Microsoft Copilot at work: five exercises for your team
Connect Copilot training with the materials and tasks your team works with every day.
Microsoft Copilot is easier to evaluate at work when it is tested on a defined task with a clear way to check the output. For a team working with documents, emails and presentations, a training session can be built around the following five exercises.
Feature availability varies by licence, configuration and application. Microsoft explains these distinctions in its product documentation. Before a workshop, check what participants can access in their accounts; the exercises below are suggestions to adapt to that access.
Summarise a document to support a decision
Choose an approved document and a specific question from a manager. Ask for a summary that separates facts, open issues and proposed next steps. Compare the result with the original document, paying particular attention to conditions and exceptions that may have been omitted.
The aim is to see whether the reader understands what they need to decide. A short but incomplete summary is not necessarily a better result. Request a reference to the source section for each important fact.
Draft an email reply
Use a simulated conversation containing a clear request. Ask for a draft that answers the question and identifies missing information. Check whether it promises deadlines, prices or actions that have not been approved.
Before sending, also review names and recipients. Assess the exercise on accuracy and clarity, rather than the number of alternatives the tool can generate.
Turn meeting notes into actions
When notes or an authorised transcript are available, try extracting tasks, owners and deadlines. Ask for anything unspecified to remain marked as such. Something mentioned in a discussion is not always an agreed decision.
The team can review the list together at the end of the meeting. This helps distinguish agreements from ideas. Do not enable recording outside your organisation's rules simply to complete the exercise.
Explore a small spreadsheet
Use a synthetic dataset with clear labels, consistent dates and matching units. Ask questions such as “which categories changed the most?” and request an explanation of the basis for comparison. Check calculations in the spreadsheet or with the relevant formulas.
An attractive chart can conceal missing rows, duplicate categories or periods that cannot fairly be compared. The learning objective is to recognise these problems before the analysis is used in a report.
Build the flow of a presentation
Provide source material and describe the audience. First ask for the order of the arguments, then for slide titles. Only move to the visuals after checking the narrative, using the features available to you.
For a management presentation, the intended outcome might be a decision. For a training session, it might be a skill. That difference should shape the structure, not just the slide colours.
Frequently asked questions
Can Copilot see all company documents?
Microsoft explains that access to organisational data is tied to the user's permissions. The organisation needs to check that those permissions are configured appropriately.
How do you evaluate a Copilot workshop?
Compare exercise outputs against agreed criteria: accuracy, total time and corrections. Repeat a task after training to see whether participants can still apply the skill.
Adapt the training to your working environment
Lumina can build training around your team's roles and access. Tell us which applications you use and which tasks you want to improve.