This blog will come in 2 parts:
Blog 1 - Discusses the challenges to the adoption of M365 Copilot and sets the scene for the required approach and how you create a strategy for successful adoption.
Blog 2 – Provides the principles upon which a strategy must be created. Despite differing sectors, cultures, functions, roles and responsibilities, a very similar approach can be taken to any organisation implementing M365 Copilot by harnessing the basic principles of human behaviour.
After several months of initial excitement over Copilot I have felt the market relax a little and perhaps even report a bit of disillusionment with Copilot and its capability to have real impact on operational improvements. Wave 2 may reignite excitement but there are some real fundamentals which need to be understood to create an impactful adoption strategy and enable the realisation of the benefits that M365 Copilot can bring.
When talking to organisations who have attempted to implement or trial Copilot and have not seen success and there are some commonalities in the approaches taken.
Below are the top 3 key challenges that persist in all organisations attempting to adopt M365 Copilot:
1.Empathetic Approach
The first part of the problem is that most organisations have treated Copilot as yet another application and aren’t taking an empathetic approach, putting themselves in the shoes of the users they hope will test and ultimately adopt the technology.
Over the years it has become very clear that the industry is still very focused on technology. After all we invest millions as organisations into technologies which have been developed with the promise of empowering our organisations and people to achieve more.
Furthermore, organisations have teams of people who’s job it is to deliver technology, keep the lights on and make sure that their users have access to these all-important applications.
What most organisations don’t have a focus on is how their people can get the best from these technologies. Taking the time to consider the mental processes involved in influencing people's perceptions and attitudes, creating the desired behaviours and cultures that adopt new working practices, underpinning performance.

2. Engrained Working Practices
Microsoft Copilot is unlike any other technology we have supported organisations and their users to implement. Copilot is laced throughout all the major productivity, communications and collaboration applications, meaning that when asking users to trial or adopt the technology, you’re actually asking them to change multiple, heavily ingrained working practices.
These practices have proved successful, enabling people to get their job done, against the required timeframes and deadlines. So, when asking users to change these behaviours and trial new working practices there is every chance we’ll receive resistance to the process. This resistance is not necessarily a direct push back, but when push comes to shove and you have a deadline to hit, would you chance trialling a new way of working or revert to your existing, successful practices?
The reality is that when implementing Copilot, we aren’t taking away how people have worked previously and there is nothing to stop them carrying on with the ways of working that have proved successful for them for many years.

3. New Skillset
Furthermore, generative AI requires a new skill set entirely. We are asking users to interact with technology in a completely new way. Prompt engineering, the art / science of asking AI to do complete a desired task, is an alien concept that has several steps and ingredients to it. If not adhered to, the user will not achieve the required results, negatively impacting their perception of the toolset and therefore propensity to persist with its use.
Conclusion
Starting with an understanding of the real-world challenges to adoption for generative AI (whether Microsoft or any other platform) is vital in order to create a strategy that considers the users on a human level. We must think about the realities of how we all work and the engrained behaviours we have, the challenges and pressures we all face, and the totally new skills required to address what I am convinced will be how we all end up working.
The next blog focuses on the key principles upon which to a successful strategy for adopting M365 Copilot.