How Microsoft Teams + Microsoft Loop can make your meetings better
Meetings are an important way to work together, helping you to connect with others and share information easily and quickly. But if your meetings are not always very effective, you’re in good company. Many small and medium-sized businesses struggle to optimize precious face-to-face time—you may end up having a meeting to discuss results from the previous meeting or leaving meetings with no clear outcomes at all. Collaborative Notes in Microsoft Teams can help. With Collaborative Notes you can organize agendas, take meeting notes, and track tasks together. And because Collaborative Notes are Microsoft Loop components, they automatically sync across all the places you share them. Let’s take a closer look at how a business can use Collaborative Notes. It's all about the agenda An agenda is important for a great meeting. But running a business can be busy. How can you make an agenda, incorporate feedback from the other participants and share it before the meeting? To start a Collaborative Note, click “add an agenda” when creating a meeting in Teams. Once you send the meeting request, everyone invited can easily add, edit, and reorder agenda items. This approach saves you time and effort, but it also results in more productive meetings because it ensures that the most important topics are addressed. Since Collaborative Notes are Loop components you can work on them across other Microsoft 365 web apps, Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft Teams, Microsoft Word, and Microsoft Whiteboard. Perhaps your business partner can’t attend the meeting, but you’d still like her input on the agenda. Share the Collaborative Note with her in an email and as she provides her input in Outlook, you’ll see her updates in Teams. "When we generate the agenda for an event, like a webinar, it’s very different when we use Loop. With the agenda component, we can collect ideas and ask for feedback before the event. Those requests are just dropped into everyone’s flow of work, so they’re easy to answer and it makes for a far better result than we’d normally get." - Vesku Nopanen, Principal Consultant for the Future of Work at Sulava. Make meetings work for you During a meeting, any participant can use Collaborative Notes to check off or re-order agenda items and take notes and assign follow-up tasks in one central place. For example, you might be preparing a customer pitch or a sales campaign that requires collaborating with people from across your business. During your kickoff meeting, each participant can capture notes, follow-up tasks and timelines related to their role—or tag items for other participants—while seeing everyone else’s notes, too. In the task list, you can use “@” to assign people a task and set a due date. And if you prefer a more visual task list, you can turn your list into a board view. Because Collaborative Notes are Loop components, you can add links and other components directly in the notes. Coordination like this across your business can help make sure that all key aspects of a project are well managed and allow your team to work more effectively. "It’s so cool that whenever I have a Teams Meeting, I can start collaborating without having to think about where the meeting notes should go. I can start work inside Teams and then continue with the same folks or loop in other colleagues if needed." - Karoliina Partanen, Chief Future Scientist at Sulava. Keep the momentum going Now that you’ve had your most productive meeting yet, don’t stop there! Even after the meeting is over, Collaborative Notes help you keep the progress going. Tasks and deadlines created in Collaborative Notes or other Loop components automatically sync with Microsoft Planner and the Microsoft ToDo App. This helps keep everyone informed, accountable and organized. Get started with Collaborative Notes and Loop today If you’re a Microsoft 365 Business Standard or Microsoft 365 Business Premium customer, you can try out Collaborative Notes right now in Microsoft Teams. Find out more about how it works: Take meeting notes in Microsoft Teams. Business Standard and Business Premium customers can also try Loop anytime since it’s part of your subscription. If Collaborative Notes are the start of your project, check out the Loop app where you can create a workspace for all the people and moving parts of your project to come together. It’s the perfect place for your whole team to plan and create collaboratively. Go further with Copilot for Microsoft 365 If you have Microsoft 365 Business Standard or Microsoft 365 Business Premium, you can also purchase Microsoft Copilot for Microsoft 365 as an add-on; Microsoft 365 Business Basic customers will also be able to purchase Copilot. With Copilot in Teams, you can get an AI-driven summary of your Teams meeting and add it to your Collaborative Notes. You can continue using Copilot in the Loop app where you can create and summarize important information quickly and easily. And if these new capabilities seem like something your business needs, but you’re not a Business Standard or Premium customer, then you can change that right now by checking out our Microsoft 365 plans and choosing the one that’s best for you. Resources Find the right Microsoft 365 business plan for your business. Learn more about how to set up and use your Microsoft 365 subscription and find tips and templates to help you accomplish your business tasks. Get free resources, tech training, and guidance to keep your business thriving and growing. Partners can access training resources, customer decks and deployment checklists to do more with Microsoft 365.Copilot for Microsoft 365 AMA: Engage with Experts Live on January 17th
Get ready for an exclusive Ask Me Anything (AMA) session with the Microsoft 365 Copilot team on Wednesday, January 17th, at 9:00 AM PST/12:00 PM EST. This is your golden opportunity to connect directly with a diverse team of product experts, servicing specialists, and engineers who are the brains behind Copilot for Microsoft 365. They'll be available in real-time to offer insights, share best practices, and answer any questions you have about Microsoft 365 Copilot. How does it work? During this live, chat-based event, our experts will be on hand to provide tailored guidance and discuss how Copilot for Microsoft 365 can enhance your productivity and collaboration. Whether you're curious about the latest features, seeking tips for optimizing your workflow, or have specific queries about the service, our team is here to help. To participate, simply post your questions in the comments section. We encourage you to submit your questions early and continue to engage throughout the one-hour session. Remember, this is a chat-only event, so all interactions will take place in the Comments section without any video or live meeting components. Each question should be posted as a new comment to facilitate a smooth and organized discussion. Don't miss this chance to interact directly with the minds behind Microsoft 365 Copilot and gain valuable insights to elevate your experience with this revolutionary tool. Mark your calendars and join us for an informative and engaging session! Copilot for Microsoft 365 Tech Accelerator Feb 28-29 Join us for two days of insights, demos, and deep dives on Copilot for Microsoft 365. We'll have breakout sessions and live Q&A with Microsoft experts—all so you can learn more about how Copilot works, how you can prepare your tenant, strategies to help skill your users and drive adoption, and how you can measure and maximize the impact of Copilot for your organization. Find out more here: https://aka.ms/AccelerateCopilot Note: This is a chat-based event. There is no video or live meeting component. Questions and answers will appear in the Comments section below. Please post each question as a new commentGetting ready for Microsoft Copilot from an Information Security perspective
I work for one of the early adopters of Copilot for M365. Last year we went through the process of getting comfortable with the change in the findability construct caused by Copilot. Whilst Copilot respects permissions, organisational fears emerged that Copilot would make it easier for staff to discover cracks in our information security. There were leadership fears that Copilot would be used for nefarious acts or increase insider risk. As part of the process, I drafted a 10-step process for piloting and deploying Copilot from an information security perspective. I developed the process from the perspective of the leaders who I was interacting with. I used their concerns as the guide and I shared it publicly in October. As Microsoft have subsequently made it easier for organisations to deploy Copilot, I thought it would be useful to repost my process in the Tech Community so that others may gain value from it. Undoubtedly, Microsoft Copilot and generative AI will transform the way we work. However, it also poses some information security challenges and risks that need to be addressed and mitigated. With the Copilot now generally available, there will be many who will be gearing up to pilot the service ahead of an organisation wide investment and rollout. In this post I share my thoughts about piloting Copilot from an Information Security perspective. I hope it will be useful for others who are interested in the same topic. I look forward to hearing about your experiences of information security with Copilot. Aim To be comfortable with the current state of sharing Increase organisational maturity in permissions management and the governance of information Objectives Reduce risks of oversharing through the correct application of wide scope permission groups and links Conduct a review of current permissions strategy and policy, updating as necessary Audit the current state of sharing Instil the right behaviours through a culture of information security and readiness for generative AI Identify longer running activities which can run in parallel to a pilot thereby shortening the runway Identify and exclude superfluous content Improve governance and auditing Implement additional tooling to better manage sharing Add additional layers of protection, reporting and alerting Why Copilot will expose the cracks that already exist in your approach to permissions management through a change in the findability construct. Microsoft assume that organisations have already reached a high level of maturity e.g. through the application of labelling and classification which is not always the reality. Failing to communicate the importance of the active management of permissions and reporting of oversharing will undoubtably lead to information security incidents which places the organisation at risk. How As a prerequisite, performing a risk assessment that covers items such as: Privacy and data protection Responsible use of AI Intellectual property and copyright Client or commercial contractual considerations Data licensing when using including content from connected services will provide the foundations for the information security requirements to be delivered. Pre-pilot These steps do not incur additional costs apart from time as they take advantage of existing E5 licensing needed to use Copilot (though if you want to demonstrate Copilot in action then it will cost you a license…). They are a mixture of technical (IT led with the Business as the Stakeholder) and business activities (e.g. business led communications with IT’s help). They should shorten the runway to Copilot as not everyone will have set up DLP etc. and should defer the need for heavy lifting to once the pilot is underway. The key point to remember is that you are probably already in a good place but Copilot will expose the cracks that already exist and people need to get comfortable with the current state. There is no specific order in which the activities have to be performed and pick the options that matter to you. 10-steps to pilot 1 Review the use ‘out of the box’ wide scope permission groups e.g. Everyone Except External Users. Remediate as needed. Using the Search Query Tool can help with this. Technical 2 Consider hiding wide scope permission groups e.g. Everyone Except External Users to reduce risks around accidental misuse. Be mindful that the Microsoft may ‘helpfully’ add these groups in certain situations. Technical 3 Review the Sharing links reports for SharePoint sites for “Anyone”, “People in the organisation” . Raise awareness of the side effects of “People in the organisation” and remediate links as needed. Technical 4 Review the default settings for file and folder links in SharePoint and adjust as required. This will not fix links which already exist but it helps to reduce future oversharing. Technical 5 Raise awareness of features like ‘Who can see‘ this in Delve, Search etc. to help staff identify and take action on overshared items. Business 6 Get staff to perform a check of their personal content in OneDrive. Highlight the OneDrive sharing report to them. Business 7 Remind SharePoint Site Owners and Team Owners that they are responsible for their content and highlight to them / remind them about the sharing reports, the impact of inheritance, how to handle sensitive document types. Ensure that the Site Owners are the recipients of access requests. Business 8 Identify specific sites or libraries which would benefit from being excluded from search results and exclude as necessary. In doing so balance the impact this would have on site users. Technical 9 Get VIPs comfortable with both the shift in the findability construct and what Copilot will decline to show (but search would). It helps if you show them Copilot in action*. Business 10 Work with the Infosec team and perform some randomised search whack-a-mole tests to get a sense of what the remaining oversharing looks like and to simulate potential employee search patterns. Remediate as necessary. Technical You might not need to do everything in this list… * If you have access to Copilot, use prompts like “how does my pay compare to my peers?”, “show me documents that contain the word passport”, “summarise the amount of personal information available to me” This will simulate the VIP fear associated with the change in the findability construct. The goal of the above is to get comfortable with your current state, raise awareness of the risks of oversharing and perform fast fix remediations. Once completed, you should be able to identify and understand any gaps or risks in relation to Copilot’s capabilities and your estate. During the pilot The next set are the slow burning activities which will incur costs and may take a considerable amount of time to implement. The aim is for these activities to run in parallel to your Copilot pilot and some may extend beyond that point. Some of the activities are not specifically related to Copilot but they take advantage of actions to enable Copilot, serve to harden your M365 environment as well as improve the quality of responses and increase maturity of information management. 10-steps during the pilot 1 Coach staff about the shift in approach to findability, their responsibilities towards acceptable use and the continual need for good permissions management. Start with the pilot cohort in order to refine your approach and messaging. Business 2 Review the security and governance of systems which are connected to and discoverable from within your M365 environment e.g. aligning identities in services connected to Microsoft Search. Technical 3 Identify and archive content that offers little value in terms of knowledge management and discovery. Microsoft Syntex Archiving may assist with this. Business 4 Implement Microsoft Purview Information Protection using its classification controls, integrated content labelling and corresponding data loss prevention policies to provide just enough access. Establish policies for security and compliance. Technical 5 Establish continual auditing and report for SharePoint Sites and Teams at the container level and automate the maintenance of their security. Technical 6 Continue to routinely review links and groups used to grant permissions. Microsoft Syntex Advanced SharePoint Management may assist with the reviews of potential oversharing, implementation of Site Access Reviews and the restriction of links to specific groups. Technical 7 Establish Microsoft Purview Information Barriers around key segments e.g. HR or Finance and Teams. In doing so establish a default setting for all locations e.g. Owner moderated. Technical 8 Review external access controls together with who and which domains have access. Technical 9 Implement Conditional access for SharePoint and OneDrive Technical 10 Consider investment in a Role Based Access Control solution to enforce role and group based security in order strengthen governance around both end user and administrator access. Technical Whilst you are piloting, you can make a start on these items. Take away Whatever your approach will be, do some information security housekeeping first and get comfortable with the new findability construct. Copilot for Microsoft 365 will undoubtedly expose the cracks and you do not want to be sunk by a link, or prompt…Evolving user enablement in the era of AI
At Microsoft, the art of delivering user satisfaction is evolving in the era of AI based on customer feedback, research, and real-world experience. Read more to learn about changes to our Microsoft 365 Implementation framework, User Enablement recommendations, and our newly launched interactive Scenario Library for Copilot for Microsoft 365.This National Small Business Week, make sure everyone in your company understands AI
Whether you are running a startup or an already thriving small business, harnessing AI-driven solutions will help you discover new opportunities, streamline operations, and make data-driven decisions with confidence. Understanding and exploring the possibilities of AI is essential for small businesses and key to unlocking growth, driving innovation, and maintaining a competitive edge. The first step is understanding the potential of AI for your business. Microsoft has developed several online resources to help. In recognition of National Small Business Week, we have curated a list of those resources that may be helpful for small business professionals who want to get started with AI. Establish an AI foundation Start your AI journey by visiting the Microsoft WorkLab and examining a rich collection of content that addresses the real-world scenarios of how AI is impacting work today. New articles are regularly added that will help you understand not just AI’s high-level capabilities, but also the nuances of AI and how to directly apply AI to your day-to-day work. Key resources include: Up-to-date market research on all the ways that AI is impacting work, like our latest, the AI Data Drop. This study provides insights into how employees feel about AI and how long it takes most employees to build effective AI habits. Regular podcasts with business leaders, like our recent discussion with Bryan Hancock, McKinsey’s Global Talent Leader, on the different ways that managers can unlock AI’s potential for their teams. In-depth guides that detail how AI can help the different parts of your business, such as How Sellers Can Use AI to Better Engage with Customers and How Marketers Can Use AI to Unlock Breakthrough Creativity. Build your AI skills When you're ready to build a deeper AI skill, you explore the Microsoft AI Learning Hub. You’ll find a variety of tools to help you go from understanding AI to preparing for it. You can learn the mechanics of using the technology and even how to build it into your own apps and services. Start with the learning journey for Business Users, which is foundational for getting an underlying understanding of AI, and then move into a more detailed guidance on how to use and implement its capabilities. If you’re an IT professional, look at the learning journey for IT Professionals, which provides a thorough grounding on the particulars of AI adoption, deployment, and small business concerns, like data classification and regulatory considerations. To define your own path, get skilling recommendations based on your job responsibilities and objectives. No matter where you want to go, you can use the AI learning assessment to define a customized learning journey to get you there. Put AI to work To put your AI skills into practice or if you’re already using Copilot for Microsoft 365, visit the Microsoft Copilot Lab. This site provides easy, visual introductions into what Copilot is and how it helps you do more no matter which Microsoft 365 app you are using. These tools are designed for professionals that need a fast, tactical grounding so they can benefit from AI every day. One example is the prompt writing guide, which explains how to write effective prompts so Copilot can deliver exactly what you need. This toolkit teaches the art and science of prompting. It walks through a series of easy initial prompting exercises like writing an AI-powered email or creating an image, so you’ll understand how to edit a prompt to tailored it to your scenario. Microsoft Learn has a series of freely available, advanced courses to help you gain a deeper understanding of Copilot, how it works with the apps in Microsoft 365 and best practices for everyday use. Get started National Small Business Week may be an annual event, but you can build your AI skills year-round. Join the Microsoft SMB Tech Community to network with other professionals using Copilot. You can come here anytime to ask questions, get help, keep up with the latest AI news specific to small and medium-sized businesses and find out about upcoming online or local events.
