Teams and Copilot Best Practices

Introduction

Microsoft Teams, with its deeply embedded AI capabilities, has become the smart place to work. But what does it really mean to be smart? In the world of Teams, being smart means that AI is there to assist and enhance your work without replacing you or taking away your agency. Microsoft believes that AI should augment and amplify your potential, abilities, and productivity. With the introduction of Copilot in Teams, a whole new way of working has been unlocked, allowing you to accomplish tasks that were previously not possible.

The Evolution of Copilot in Teams

When Microsoft 365 Copilot was first announced in March, it marked the beginning of Teams adding intelligence in ways that revolutionize communication and collaboration. Since then, several updates have been made to Copilot in Teams, expanding its functionalities and providing users with a more valuable experience. Whether you are participating in the Early Access Program (EAP) or not, there are plenty of ways to engage with Copilot and make the most out of its features. Let’s take a look at the journey from its inception to where we are today.

Milestone 1: Microsoft 365 Copilot and Copilot in Teams Meetings

The first significant milestone in the evolution of Copilot in Teams was the introduction of Microsoft 365 Copilot and Copilot in Teams meetings. The Microsoft 365 Copilot chat experience, available in Teams and in the browser, is a game-changer. It leverages the power of Microsoft Graph to aggregate data from various sources such as the internet, documents, presentations, email, files, meetings, chats, and third-party applications. This comprehensive integration saves you time and effort throughout your workday. By asking Copilot a question or selecting a suggested prompt, you can quickly find the information you need to move your work forward. For example, instead of manually searching through your recent emails, chats, meeting notes, and presentations to prepare for a meeting, you can simply ask Copilot. It will find and summarize everything related to the project your meeting is about, streamlining your preparation process. Additionally, Copilot can provide you with the latest news on a specific topic, summarize outstanding project deliverables with potential risks, and much more.

Milestone 2: Copilot in Teams Meetings

Copilot in Teams meetings takes your meetings to the next level by providing a powerful tool to help you complete common meeting tasks. Whether you join a meeting late or want to capture unresolved issues before the meeting ends, Copilot has got you covered. It can list all the questions that were left unanswered, identify the right people for specific follow-ups, or even create a table of pros and cons for a decision being discussed. One particularly useful feature is the ability to create a table of all the questions asked during a meeting and their corresponding answers. This table can be shared with the team as a reference or used to create a Frequently Asked Questions document. The beauty of Copilot in Teams meetings is that it seamlessly integrates with your live discussions and provides valuable insights without disrupting the flow of the meeting.

Milestone 3: Copilot in Teams Phone and Chat

At Inspire, Microsoft announced the next wave of Copilot in Teams, introducing Copilot in Teams Phone and Copilot in Teams Chat. These new functionalities bring the same level of intelligence and assistance to impromptu chats and calls. With Copilot in Teams Phone, you can make and receive calls from your Teams app on any device and benefit from real-time summarization and insights. During a call, you can ask Copilot to draft notes and highlight key points such as names, dates, numbers, and tasks. Imagine initiating a new project with a partner outside your organization. You give them a call to outline the project and discuss collaboration tasks. While you’re having the conversation, Copilot is summarizing the call, capturing the partner’s questions, and noting down next steps. After the call, you can use this information to quickly send a follow-up note confirming the project plan based on your conversation.

Copilot in Teams chat is designed to help you stay on top of your conversations by providing quick summaries, recaps, and synthesizing key information across your Teams chat threads. The best part is that you can access all this without interrupting the flow of your conversation or endlessly scrolling through chats. Think about all the times you’ve been away from work, whether due to back-to-back meetings or a vacation. While you were away, the conversations in Teams continued. For example, your team was discussing potential ideas for a new marketing campaign through chat. Instead of scrolling through the entire chat thread, you can simply ask Copilot to provide a quick summary of what you missed, the top ideas discussed, and a list of action items to follow up on. You can even ask Copilot to create a table of the final ideas along with the pros and cons that were discussed. This way, you can quickly catch up with the team without interrupting their workflow and focus on the next steps for the campaign. Personally, I find myself frequently relying on Copilot in Teams chat to catch up after being away from active chats and to request documents that require my review.

Going Deeper with Copilot in Teams

If you’re interested in diving deeper into the functionalities and features of Copilot in Teams, I highly recommend watching this episode of Inside Microsoft Teams. In this episode, the lead product managers responsible for building each Copilot experience discuss how Copilot in Teams Meetings, Phone, and Chat work. It provides valuable insights into the capabilities of Copilot and how it can enhance your work experience.

Conclusion

As Microsoft continues to innovate and transform the way work happens, Copilot in Teams remains at the forefront. With its AI-powered intelligence and assistance, Copilot empowers you to work smarter, not harder. It augments your potential, abilities, and productivity, allowing you to accomplish tasks more efficiently and effectively. Whether you’re participating in the Early Access Program or not, there are plenty of ways to engage with Copilot and experience the benefits it brings to your work life. Stay tuned for more updates in the coming months as Microsoft rolls out new features and enhancements to Copilot in Teams.