Your guided lab 0 / 4 core complete

From deal insights to action.

One sales review. Four core missions, then two ways to go further. Discover when to ask Copilot, when to delegate to Cowork, and how to keep yourself in control.

  • 30-minute core
  • 4 guided missions + 2 optional
  • Real training data

Start the lab
Slide two of a real three-slide pipeline review, separating CRM facts from questions for the deal owners. View full-size screenshot
Your destination: a review you can use, not just an answer you can read.

Your next 30 minutes

You sell for Zava. Your manager wants a clear view of three accounts: Northstar Teamwear, Coastal Performance Supply, and BluePeak Athletics. Prepare the review, log a customer conversation, and make next week’s preparation easier.

Plan 30 minutes for Ask → Delegate → Act → Repeat. Improve and Specialize are optional extensions (about 14 more minutes); every scenario remains available. These are working budgets, not guaranteed run times: model and connector waits vary. Read ahead or try a quick check while Cowork works, and do not start duplicate tasks.

Checkmarks, quiz answers and your notes are saved only in this browser's local storage. Nothing is sent to the lab site. To keep them, use Save a PDF copy at the end.

Find the deal behind the question

3 minutes Copilot Chat

A useful answer starts with the right context. Find out what needs your attention before the Northstar call.

Your finish line A grounded call brief and three questions you can actually ask.

  1. From Home, select Chat. Open the model picker, notice the fast-answer and deeper-thinking choices, then leave Auto selected. Keep Work IQ on.

    Click-by-click help
    1. In the Home composer, choose Chat, not Cowork.
    2. Open Auto. Quick response favors speed; Think deeper spends longer on reasoning. Auto chooses based on the request.
    3. Close the picker. If the Work IQ control offers Turn off Work IQ, it is already on.
    Show me: the Chat model picker
    Copilot Chat model picker showing Auto, Quick response and Think deeper, with Work IQ enabled. View full-size screenshot Copilot Chat model picker showing Auto, Quick response and Think deeper, with Work IQ enabled. View full-size screenshot
    Leave Auto selected for this lab. The models offered can vary by tenant.
    Notice this

    Work IQ connects the answer to work context you are allowed to access: files, email, meetings, Teams, and configured business data. It does not grant new permissions or guarantee that every source contains a match.

  2. Send the prompt. Watch the visible search and tool activity, then open a source to check what supports the answer.

    Copilot Chat
    Help me prepare for a call about Northstar Teamwear’s $250K Pulse renewal. Where does the deal stand, what needs my attention, and what are the three most important questions to ask on the call?
    Notice this

    Look for Zava Sales or business-data results. Distinguish a fact from a suggested question. If a source is missing, the safe answer is to say so—not invent a deal status.

Why is this more than a clever search?Pause and reveal the idea

The answer is only as grounded as its evidence.

Auto decides how to tackle the question; Work IQ supplies permitted work context. Neither makes an unsupported statement true. The useful habit is ask, inspect a source, then decide.

  1. Your question
  2. Permitted work context
  3. Evidence you check
Quick check

Work IQ is on. Does that mean Copilot can see every record in your company?

Something not matching?
The response cannot find the Northstar deal.

Check that you used the assigned training account and left Work IQ on. Open the search details. Ask the facilitator to check Zava Sales business-data access if it is missing; do not treat a generic answer as a verified CRM result. The Dataverse connection in the next mission is a separate capability.

My model picker looks different.

Leave the automatic/default model choice selected. Model availability depends on your tenant; the point is the speed-versus-reasoning trade-off, not a particular model name.

Make the review, not just a reply

10 minutes Cowork + Microsoft Dataverse

Delegate a multi-step outcome: gather the deals, build slides, and prepare customer follow-ups. Then apply your judgment.

Your finish line Three slides separating known facts from open questions, plus real Outlook drafts.

  1. Go to Plugins → Cowork → Microsoft Dataverse. Enable it and connect to the training CRM. This gives Cowork tools to work with records, including creating and updating them when you approve.

    Click-by-click help
    1. Open Plugins, then the Cowork tab.
    2. Select Microsoft Dataverse and turn Enable Microsoft Dataverse on.
    3. Select Connect Microsoft Dataverse.
    4. Enter https://zavasalesdemo.crm.dynamics.com/ and select Connect.
    5. Confirm the connection shows Connected. If it already does, do not reconnect.
    Show me: the Dataverse connection URL
    Connect Microsoft Dataverse dialog with https://zavasalesdemo.crm.dynamics.com/ entered in the Dataverse environment URL field. View full-size screenshot Connect Microsoft Dataverse dialog with https://zavasalesdemo.crm.dynamics.com/ entered in the Dataverse environment URL field. View full-size screenshot
    Enter https://zavasalesdemo.crm.dynamics.com/, select Connect, then confirm Connected. Use the supplied training environment, not a production CRM.

  2. Select New, then Cowork in the Home composer. Leave the model on Auto and effort on Medium. Keep this task for the remaining core missions; the optional Improve mission starts here before its separate Friday task.

    New Cowork task
    I’ve got a pipeline review with my manager tomorrow. Help me get ready to talk through our biggest open deals with Northstar Teamwear, Coastal Performance Supply, and BluePeak Athletics. Put together a few slides on where we stand and what we need to do to close them, and draft any customer follow-ups I should send.
    Show me: model and effort settings
    Cowork model and generation settings showing Auto and Medium, with the effort control ranging from faster to smarter. View full-size screenshot Cowork model and generation settings showing Auto and Medium, with the effort control ranging from faster to smarter. View full-size screenshot
    Higher effort spends more time and credits on the task. Medium is the lab default.
    Notice this

    Watch Cowork form a plan, query Zava Sales, create the deck, and save follow-ups in Outlook. Standard chat is included with your Microsoft Copilot license; Cowork uses metered Copilot Credits. Available frontier models and tools depend on your tenant.

  3. As soon as a first deck appears, open it and inspect the proposed decisions. Send the correction below in the same task. If Cowork is still working, use Queue; it will handle the follow-up after the current work.

    Same Cowork task
    This is a good start, but you’re making a few calls I’d want to check with the deal owners first. Don’t assume we need to push Coastal to Q1 or change anyone’s forecast. Make it clear what we know and what we still need to ask. And cut it to three slides—I’ve only got five minutes with my manager.
    Show me: the three-slide review
    Slide two of the Cowork-created PowerPoint review, showing known facts and questions for Northstar, Coastal and BluePeak. View full-size screenshot
    The deck is edited in place. This example includes the later Riley call update; your wording, styling and live CRM values may differ.
    Notice this

    Confirm the deck now has three slides, and open the output cards marked Saved to drafts. Suggested email text in a chat is not the same as an Outlook draft. Do not send customer emails in this lab.

Where did your judgment matter?Pause and reveal the idea

Delegate the work. Keep the decisions.

Cowork can coordinate tools, larger files and multi-step work over time. That is different from asking for a short answer. Your correction turns plausible recommendations into a review that separates what the CRM says from what the deal owner must confirm.

  1. Delegate an outcome
  2. Inspect real outputs
  3. Steer the work
Quick check

Cowork recommends moving Coastal to next quarter. What is the right next move?

Something not matching?
The deck preview is blank or covered.

Wait for the file to finish loading and dismiss any first-run Office privacy notice. Use the output file’s open action if the embedded preview is unavailable. Do not restart the entire Cowork task.

It is taking longer than the mission budget.

Check whether Cowork is waiting for your approval. If it is actively working, read the next step or queue the correction once the first deck exists. Run time varies; generating a second task duplicates work and consumes more credits.

Turn a conversation into a commitment

8 minutes Dataverse + PowerPoint + Outlook

Riley gives you one new fact and you make one promise. Put both into the system of record, then bring the review up to date.

Your finish line A completed phone call and an owned follow-up task linked to the renewal, reflected in the slides and draft.

  1. Send this in the same Cowork task. Review the proposed record details before approving: the $250K Northstar renewal, the call recap, the task owner, and the calendar date chosen for next Friday.

    Same Cowork task
    Just spoke with Riley at Northstar about the $250K renewal. They need a phased rollout plan before final approval, and I promised to send it by next Friday. Create a completed phone call with that recap and a task for me to send the plan. Link both to the renewal.
    Show me: the approved CRM actions
    Cowork history showing approved Dataverse creation and update actions, followed by the saved phone call and task with disclosed omissions. View full-size screenshot Cowork history showing approved Dataverse creation and update actions, followed by the saved phone call and task with disclosed omissions. View full-size screenshot
    This example is already approved. Expand each action to check completion, then review the saved details and any disclosed omissions.
    Notice this

    Prefer the one-time Approve/Allow action while learning. A session-wide always-allow choice, if offered, reduces future prompts for that permission; it is not permission to stop reviewing what the task is doing.

  2. Check the returned records: the phone call is Completed; the task is assigned to you, has a due date, and both records point to the renewal. Then send the next prompt.

    Same Cowork task
    Update my slides with what we learned from Riley, and change the draft email to her into a recap of our call. Mention that I’ll send the rollout plan by the deadline on my task.
    Notice this

    Open the updated deck and Riley’s draft. The rollout-plan deadline should match the task’s actual due date, not a fresh guess about what “next Friday” means. Keep the email unsent.

What changed beyond the chat?Pause and reveal the idea

The promise now has an owner and a date.

A polished recap is useful. A linked CRM activity and task make it actionable. The approval is a moment to inspect the proposed change; the returned record is how you check it actually happened.

  1. Customer conversation
  2. Approved CRM records
  3. Updated review
Quick check

What proves the CRM work is complete?

Something not matching?
Cowork asks which renewal or what date I meant.

Choose Northstar’s $250K Pulse renewal, not its other deal. Confirm the intended calendar date in your training account’s time zone before approving.

A record creation fails.

Read the reported error. Let Cowork correct a schema issue if it can, but do not grant wider permissions or switch environments. Check whether a record already exists before retrying so you do not create duplicates.

The call is saved but some fields are missing.

Check Cowork’s disclosure and the actual record. In the training run, the call recap and renewal link were saved, but caller/recipient fields failed. A completed status does not mean every field was populated; ask your facilitator before treating omitted details as complete.

Save the method. Schedule the work.

9 minutes Skills + Automations

Stop repeating the same instructions every Monday. Give the preparation a name, then decide when it should run.

Your finish line A Weekly Deal Review skill and one Monday 8:30 a.m. schedule with customer emails kept as drafts.

  1. Send the first prompt. If Cowork asks for a time zone or opens Create recurring task, answer and review it before continuing. Select Schedule to save that one Monday job; the later prompt refines it rather than creating a duplicate. Leave Run once now off unless you want an additional test run.

    Same Cowork task
    Let’s make this my weekly pipeline review. Every Monday morning, refresh the three slides for these accounts, highlight what’s changed, and draft any follow-ups I should review.

  2. Send the next prompt and let Cowork finish creating the skill. Check that the saved instructions retain the three accounts, three slides, facts-versus-questions distinction, and draft-only customer follow-ups.

    Same Cowork task
    This is how I want to prepare for my pipeline reviews. Save it as a skill called Weekly Deal Review: the same three accounts, three slides, clear separation between what we know and what we need to ask, and customer follow-up drafts for me to review.
    Show me: your saved skill
    The Cowork plugins catalog with the saved weekly-deal-review skill alongside the installed Zava Sales and Microsoft Dataverse plugins. View full-size screenshot The Cowork plugins catalog with the saved weekly-deal-review skill alongside the installed Zava Sales and Microsoft Dataverse plugins. View full-size screenshot
    Your skill can appear under its folder name, weekly-deal-review.
    Notice this

    A skill is reusable instructions and a procedure, not a newly trained model. Find it in Plugins → Cowork, sometimes displayed as weekly-deal-review. A new task discovers the saved skill; this task already has the conversation context.

  3. Send the scheduling prompt. Review the proposed changes, then confirm Monday, 8:30 a.m., the intended time zone, your own email as the recipient, and customer emails as drafts. Complete Next → Review permissions → Approve when offered. Leave only one Monday review schedule.

    Same Cowork task
    Run Weekly Deal Review every Monday at 8:30 a.m. and email me the slides. Keep the customer emails as drafts for me to review.
    Click-by-click help
    1. Open the schedule card or Automations.
    2. Check the recurrence, time zone and account that will run it.
    3. Confirm the weekly email goes only to you, not to the customers.
    4. For a new schedule, select Schedule. When updating it, complete Next → Review permissions → Approve as offered; check that email permission is limited to your own account. Some tenants show Save or Activate instead. Run once now or a preview action lets you test without waiting for Monday; leave it off if you only want the scheduled run.
    5. If the first weekly prompt already created a schedule, update that schedule instead of keeping a duplicate.
    Notice this

    Creating the schedule configures future work; it does not prove a future run has succeeded. Check Automations → Runs afterwards. Use only your training account for any test email.

  4. Return to the pipeline-review task and run the command below. You have reached the end of the core lab; continue to the optional missions if time allows.

    Same Cowork task
    /cost
    Show me: the task usage summary
    The /cost command returning cumulative credits used for the Cowork task, monthly usage and a View usage button. View full-size screenshot The /cost command returning cumulative credits used for the Cowork task, monthly usage and a View usage button. View full-size screenshot
    Example only: usage depends on the work, model, effort and retries. This is not a fixed lab cost.
    Notice this

    /cost reports approximate cumulative usage for this task; running the command is free. One Copilot Credit is roughly US$0.01 at the standard pay-as-you-go rate, not a guaranteed invoice amount. Pricing, discounts and tenant billing arrangements can differ.

Skill or schedule—which does what?Pause and reveal the idea

The skill is the how. The schedule is the when.

The skill captures a repeatable way of working. The automation starts that work on a clock. Keeping them separate lets you improve the method without rewriting every recurring request.

  1. Useful procedure
  2. Named skill
  3. Scheduled run
Quick check

You saved Weekly Deal Review as a skill. Will it now run every Monday by itself?

Something not matching?
I see two Monday reviews.

Keep one schedule with the final 8:30 a.m. settings. Pause or remove only the duplicate you created for this lab; do not change unrelated automations.

The skill or schedule is still being prepared.

Wait for its confirmation and inspect the saved item. Do not assume a conversational “I will” is proof that it was created or activated.

Let feedback improve the method

Optional mission 6 minutes Work IQ + skill maintenance

Your manager's feedback should not disappear after the meeting. Ask for a sourced, reversible improvement loop—not unchecked self-improvement.

Your finish line A separate Friday feedback-review schedule with source checks and instructions to back up the skill before changing it.

  1. Send the complete prompt in your pipeline-review task so Cowork can connect coaching to Monday’s email. If asked, choose Separate Friday task: this experience supports one recurring schedule per task. Keep Monday at 8:30 a.m.; do not replace it or accept extra no-op runs.

    Same Cowork task
    Every Friday afternoon, look back at this week’s deal review and the feedback my manager gave me—in comments on the deck, the review meeting recording or transcript, Teams, and email.

Use that feedback to improve the Weekly Deal Review skill so next week’s review gets better without me repeating the same instructions. Pick up on what they wanted more or less of, which questions they kept asking, and what helped them make decisions. Distinguish lasting preferences from requests that only apply to a particular deal or week.

In the email you send with my weekly review, coach me based on previous feedback too: what to prepare, which questions my manager is likely to ask, and how I can present the deals more clearly. Keep it specific to that week’s deals and point out where I’ve addressed earlier feedback.

Update the skill automatically and send me a short recap of what changed, with links to the feedback behind it. Keep the previous version so we can undo changes. Leave the accounts, permissions, and recipients unchanged. If feedback conflicts or you can’t access a source, flag it rather than guessing.
    Notice this

    If asked about a manager or meeting that your training account does not have, say so. Ask it to report that gap and make no unsupported skill changes. Confirm a Friday afternoon time and time zone; 4:00 p.m. Europe/Paris is one example, not a required default.

  2. Review Cowork’s generated handoff instructions, then copy them into New → Cowork. They should name Weekly Deal Review and your existing deck, require a backup before skill edits, keep customer emails as drafts, and send the recap only to you. Complete the Friday schedule confirmation. A handoff in the chat is not a saved schedule.

    Notice this

    This configures future work, not a demonstrated learning result. No accessible feedback is a valid result. Automatic updates depend on sources, permissions and successful runs. Skill-file changes may still wait for approval; a backup is needed before the first actual edit.

  3. Find Weekly Deal Review under Plugins → Cowork, and review the separate Monday and Friday entries under Automations. Check the Friday instructions require a dated backup before edits and report missing or conflicting feedback. After a real feedback run, inspect the change recap, source links and saved previous version.

    Show me: the two separate automations
    Automations showing a Friday 4 p.m. skill-improvement schedule and a separate Monday 8:30 a.m. pipeline-review schedule. View full-size screenshot Automations showing a Friday 4 p.m. skill-improvement schedule and a separate Monday 8:30 a.m. pipeline-review schedule. View full-size screenshot
    Two jobs, two purposes. Check your chosen time zone and pause lab-created schedules before leaving.
What should it learn—and what should it leave alone?Pause and reveal the idea

Improve the recipe, not the boundaries.

“Always separate facts from assumptions” can be a lasting preference. “Add one slide about this week’s exception” may not be. Sources, a short change recap and a recoverable previous version make skill edits reviewable. They do not make future improvements infallible.

  1. Accessible feedback
  2. Sourced skill revision
  3. Your review and undo
Quick check

Cowork cannot access the review meeting transcript. What should the Friday run do?

Something not matching?
No Friday schedule was saved.

Check whether Cowork gave you handoff instructions for a new task. Start that separate task and complete its scheduling and permission cards. Inspect Automations before retrying; do not overwrite Monday.

No feedback exists in this training account.

Keep the missing-source safeguard. This mission sets up how future feedback should be handled; it does not require fabricating a manager, meeting or review.

Give Cowork the sales team's playbook

Optional mission 8 minutes Zava Sales plugin

A general-purpose assistant knows tools. A business plugin can also give it the team's way of using those tools.

Your finish line A Northstar account note, a Summit Youth Sports lead with unknown contact details left unknown, and an introduction follow-up task.

  1. Open Plugins → Cowork, search for Zava Sales, and install it. Start New → Cowork so the new task can discover its capabilities. Leave Auto / Medium selected.

    Click-by-click help
    1. Open Plugins and select the Cowork tab.
    2. Search the available plugins for Zava Sales.
    3. Open it, review the capabilities, and select Install or Add as offered. If it is already installed, leave it enabled.
    4. Complete a connection only if the plugin asks for one, using the supplied training environment.
    5. Start a new Cowork task. Do not paste this into the pipeline-review task.
    Show me: the installed Zava Sales plugin
    The enabled Zava Sales plugin showing its zava-sales and daily-crm-update skills. View full-size screenshot The enabled Zava Sales plugin showing its zava-sales and daily-crm-update skills. View full-size screenshot
    Inspect what the plugin adds. This one includes a sales playbook and a daily CRM-update skill.
    Notice this

    A plugin can package skills, connectors, or both. Zava Sales adds business-specific instructions; it does not bypass your data permissions or approval requirements.

  2. Send the full prompt. If asked, confirm the three requested records, your intended follow-up date and time zone. Review each proposed write, then inspect the saved records. Follow the Zava Sales Hub link if Cowork recommends it.

    New Cowork task with Zava Sales installed
    Can you catch up on this week’s activity and help me get the CRM up to date?

One thing I haven’t logged anywhere: I had lunch with Morgan Patel from Northstar last Friday. She said they’re planning to grow by 20% next year. Add a note to Northstar so we remember to bring that up in our next account review.

She also mentioned her friend Jamie Chen, who runs purchasing at Summit Youth Sports. They’re adding six youth leagues next season and looking for a supplier for custom team kits. Morgan offered to introduce us next week. Can you create a lead and add a task for me to follow up with Morgan about the introduction next week. I don’t have Jamie’s contact details yet.
    Show me: the saved note, lead and task
    Cowork's readback of the Northstar account note, Jamie Chen lead with unknown contact details omitted, and the introduction follow-up task. View full-size screenshot Cowork's readback of the Northstar account note, Jamie Chen lead with unknown contact details omitted, and the introduction follow-up task. View full-size screenshot
    Three saved records, not just suggested text. Your record IDs and calendar dates will differ.
    Notice this

    Check that the 20% growth is recorded as something Morgan told you, not independently verified fact. Jamie’s email and phone should remain unknown. The follow-up is with Morgan about an introduction, not an invented direct outreach to Jamie.

Why package this as a plugin?Pause and reveal the idea

Tools plus a playbook beat tools alone.

The connector makes business actions possible. The skill supplies repeatable guidance about how the team wants them done. A purpose-built app such as Zava Sales Hub can still be the best place to inspect and manage the resulting records.

  1. Your unlogged context
  2. Business-specific guidance
  3. Reviewable CRM updates
Quick check

Jamie has no known email address. What should you expect in the new lead?

Something not matching?
Zava Sales is not in the plugin catalog.

Confirm the assigned training account and ask your facilitator to check deployment. Do not install an unrelated plugin with a similar name.

I need to rerun this prompt.

First inspect whether the note, lead or task already exists. Ask Cowork to reuse the existing records rather than making duplicates.

You changed more than a document.

You moved from finding evidence to delegating work, approving real changes, and preserving a repeatable way of working.

Want to go further? Let feedback improve the method (optional, 6 minutes), or Give Cowork the sales team's playbook (optional, 8 minutes).

Copilot Chat
Ask a focused question and inspect the evidence.
Cowork
Delegate an outcome across files and tools, then steer and verify it.
Skill
Save the method you want repeated.
Automation
Choose when the work runs, then check its runs and outputs.
Plugin
Package business guidance and connected capabilities.

Saved only in this browser. Your note stays in this browser's local storage on this device. It is not sent to the lab site or your Microsoft account, does not follow you to another browser or device, and is erased if you clear browsing data or reset progress. Save a PDF copy to keep it.

Explore the Cowork Demo Hub
Before you leave

Before leaving, open Automations and pause the Monday review and any Friday feedback schedule you created for this lab, unless your facilitator asks you to keep them running. This prevents unattended credit usage and training emails. Do not change unrelated automations. Resetting the lab’s checkmarks does not pause Cowork.

Product guidance and further reading

Product UI and available capabilities can vary by tenant. Screenshots show the training experience, not a promise of identical generated output.

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