A study found that 70% of Copilot for Microsoft 365 users said they were more productive, and 68% said it improved the quality of their work. Copilot’s capabilities extend to streamlining crucial workflows, enabling users to get caught up on missed meetings nearly 4x faster. This highlights the importance of harnessing its potential to the fullest. But how can do identify viable use cases to justify the investment to stakeholders?

These questions were addressed by James Spignardo, Strategic Solutions Consultant, at ProArch and Greg Dodge, Strategic Solutions Architect, at ProArch at our part 2 Prepare for Copilot for Microsoft 365 webinar series. They provided an in-depth look at how to identify high-impact use cases for Copilot, present your business case to stakeholders, and share the secret sauce of calculating Copilot for Microsoft 365 ROI. Keep reading for a summary of the discussion and click here to watch the full webinar.

Selecting Ideal Copilot Use Cases

According to Greg, defining and identifying high-impact use cases for Copilot is crucial to maximizing its value and return on investment (ROI) within an organization. The key is to align the generative AI capabilities with the specific needs, roles, and personas of different user groups.

Here are the key points to keep in mind –

• Identify Roles and Personas
• Map Use Cases to Roles and Personas
• Evaluate Business Impact and ROI
• Prioritize Quick Wins

Once roles and personas within an organization are clearly defined, the next step is to map potential use cases to the groups that would benefit the most from Copilot’s generative AI capabilities. The focus should be on prioritizing use cases that address critical pain points or inefficiencies for high-impact roles. Each use case should be evaluated to understand the specific business problems or challenges it aims to solve, as well as the obtainability and the number of potential users it would impact.

Next crucial step is quantifying the ROI for each Copilot use case by defining measurable KPIs and success criteria upfront. Without quantifiable metrics, justifying continued investment becomes difficult.

For implementation, focus initially on quick wins – high-value, low-effort use cases that can rapidly showcase ROI and build momentum. Time-box initiatives rather than attempting an all-encompassing rollout.

Greg suggests leveraging out-of-the-box Copilot features in Microsoft 365 apps like Word and Teams first, before exploring third-party apps and Power Platform connectors for more advanced scenarios later. Start with ready-made capabilities before custom integrations.

Common Business Use Cases that Copilot can help with

James states that identifying specific business use cases and providing relevant context is crucial for effectively leveraging Copilot’s capabilities across different departments and roles within an organization.

James highlights that operations and project management teams can benefit from Copilot’s ability to create project plans directly from meeting notes. By providing the relevant context, teams can quickly generate draft project plans, timelines, and task lists, streamlining the planning process.

Let’s the instance of HR, a key use case of HR operation, is automating employee onboarding. By feeding Copilot existing onboarding docs and specifying the department, HR can generate tailored draft onboarding plans. Copilot can also assist in creating structured hiring workflows, from job postings through interviews, by analyzing relevant info and generating process outlines.

So as the James Spignardo states “The key is to clearly understand the problems you’re trying to solve and what you aim to accomplish, then provide users with prompts and tools tailored to their needs and role-specific contexts.”

Additionally, Copilot can play a crucial role in identifying potential risks and impacts associated with upcoming changes or events. By describing the proposed change, teams can prompt Copilot to analyze the situation and highlight potential issues or considerations, enabling more proactive risk mitigation.

Calculate Financial Value of Microsoft 365 Copilot: Try our ROI Calculator

James stated that Microsoft 365 Copilot is a powerful tool, but organizations need to calculate the return on investment (ROI) to justify the cost.

Here are the steps to calculate the ROI of Copilot:

ProArch’s Copilot for Microsoft 365 ROI calculator provides the ROI, number of breakeven months, and total cost savings your organization can expect.

Prepared the Microsoft 365 Tenant for Copilot

Assessing organizational readiness and preparing the Microsoft 365 tenant before deploying Microsoft 365 Copilot is essential. James outlined the process for Copilot implementation:

1. Understand what Copilot is, the potential uses case, and business value
2. Ensure that the Microsoft 365 (graph) data estate is properly secured
3. Find gaps in data governance and remediate them before a broader Microsoft 365 Copilot deployment
4. Optimize costs to “right-size” licensing needs for the use of Microsoft 365 Copilot
5. Provide a strong foundation for training end-users on the use of Copilot
6. Develop an internal AI policy for Microsoft 365 Copilot and Generative AI

What’s Next?

If your organization relies on Microsoft 365 to get work done, understanding how Copilot can benefit your organization is crucial. Our Microsoft 365 Copilot Readiness assessment helps identify areas where Copilot can drive value. We’ll assess your processes, identify Copilot opportunities, provide tailored recommendations, and most importantly, estimate the potential return on investment (ROI) with our ROI calculator.

If Copilot doesn’t seem like the right fit, ProArch can help you in other ways. Our AI consulting services can bring your AI vision to life.

For more insights, download the full recording and slide deck of the webinar and learn more about our services at ProArch.