Thought partner
Using Copilot for HR and operations management

144 / Colette Tomeo, from a Fortune 500 insurance company, discusses using Copilot for HR and operations management.

Timeline

00:00 Intro

04:57 Copilot was the breakout tool

06:50 How to manage 44 projects

11:01 Identify redundant next steps

13:43 Mentoring staff for AI usage

20:41 Use case: executive summary

23:09 Second case study

24:19 Complete schema for a project summary

26:20 The prompt to start a project

28:22 Try this: one question at a time

Participants

@fulldecent

William Entriken

Episode notes

• Microsoft Copilot for enterprise
• Microsoft Copilot for business
• Get started with Copilot in Excel

This conversation follows an operations leader using Copilot as a thought partner: to prioritize a 44-project workload, improve team project tracking, and make routine analysis easier without handing over decisions.

Managing a portfolio

• She mapped projects to her position description and performance goals, then added areas of focus and goal columns to her Excel dashboard. A “maybe someday” list helped separate lower-priority work from year-end commitments.
• Copilot helped surface missing information, unclear next actions, redundant tasks, and vague definitions of done. She used those observations to decide what to defer and how to plan her time.

Case studies: turning records into usable work

• For event expenses, Copilot extracted line items from a 40-page hotel invoice into a spreadsheet. A budget-versus-actual summary revealed the event was 244 percent over budget; the planner traced the underestimate to audiovisual costs not being multiplied by the number of event days.
• For a state-code project, she separated a dense reference sheet into overview, task-list, and reference tabs. Copilot helped build the overview by interviewing the employee one question at a time.

Coaching, not delegation

• The guest recommends giving Copilot context, inviting it to ask one question at a time, and finishing with “what else should I consider?” The exchange can help less experienced staff clarify scope, risks, owners, approvals, deadlines, and what done means.
• Outputs still need to fit their audience: a simple finance-ready spreadsheet may be more useful than an elaborate redesign. The guest emphasizes her own review and judgment, especially in a compliance-driven workplace, and says she is not trying to automate away the parts of work that support her creative thinking.

Recipes

Also in the episode, Colette shares the recipes use uses for project tracking.

Level one: master dashboard (hers only, confidential)

A single Excel workbook which connects her view of her project portfolio versus her position description and annual goals. 40,000-foot view.

Tabs:

• Active projects (columns include: area of focus from position description, which 2026 goal)
• Action items
• Pending projects
• Completed projects
• Maybe someday (anything without a clear next step or not tied to year-end goals)

Columns:

• Area of focus, taken from the position description

• Goal, linking each project to a performance goal

Context for starting conversations with this document:

• Compare content versus her position description, her goals for 2026 and what her manager holds her accountable to in the year-end review
• Does every item have a clear next step? That means a verb that is actionable right now.
• Does every item have a clear definition of done?
• Are there missing details or redundant items?
• Are there enough time blocks in the week or month to cover the commitments on the action and project lists?

Level 2: one workbook per project (shared with the team)

Each project has its own Excel file with a full tracker (09:12). Her teammates carry up to about six projects each. Some use a master dashboard and some use only a project spreadsheet.

Tabs:

• Overview
  • Title
  • Purpose (why we are doing it?)
  • What happens if we do it
  • What happens if we don’t
  • Due date and timeline
  • Who approves
  • Who leads
  • Resources and people needed
  • How we will know it is done
  • Scope , or “whatever categories you’re going to use for your project”
• Summary
• Task list
• Reference (dates, links, other material, comfort in knowing things will not be lost, could feed a future summary page)

Context for starting conversations with this document:

• Use one-question-at-a-time to study and fill in these parts. Also think about risks and how often to work on this project, and its timeline.

Level 3: summary tab (event spreadsheet example)

This tab may apply for certain data-heavy projects or perhaps when a project is nearing completion for hand-off to the consumer. Add one to everything you turn in.

Rules

• Tailor the summary to the audience. For finance she wanted nothing fancy, so she prompted “make simple changes to make this spreadsheet clearer and more visually appealing.”
• A good summary needs context beyond the document itself, such as last year’s event, the budget, department goals, or the position description.
• Possible extension: an executive summary across the whole event folder to show yearly trends.