved and eliminated with the help of artificial intelligence. It is worth remembering that Copilot must achieve both cost savings and create completely new (business) operating models.
The problem isn’t always needed. Together with our customers, we have found that a successful Copilot use case can also be created by thinking in a new way about something that is being done now. In principle, a perfectly well-functioning way of doing things may be old-fashioned in the world of AI, but people have not thought of a new way.
3. Get involved
Leading by example and from the front is a prerequisite for a successful journey of change. A lot is left out of the implementation of change if the management is not involved in setting its own example and actively making policies.
At this point, you should also invest your own time and learn how to use AI, find your own use cases and instill ways to use AI in your everyday work. Sharing these examples serves as an inspiration to other employees.
In addition, management should be involved in the development of Copilot solutions. Build a steering group for your Copilot service. This keeps businesses and management constantly on the pulse of adoption progress and invents new ways to use AI. Information also flows efficiently, and the goals remain in the mind of the implementation team.
4. Pilot extensively
Testing the technical functionality and technical phases of implementation can be done well in IT management. But more extensive piloting and the search for the benefits of Copilot should be carried out as widely as possible. IT management provides a huge amount of good insights, but IT operations are full of IT experts. They naturally know different tricks and shortcuts to get things done.
Instead, people in businesses and other support functions benefit immensely from natural language and Copilot’s creative solutions. Copilot’s potential is at its best without preconceived notions brought about by deep knowledge of technical systems.
But not every process automation or new creation should be solved with Copilot or other generative AI solutions. In some cases, it makes more sense, at least initially, to automate or create something new using Power Platform. Or change the ways of working to be more efficient. After that, AI can significantly increase efficiency.
5. Stay on track
This is true for managers as well as for every employee who uses AI. The pace of development is dizzying, and you need to be prepared to be agile with new features and capabilities. New targets for utilizing Copilot are found every month.
Of course, to stay on the map, organization needs to know what comes out of Microsoft’s product development in the form of updates. In the case of Copilot, this brings a lot of joy to the end users.
But sharing information within the organization is also extremely important. A useful use case found in one place can be extendable and the benefits of the organization are multiplied.
+1 Seriously, but not too serious
Copilot is an artificial intelligence tool designed to support and develop business. Despite this, when learning features and testing use cases, you should not keep the beanie too tight.
Employees must have the courage to experiment and also have fun. It is important to maintain a positive emotional state that supports learning. Artificial intelligence will revolutionise working life. To get the most out of it, you should try a variety of methods – even those that bring a smile to your face.
Microsoft chose Sulava as to the world’s top 4 best in AI and training – we received four recognitions in the Partner of The Year competition!
“Organizations now have a watershed moment; Future success largely depends on how quickly use cases, savings and new business opportunities are considered using AI extensively. It’s not about saving minutes and hours, it’s about real, financial savings, new business and new operating models that can be created with Copilots and AI”, comments Aki Antman
Read the interview where Antman, Katri Valtari and Mika Sarhimaa talk about the key aspects that organizations should now consider in order to best achieve the benefits of AI and develop their business by utilizing AI as a driver.
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