Microsoft 365 Copilot foundations
Hands-on Copilot across Outlook, Teams, Word, Excel and PowerPoint, using your own everyday tasks.
- Level
- Introductory1 of 3 in the path
- Delivery
- On-site or remoteanywhere in New Zealand
- Length
- Half-day to a seriesagreed with you first
- Topics
- 6adapted to your team
Who it is for
Everyone with a Microsoft 365 Copilot licence, or Copilot Chat, who wants to use it well.
Before you start: Microsoft 365 accounts. Copilot Chat is enough for part of the session; licensed users get the full benefit.
What we cover
- Copilot Chat and Microsoft 365 Copilot: what each can see and do
- Outlook: summarising threads, drafting and coaching replies
- Teams: meeting recaps, catching up on chats, and asking what was decided
- Word and PowerPoint: drafting from existing files and building decks from documents
- Excel: asking questions of tables, formulas and charts, and checking the results
- Prompts that reference your files, and sharing good prompts with your team
We adjust the content to your team, and use your own documents and tasks for the exercises.
Who does this kind of work
63.6% of employed New Zealanders, about 1,669,000 people, work in the desk-based occupation groups (in bold) where Microsoft Copilot helps most. Each town page shows the local share, so you can see how a rollout would size up where you are.
Employed New Zealanders by occupation group, 2023
| Occupation group | Chart | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Managers | 18.3% | |
| Professionals | 26.8% | |
| Technicians and trades workers | 12.5% | |
| Community and personal service workers | 9.0% | |
| Clerical and administrative workers | 10.8% | |
| Sales workers | 7.8% | |
| Machinery operators and drivers | 5.9% | |
| Labourers | 9.0% |
Desk-based = ANZSCO major groups 1, 2, 5 and 6 (managers, professionals, clerical and administrative, sales): roles where AI assistance is most applicable. Broad proxy informed by ILO 2025; not measured adoption or an employment forecast.
Source: Stats NZ, 2023 Census, usually resident employed people; ILO, Generative AI and jobs: a refined global index of occupational exposure (2025).
The rest of the path
2Organisation
Copilot rollout and readiness
Plan a Copilot rollout that pays for its licences: permissions hygiene, sensitivity labels, pilot groups, champions and adoption measurement.
3Advanced
Copilot Studio agents and advanced Excel
Build agents in Copilot Studio over your own content and processes, automate the actions with Power Automate, and get more from Copilot in Excel.
Examples for your industry
- Farming and horticulture
- Manufacturing
- Construction and trades
- Retail
- Tourism and hospitality
- Transport and logistics
- Professional services
- Health
- Education
- Government
Available in every region, for example Auckland, Canterbury and Wellington. See all locations.
Questions about this course
How long is it, and what does it cost?
Length and format depend on your group and goals, so we agree them with you first. Send an enquiry and we will reply with a suggestion.
Can it run remotely?
Yes. Remote sessions run live, with the same hands-on exercises. On-site sessions are available anywhere in New Zealand.
Do we need Microsoft 365 Copilot licences for training?
Not for everything. Many Microsoft 365 business users can use Copilot Chat without an extra licence, and it is a good way to start. The in-app features in Outlook, Teams, Word and Excel need the Microsoft 365 Copilot licence.
Will Copilot show staff documents they should not see?
Copilot only shows content a user already has permission to open. If your SharePoint or Teams sites are overshared, it will surface those documents. Fixing that is part of the rollout course.
Ask about Microsoft 365 Copilot foundations
- ScopeHeadcount, sites, Microsoft 365 plan and licences, and the teams you want to start with.
- PlanWe propose a course, a pilot group and a format, and agree the files and meetings to use.
- TrainOn-site or over Teams, in Outlook, Word, Excel and Teams, with your own work.
- In person
- Remote
- Half-day workshop
- Full-day workshop
- Team rollout
Independent training by TheColab. Not affiliated with Microsoft.
Enquire
Tell us about your team. We reply by email with a suggested course and format.