Exercise 1, Task 3: Use Copilot in Outlook to communicate findings to HR leadership

The Manager Performance report that you created in the prior task analyzes data from the Contoso_HR_ManagerMetrics.xlsx file and identifies each manager’s top 3 strengths and recommended areas for improvement. Your goal is to communicate these findings to the HR senior leadership team in a clear and professional manner, helping them understand strengths, opportunities, and actionable steps for development.

Perform the following steps to complete this task:

  1. In your Microsoft Edge browser, go to the Microsoft 365 home page, select Apps in the navigation pane, and then select Outlook from the Apps menu.

  2. In Outlook on the web, create a new email and attach the Manager Performance file that you stored on your OneDrive at the end of the prior task.

  3. In the body of the message, select the Open Copilot (pencil) icon that appears next to the attached file.

  4. The Copilot window that appears contains a prompt field and a menu of edit options below it. In the prompt field, ask Copilot to draft an email to Contoso’s HR Director that’s based on the attached Manager Summary report. The email should summarize the company’s recent manager performance metrics, strengths, and areas for improvement. It should also include actionable recommendations and specific data points from the table that are found in the attached file.

  5. Review the results. Because the email is being sent to the HR Director, you want to tighten it up a bit. Ask Copilot to make the message concise and actionable.

  6. Review the updated email. Notice how Copilot generated a new version of the email, which is draft 2 (2 of 2). You can select the back arrow to go to draft 1 of 2, which was the original version of the email that Copilot generated. Since you prefer to keep working with the latest draft, select the forward arrow to return to draft 2 of 2.

[!NOTE] For each request that you make, Copilot generates a new draft of the email. You can optionally navigate to a prior draft and keep it, or you can ask Copilot to modify that draft (rather than the last draft). By default, you typically make each new request while viewing the last draft.

  1. While you’re satisfied with the contents of the email, you’re unsure about its tone. In the Copilot window, one of the edit options is Change Tone. Select one of the tones that you want from the menu that’s displayed.

  2. Review the results. Continue to make any updates that you feel are necessary. Try different tones and lengths. Note how the draft number changes with each change request.

  3. You can select the backward and forward arrows to go back through the prior drafts to view the changes. Review each of the drafts. Once you settle on a specific draft that you would like to use, ensure that draft is displayed in the draft window and then select the Keep it option in the Copilot menu.

  4. Review the results. Copilot should have inserted the draft into the actual body of the email. Now, once you use Copilot to draft the initial email, you can still use it to modify the email even after inserting the draft.

    • When modifying an actual email message, you must highlight the portion of the email that you want changed, whether it be a sentence, paragraph, or the entire email.

    • Or if you want Copilot to add more text to the email, you must position the cursor where you want Copilot to insert the text.

    In looking at the email, you decide to make one more change. You want to add one final paragraph at the end that mentions how you’re looking forward to moving ahead with these actionable insights to help improve the management culture at Contoso. You want this paragraph at the very end, so select the last sentence or paragraph in the email. That way, you can have Copilot insert this new paragraph below the selected sentence or paragraph. When you select into the email, note how Copilot displays the Open Copilot (pencil) icon. Select the Open Copilot icon.

  5. In the Copilot window that appears, ask Copilot to add a paragraph that mentions how you’re looking forward to moving ahead with these actionable insights to help improve the management culture at Contoso.

  6. Review the results. Note how Copilot displayed this content in the email and highlighted just this text. Only this highlighted content applies to the Copilot window that appears below it. You can continue to make more changes to this highlighted content just as you did with the initial email draft, or you can accept it as is. You like the paragraph, so select Keep it.

  7. Review the results. Instead of inserting the new section where it was shown in the Copilot window, the text was inserted at the start of the email. So, what’s going on here? Well, as of this writing, when you select Keep it, Copilot doesn’t insert the generated text exactly where your cursor is, or where you might have requested in your prompt (for example, if you asked it to add a new paragraph at the end of the email). Instead, Copilot uses an internal placeholder in Outlook’s email editor—and at present, that placeholder is always located at the top of the message body.

    So even though Copilot visually renders the generated paragraph where you requested it (to show you what it would look like), the actual insertion logic tied to the Keep it button doesn’t respect cursor position or prompt context. Rather, it appends the content to the default insertion point, which Outlook currently defines as the top of the message body.

    Until this feature is addressed, you must highlight the inserted text and then cut and paste it to your desired location. Highlight the paragraph, cut it (Ctrl+X), and then paste it (Ctrl+V) at the end of the email where you originally wanted it.

  8. After reading through the email one last time, you aren’t sure about the message’s tone. Drag your cursor over the entire email so that it’s all highlighted, and then select the Open Copilot icon.

  9. In the Copilot menu, scroll down and select Change Tone and then select the tone that you want from the menu that’s displayed.

  10. Review the results of the modified email that appears in the draft window. You still aren’t satisfied with the way the email sounds, so try a different tone.

  11. Review the new draft that Copilot generated. You still aren’t satisfied with the way the email sounds, so this time ask Copilot to change the tone by making it sound friendly and confident but still professional.

  12. Review the results. You’re satisfied with this version, so select the Keep it option in the Copilot window. Doing so takes you out of Copilot draft mode and into the actual email itself.

  13. Notice how Copilot replaced the original version of the email with this modified version. The email is now finished. If you want, go ahead and send it to your personal email address and then verify you received the email and it contains the attached document.