I haven’t done a “about post” in ages! Here we go:
Recently Microsoft has provided us with a deluge of Copilots (company specific Generative AI models). And there is even one for our Planner tool as well. This Copilot is currently available from the Planner app in Microsoft Teams, and it’s in it’s first iteration. This means that the Copilot will likely increate capabilities in the future. For now, let’s take a close look at what the feature can do.
The Copilot release notices from Microsoft
The initial article stating a Copilot roll out, states the following features in Copilot (preview):
Planning: Copilot helps generate tasks, goals, and plans based on user prompts.
Managing: It assists in identifying next steps, managing workload, and tracking changes, ensuring effective execution of plans.
Tracking: Copilot provides updates on progress, priorities, and workload, helping users stay informed.
Availability: Rolling out Available to users with Project Plan 3 or 5 licenses, with a free 30-day trial available for others.
So, be aware, E5 or Project Plan 1 won’t be enough to get a Copilot experience!
And here’s an interesting YouTube video by Microsoft talking through (future?) capabilities of the AI:
Personal attempts using Copilot in Planner
Copilot in Planner is currently (July-August 2024) available in Microsoft Teams. Which is nice because you don’t have to leave the app you already have open. It’s anyones guess if there are plans to push Copilot into the other versions of Planner premium such as the “green” (Project Home / original / vanila) and “purple” (connected with Power Apps, ) interfaces. But I’d be surprised if Microsoft isn’t looking into it.
Copilot will be available from a “Premium” experience. This means that you either need to upgrade a plan to a “project” or start a new project from scratch.
Starting a new schedule from scratch can be tedious. Why not start by using the Planning feature from the previous chapter. I’ll use the prompt: Create a new schedule for the construction of a new school in The Netherlands.
I can increase the detail of my schedule by requesting more details on the first summary task by using this prompt: Add more detailed tasks inside the summary task “Project Initiation”. New tasks added by the AI will have a glow for a couple of seconds, to let you know that that part has been added. That glow is better visible in light mode of the Teams app.
I liked the original result, but if I instead pressed the regenerate button (to the right of the undo button). I will get a new result, and it strikes through the original response. Notice the “AI-glow” to the left of the tasks:
Managing isn’t the strongsuite of Copilot (preview). I can ask it to show me what would be next steps. But the response would relate to random tasks from the schedule. The last sentence regarding the lack of start and end dates is interesting:
Let’s see if we can get some durations in the tasks, I’ll start with the first task of the schedule (note, it’s not the summary that I’d like it to change… but will it know that?). My prompt is: Set the duration of the first task to 2 weeks
What if we try to change the start date of the first task to be on the 20th of July 2024?
The same goes for prompts related to changing priority, adding effort on tasks, and adding milestones to the end of every schedule. What would happen if I ask it to give me a summary of the schedule?
Well, I’ll get a long list of all tasks, and I’ve seen other examples where it sums up all details of all tasks… which doesn’t sound like a summary to me.
Here is a summary of the schedule in Planner:
The project manager is Erik van Hurck and the project started on July 3. The project is currently 0% complete.
The schedule includes tasks such as:
- Project Initiation
- Define project scope and objectives
- Obtain necessary permits and approvals
- Assemble project team
- Design Phase
- Architectural design and blueprints
- Engineering and structural plans
- Interior design and space planning
- Pre-Construction
- Site preparation and clearing
- Procurement of materials and equipment
- Safety and risk assessment
- Construction Phase
- Foundation and structural framework
- Building envelope and exterior finishes
- Interior construction and finishes
- Post-Construction
- Landscaping and external amenities
- Inspections and quality assurance
- Handover and project closure
There are also some specific tasks with deadlines, such as:
- Finalize project schedule with all stakeholders by 8/15/2024
- Complete foundation work by 10/30/2024
Is there anything else you would like to know?
It’s interesting to read that there are tasks with deadlines, even though we know that deadlines are not a concept that is available in Planner.
There is an interesting option to explore more prompts within Planner. It’s the little book icon in the chat window. Thank you Torben for the advice to look into it.
Create goals for this schedule. Will result in an interesting bunch of goals, or…
Clean up is nice of course, if I ask it to delete all tasks from this schedule. It complies to the need, lucky for us there’s an undo button close by:
I even did a video on the topic
It’s been far too long, but I finally got time to sit down for a video again, covering both the new baseline feature and the Copilot in Planner topics.
Features I’d love to see in the Planner Copilot
As you can tell from the article and video, Copilot in Planner is in it’s early stages. There’s a lot of ground to cover before we can expect users to rely on the AI for the better part of their work in Planner. Here are a couple of things I’d like to be able to do, and let me know what you would like to see in the comments on YouTube (I closed comments in the blog years ago due to a lot of bot spam activity).
- Add durations to tasks
- Set dependencies
- Change effort on tasks and assign people to tasks
- Set baseline(s)
- Better understanding of adding sections or individual tasks to goals
- Inserting tasks in the right locations, rather than adding tasks at the end (see milestone example in the video)
- A better summary report, generated based on the prompt
Final notes
I’ve tried Copilot, but I think I won’t rely on the service for the near future. Like we have seen in other Copilots previously, they need to mature a bit more before they become primary components of the workforce.
I will however keep a close eye on the topic, as you can expect 😊.
A really good example of a Copilot that is succesful: Copilot for github. Which makes sence, because it’s the first Copilot, and dedicated in a narrow field. Where Project Management is a much larger field of expertice.
PS: a collegue of mine just got awarded the MVP title! Søren Weber does an excelent job at making Power Apps content, focussing specifically on model driven power apps. Have a look at his website here: https://powerappsviking.com/