“It’s just another tool, right?” – Why That Thinking Could Derail Your Copilot Rollout
It’s been almost two years since Microsoft 365 Copilot burst into the workplace. Over this time, I’ve heard many variations of a common theme: “It’s already embedded in the apps we already use – so it’s not really a change for our people, they will just start using it.” It’s a fair assumption that the promise of easy availability might drive adoption. In practice, I’ve found that successful Copilot adoption isn’t just about availability, access or even training; rather, it’s much more about mindset.
Making the Shift from Doing to Directing
A mindset is the mental framework we develop over time through experiences, attitudes, beliefs, and values. It’s incredibly useful because it helps us navigate and make sense of the world, and influences our actions, behaviours, habits and skills. Think of it as a cascade effect, where our mindset shapes our attitudes, which drive our behaviours, which in turn form our habits and build our skills.
Copilot changes the way we access, use and reuse information. Copilot changes how we work, how we organise ourselves and how we approach our work. It invites us to shift from being the sole creator of content to being the architect or the director of the outcome. That’s a big leap for most of us. Some people might feel like using Copilot is “cheating.” Others aren’t sure about how it fits into their workflow. Some give up after a few attempts. And for others, it’s simply that they just don’t know where to start.
That’s where change management comes in—not as a bureaucratic layer, but as a human-centred strategy to help people navigate this shift in work patterns.
What I’ve Seen Works Well
When introducing any change in the workplace, but particularly with Copilot, it’s helpful to take people on the journey to reframe their relationship with work. Working with a client recently, we ran a series of workshops that weren’t just about how to use Copilot in the Microsoft 365 apps, but why it mattered. We talked about reclaiming time for more meaningful tasks, reducing cognitive load, and making space for creativity, reflection and more strategic thinking.
We also made sure to tailor support to cater to different roles. Leaders and managers were interested in the benefits and strategic insights of using generative AI in the workplace. Frontline teams were keen for practical tips to improve their prompting. Everyone had a chance to ask questions and share their new way of doing things.
Why Doing Nothing Isn’t an Option
Copilot enables us to tap into our organisation’s intellectual property in relevant and exciting ways. Experience has shown me that those who benefit most are the ones who make the shift, changing the way they work and embedding it at every opportunity, maintaining the shift benefits from showing up to reinforce good habits, keeping abreast of new features and being open to “evergreen” continuous learning. But this change in work isn’t specific to Copilot; even if you decide against introducing the Microsoft tool into your organisation, a portion of your people will find ways to use generative AI tools in their work. That’s just the reality. So the question isn’t which generative AI tool to deploy or whether to manage this change in the workplace — it’s how to do it in a way that supports safe, effective, and valuable use by your people.
Key Takeaways:
- Start with mindset, not mechanics. Help people understand how Copilot changes their role, from being the creator and do-er to being the director and editor of work.
- Manage the change. Different teams benefit from different kinds of support.
- The tools are here. The change is happening. Be proactive. Manage it.
For those willing to share, what was the biggest change you made in adopting (or not adopting) generative AI in the work that you do?