Your Team Has Copilot. Why Isn't Anyone Using It?
Your firm rolled out Microsoft 365 Copilot. The licenses went out, someone sent an email about it, and for a week or two people gave it a try.
Now ask your project managers how often they use it.
Most will shrug. A few tried it once, typed in a vague question, got a vague answer back, and went back to doing things the old way. Nobody announced they stopped. They just did.
Meanwhile, the licenses renew every month, and your team keeps spending hours on work Copilot could already handle.
The tool isn't the problem
When Copilot goes unused, it's easy to assume it just doesn't fit how your firm works. That's rarely the case.
The problem is that nobody showed your team how to use it on their actual work. Most rollouts stop at turning the licenses on, maybe with a generic demo. Then everyone goes back to their RFIs and submittals, and Copilot never comes up again.
Your team wasn't given a reason to change how they work. They were given a blank chat box.
What you can do right now
You don't need a big rollout plan to start getting value from Copilot. Pick one of these and try it on a real project this week.
1. Catch up on a long email thread
Every PM has opened a thread between the owner, the architect, and three subs and thought, "Where did we land on this?" Instead of scrolling back through all of it, open the thread in Outlook and ask Copilot:
PromptSummarize this thread. List any decisions made, any open questions, and who owes a response by when.
2. Let Teams take your meeting notes
If your firm has transcription turned on in Teams, Copilot can recap a meeting after it ends. Instead of scribbling notes during an OAC meeting and cleaning them up later, ask:
PromptList the action items from this meeting, who owns each one, and any deadlines mentioned.
Drop the result into your minutes template, give it a once-over, and send it the same afternoon.
3. Draft the documents you write every week
Owner updates, RFI responses, and transmittal letters follow the same pattern every time. In Word, point Copilot at a file you already have and ask for a first draft:
PromptUsing the attached schedule update, draft a one-page owner update. Keep it plain and direct. Flag anything behind schedule and what we're doing about it.
You'll still edit it. But editing a solid draft is a lot faster than starting from a blank page.
Whichever you try, be specific. Tell Copilot who the audience is, what format you want, and what to focus on.
These steps will help. But they have limits. A few people trying a few prompts won't change how your whole firm works, and new habits fade fast when nobody is checking in.
Going beyond the quick fixes
That's why we provide in-house Copilot training. Not a one-time session with a slide deck, but hands-on time with your team, using the tools you've already given them.
Every firm works a little differently, so the training does too. It's shaped around how your team already works and the tasks that take up most of their week.
The goal is simple. Your team walks away confident using the tools in front of them, with habits that last long after the training ends.
You already made the investment
Your firm gave your team the tools. That was the right call.
The next step is making sure they know how to use them. Arvaya can help turn the licenses you're already paying for into hours your team gets back every week.
