M365 Copilot in project management: Increasing efficiency and automating processes

M365 Copilot in project management: Increasing efficiency and automating processes

The introduction of artificial intelligence into everyday work marks a turning point in project management. Microsoft 365 Copilot acts not merely as a simple chatbot, but as an integrated digital assistant that accesses your company data directly. In this article, you’ll learn how to use Copilot strategically to manage complex projects—such as in construction planning or technical project management—more efficiently.

Data protection and the EU Data Boundary
A key advantage of M365 Copilot compared to public AI tools such as ChatGPT is data security. Copilot operates within your Microsoft 365 tenant. This means:

  • Your data never leaves your company’s secure environment.

  • The AI uses the EU Data Boundary, which is essential for European companies with strict compliance requirements.

  • Your internal documents, such as cost calculations or confidential construction specifications, are not used to train public AI models.

Efficient document management in Word and PowerPoint
In day-to-day project work, hundreds of pages of bills of quantities or construction documentation often need to be reviewed. Copilot provides strong support here:

  • Summaries: Reduce complex Word documents to their key points in seconds.

  • Document transformation: Create a draft kick-off presentation in PowerPoint directly from a detailed project report in Word.

  • Content comparisons: Compare new drafts with previous project versions to immediately identify changes in scope or requirements.

Intelligent meetings in Microsoft Teams
Time-consuming minute-taking is a thing of the past. By enabling transcription in Teams meetings, Copilot can:

  • Create meeting summaries that clearly list decisions made and open tasks (action items).

  • Answer questions if you join a meeting late (e.g., “Has the topic of material delivery for construction project X already been discussed?”).

  • Generate speaker notes that can be used directly as the basis for the next status report.

The M365 Chat: Your personal project assistant
Microsoft 365 Chat is the central hub for project managers. It serves as a single interface that connects emails, chats, and files. Typical use cases in project management include:

  • Information retrieval: “Summarize the last three emails from Architect Müller regarding the current planning status.”

  • Preparation: “Which appointments and tasks are scheduled for this week for the ‘New Logistics Center Construction’ project?”

  • Status updates: A quick overview of individual team members’ contributions to a specific topic over the past seven days.

Technical requirements to get started
To use Copilot productively, certain technical prerequisites must be met:

  • Licensing: A base license (e.g., Microsoft 365 E3, E5, or Business Standard/Premium) plus the Copilot add-on is required.

  • Cloud-based data: Copilot can only access data stored in SharePoint Online or OneDrive for Business. Local file servers are not directly indexed.

  • Identity management: A Microsoft Entra ID account (formerly Azure AD) is mandatory.

With the right preparation and a structured pilot phase, expert reports indicate time savings of up to two hours per week in project management—time you can reinvest in the strategic steering of your projects.