Nicole Herskowitz’s Post

A few weeks ago, I hosted a quarterly Team Week with my team. This is when my entire organization comes together in person for a few days to connect, work, learn, and celebrate our achievements at Microsoft 🙌. A highlight of the week was an activity designed to brainstorm and present new, mind-blowing #MicrosoftCopilot experiences. We used the 11-Star framework from Brian Chesky of Airbnb to guide the activity. Chesky’s idea is to gain a deep understanding of the range of customer experiences, from the worst (1 star) to so amazing that it’s most likely out of the range of current capabilities to create (11 stars). The goal is to push everyone to keep going at every incremental stage to define truly great customer experiences. Here is how we implemented the 11-Star activity with my team: ⭐ Outlined the challenge. We asked people to think "outside-in" and pretend they are potential users in a focus group for creating an 11-Star framework for Copilot for Microsoft 365.  ⭐ Provided guidelines. We broke the team into groups of 7 or 8. They had 45 minutes to brainstorm and 5 minutes to present 1,5,7, and 11-star experiences to our leadership panel. There would be two winners: most feasible "love it more than competitors" (7-star) and most creatively improbable (11-star).  ⭐ Suggested a few tips. First, be memorable, creative and concise. Don’t be afraid to go out of the box! Second, focus on the customer pain points, delighters, and the competitive landscape. And third, have fun! Here’s more about the 11-star framework. Try it out with your team!: https://lnkd.in/g-T3mC4U

Today, we commemorated #Juneteenth, and the emancipation of enslaved people in the United States, by encouraging our team members to access learning opportunities on campus. Some inspiring speakers joined us, including Everette Taylor, CEO of Kickstarter, a crowdfunding platform for creative projects. He spoke about inclusive marketing, explaining that, after being a successful entrepreneur at a young age, he didn’t initially feel comfortable joining companies in leadership roles: “It struck me that I felt like I had so much agency when I started my own company…but then I started to go into rooms where I felt like I was voiceless. I started to go into rooms where, I was like, 'I have an idea,' but I was not confident to say that. It took me a while in my career to fully develop that confidence to be able to express myself. And that's the courage that everyone in this room has to have…the courage to be able to speak out and use our own unique experiences to be able to guide our marketing and how we develop products.” Everette’s point is a reminder to all of us to create environments where the courage to speak up, and share diverse perspectives, is valued as part of an organization’s culture. Learn more about Everette: https://lnkd.in/g4UeVsJV

  In May, we shared new features in #MicrosoftCopilot. These gen #AI capabilities help you and your team to be even more productive and collaborative. Here are a few highlights: 💡 New prompt collections in Copilot Lab unique to roles and industries guide your prompt creation journey. 🏃♀️ Catch-up in Copilot chat helps you easily navigate through recent updates and activities. 🗓 Copilot in Planner helps you get started with a plan, manage it, and track your progress. 📃 Improve the way you draft and refine your Word documents with Copilot referencing existing content. 💻 Copilot in Loop components across Teams, Outlook, and Collaborative Meeting Notes makes it easy for your teams to collaborate. Check out this blog to learn more!

We talk a lot about the #AI's impact on productivity. But how can you measure it? A new metric called "Copilot Assisted Hours" helps leaders understand how AI capabilities improve work for their employees. For example, how much time does an average worker lose searching for that critical file they need to start on a new project? We've all been there, searching across file folders, email, and more as we pull our hair out -- and lose precious time -- trying to remember. The great news is that, according to our research, #MicrosoftCopilot users were able to retrieve information across files, emails, and calendars 6 minutes faster with Copilot versus without. That’s why searching for information, like when you ask Copilot to locate that deck your boss shared in a meeting earlier this week, counts for 6 minutes of Copilot assisted time. To learn more about this metric and how you can easily track it in #CopilotDashboard, click through to the latest post from #Worklab, below: https://lnkd.in/gkAP4UBB

🚀 #MSBuild News Alert! 🚀 Easily create custom copilots from #SharePoint. Why? 🔍 Instant Answers: Copilots grounded in specific SharePoint and OneDrive data, deliver the information you need, when you need it. 🎨 Create with Ease: Create custom copilots with just a few clicks and use advanced customization with #MicrosoftCopilotStudio if needed. 📢 Collaborate Effortlessly: Share your copilots in Teams chat, email, and more. 👉 Want to dive deeper? Check out Jeff Teper’s blog post:

It may be raining in Seattle, but it's full of energy at #MSBuild! I'm excited to share that Microsoft announced new #MicrosoftCopilot capabilities, demonstrating how #AI can make your team, department, and organization more collaborative and successful. Some highlights: ❇️ Team Copilot will evolve Copilot beyond a personal assistant into a helpful team member. For example, it can act as a meeting facilitator, managing the agenda, tracking time and taking notes. ❇️ New capabilities in #MicrosoftCopilotStudio will allow you to build Copilots that act as agents who work independently, under your direction, to automate business processes. ❇️ With new Copilot extensions, we’re making it easy to customize actions and extend Copilot into your data and line of business systems. 👉 Learn more about today’s announcements at Microsoft Build:

I'm excited to share #MicrosoftPlaces is now available in public preview. Designed to better coordinate hybrid teams, Places helps you schedule in-office days, secure your workspace, and foster meaningful connections with your colleagues. Why Places? ⭐ 49% of global knowledge workers struggle with scheduling and coordinating in-office time with coworkers. ⭐ 43% of employees feel disconnected from their company. ⭐ Over 2/3s of business leaders emphasize the importance of team cohesion and social connections. 📊 Check out this blog for deeper insights into workplace trends and discover strategies to create more effective, engaging, and utilized spaces: https://lnkd.in/g_5j26an Ready to revolutionize your workplace with Places? Try it out now! 🚀

Happy May Day! In April, we released over 30 new and improved #MicrosoftTeams features. Here are a few to check out: 🤖 Ask Copilot clarifying follow-up questions about chat and channel conversations 📅 See and manage calendar notifications in your Teams activity feed 🗣️ Voice isolation ensures that your voice is heard by eliminating all background noises and voices 💬 Meeting chat is displayed on the front-of-room #TeamsRooms display alongside meeting participants or content ✅ New task publishing features in Planner help frontline managers ensure that work is completed 🎧 4 new certified devices for Teams offer high-quality audio and video Check out the blog to learn more: https://lnkd.in/gUsSa6vh

Today, Microsoft posted FY24 Q3 earnings. We’re seeing #AI democratize expertise across the workforce. Here are some highlights: 🤖 #Copilot for Microsoft 365 is now available to organizations of all types and sizes—from enterprises to small businesses. 🚀 Nearly 60% of the Fortune 500 now use Copilot with companies like Amgen, bp, Cognizant, Koch Industries, Moody's, Novo Nordisk, NVIDIA, and Tech Mahindra purchasing over 10,000 seats. 🙌 Early adopters of Copilot are showing increased usage intensity, including a nearly 50% increase in Copilot-assisted interactions per user in #MicrosoftTeams. ⭐ We’ve added 150+ Copilot capabilities this year, and more to come! Read more in the full earnings report here: https://lnkd.in/gf29s-qY