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.

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.