Top 10 M365 Copilot Pilot Groups

As you’re assessing the value of scaling your M365 Copilot deployment to your entire organization, who do you choose to be in your pilot group? Here are my top 10 suggestions:

Copilot Team – These are your evangelists who will champion the use of M365 Copilot across the organization. Their enthusiasm and deep understanding of the tool will help drive adoption and provide valuable feedback for improvements.

Service Desk – M365 Copilot can significantly enhance the efficiency of the Service Desk by triaging tickets across all levels, not just Level 1 but also Level 3. This will streamline the support process and improve response times, and with so many existing metrics, this is one place where it is easy to measure and report the impact of the product.

Citizen Developers – By empowering Citizen Developers with M365 Copilot, you can accelerate the adoption of Power Platform. The tool can guide new users step-by-step in creating flows, forms, and dashboards, thereby increasing their productivity and innovation.

Sales – M365 Copilot can assist the Sales team with company research and client meeting preparation, enabling them to be more informed and effective in their interactions. This can lead to better client relationships and increased sales - another metric that's easy to measure.

Marketing – The Marketing team can leverage M365 Copilot for brainstorming sessions, generating creative ideas, and drafting content. The tool can help them refine their messaging and improve the overall quality of their campaigns.

Corporate Communications – M365 Copilot excels at creating content and adjusting tone, clarity, and length. This makes it an invaluable tool for the Corporate Communications team, helping junior members and seasoned professionals craft clear and impactful messages.

Legal – It’s crucial to focus on change management and myth-busting with the Legal team. By involving them early on, you can address any concerns and ensure they understand the benefits and limitations of M365 Copilot.

HR - Legal and HR are likely to be the biggest skeptics, so it's beneficial to involve them early in the pilot. By giving them hands-on experience with M365 Copilot, you can address their concerns and demonstrate the tool's value in improving productivity and efficiency.

Executive assistants (EA’s) – While M365 Copilot does not allow access to their boss' calendar, it can still be a valuable tool for EA’s. They often handle a significant amount of administrative work, and M365 Copilot can help them manage tasks more efficiently, ultimately increasing productivity. ?

Neurodivergent workers – M365 Copilot is a game changer for folks who find it difficult to create content or focus on deep work. The tool can provide structure and guidance, helping them stay on track and complete tasks more effectively.

How many licenses should we start with?

My suggestion is to start with at least 10% of your workforce, but the most important thing is to provide licenses for entire groups, not just individuals. People who work together will tell each other how they are being more productive with the tool.

Evaluate the difference between how your highly productive people benefit from the LLM against users who are new to an Office application. For example, someone who is well-versed in Excel may be disappointed in the current state of M365 Copilot but for someone who doesn’t know how to create a pivot table, M365 Copilot is magic.

Who to avoid in the first round

Companies often make the mistake of putting new technology into the hands of those who are going to make the purchasing decision as opposed to those who are going to use the product. Since IT and Executives are often not the primary users of the technology, including them in the pilot might not provide the most relevant feedback on the day-to-day usability and effectiveness of the tool.

It's more beneficial to have feedback from those who will be using the product regularly. IT and Executives may have a limited perspective that can create a mismatch between the perceived and actual value of the tool. From what I’ve seen so far, focusing on these two groups in the pilot leads to an incomplete assessment of the tool’s effectiveness.

The need for Change Management

No matter who you choose to license first, please do not roll this out and let people figure it out. You need to be very clear in your objectives for the tool to justify the need for additional licenses.

Demos – schedule weekly (optional) demos to show people how to prompt within each application. Give them time to ask questions and brainstorm new ways to use the tool. This also gives you an opportunity to provide personalized support.

1:1 sessions with EA’s – this group often times does not get time for training and their opinion is going to influence their executives heavily. If you want an Executive Sponsor for a roll out at scale, focus on making sure this group is well informed on how to use the tool to enhance their productivity.

MS Learn links – for those who like to self-serve, give them a list of training options available to them online.

Prompt-a-thons – This is a great way to gamify your M365 Copilot adoption. Get groups together and give them time to work through a real productivity issue. This is a great way to measure success in ways an IT person or Executive would never imagine.

Selecting the right pilot group for your M365 Copilot deployment is crucial for gathering relevant feedback and ensuring successful adoption. By focusing on a diverse group of business users, you will gain valuable insights into the tool's effectiveness and impact on productivity. By starting with at least 10% of your workforce and providing licenses for entire groups, you can create a strong foundation for scaling the deployment and maximizing the benefits of M365 Copilot in your organization.