Copilot / Planning & Scope

Copilot Can Build Your Promotion Case Before 2026 Ends

Copilot Can Build Your Promotion Case Before 2026 Ends

Two prompts to list your wins, find your gaps, and plan the next 40 days.

Two prompts to list your wins, find your gaps, and plan the next 40 days.

Summary

A guide to using Microsoft 365 Copilot to list your work results for an end-of-year review, find the gaps in your role, and set a 40-day plan with a daily check-in.

A guide to using Microsoft 365 Copilot to list your work results for an end-of-year review, find the gaps in your role, and set a 40-day plan with a daily check-in.

Overview

2) The guide

Before you begin

Why it matters

You have 40 days before your office closes for the holidays.

Your emails, chats, meetings, and files hold the record of your year, so use Copilot to start your 2027 as a fertile year for a promption.

Your account needs a Microsoft 365 Copilot license.

Copilot can only use content your account is already allowed to access.

If a meeting or file is not visible to you, it will not appear in your list.

Step 1

Catalogue your wins

Paste this prompt into Copilot. It will pull major wins from the last year and sorts them into four groups: Impact, Strategy, Execution, and People.

The prompt will also populate a link to each source. A win with no source is hard to defend in a review.

Copy prompt

Review my emails, Teams chats, meetings and files from the last year. List every win I contributed to: Work I delivered, Kudos I received, problems I solved and people I helped. For each win, give a one-line summary and business result with a link to the source. Source the wins into 4 categories: Impact, Strategy, Execution and People. Highlight actual numbers and metrics. If you cannot validate any sources or achievements, state it. Write in Simplified Technical English.
Copy prompt
Review my emails, Teams chats, meetings and files from the last year. List every win I contributed to: Work I delivered, Kudos I received, problems I solved and people I helped. For each win, give a one-line summary and business result with a link to the source. Source the wins into 4 categories: Impact, Strategy, Execution and People. Highlight actual numbers and metrics. If you cannot validate any sources or achievements, state it. Write in Simplified Technical English.
Copy prompt
Review my emails, Teams chats, meetings and files from the last year. List every win I contributed to: Work I delivered, Kudos I received, problems I solved and people I helped. For each win, give a one-line summary and business result with a link to the source. Source the wins into 4 categories: Impact, Strategy, Execution and People. Highlight actual numbers and metrics. If you cannot validate any sources or achievements, state it. Write in Simplified Technical English.
Step 2
Find your gaps and build a 40-day plan
Once you have your list, stay within the same chat. 
Then, paste the second prompt in that same conversation. 
It finds the areas you need to strengthen before 2026 ends, and it gives you a table of goals and steps.
The table gives you goals, steps, and suggested scheduled prompts to meet those goals.
Pick 2 or 3 goals. Ten goals in 40 days will not get done (but don't let me stop you!). 
Copy prompt
Identify areas in work and knowledge I should strengthen in the next 40 days before 2026 ends. Create a table of what I need to achieve and tactical recommendations for how I can improve to achieve these goals, including steps and any scheduled prompts. Be specific and evidence-based.
Copy prompt
Identify areas in work and knowledge I should strengthen in the next 40 days before 2026 ends. Create a table of what I need to achieve and tactical recommendations for how I can improve to achieve these goals, including steps and any scheduled prompts. Be specific and evidence-based.
Copy prompt
Identify areas in work and knowledge I should strengthen in the next 40 days before 2026 ends. Create a table of what I need to achieve and tactical recommendations for how I can improve to achieve these goals, including steps and any scheduled prompts. Be specific and evidence-based.
Step 3
Schedule the suggested propmts
Copilot can run any prompt on schedule. Take advantage of this feature to be reminded of how to achieve your promotion plan for the next 40 days. 
To schedule a prompt, after submitting a prompt, hover over it, select Schedule this prompt, set the timing, and save. 
Microsoft's documentation says you can schedule up to 10 prompts, though your company may have different limits. 
Read the email draft
When the prompt runs, Copilot will automatically draft the email responses for you in 1 of 2 places:
  1. Outlook  (if your company has a specific agreement on Microsoft Cowork's access to your applications)
  2. Within the Copilot Chat (if your company has limited Cowork's access to your apps)
Every company has a different agreement with Microsoft, so if your Copilot can't actually draft the emails or create the meeting invites for you, don't fret.
Go for option 2 (above).
My company has not given me access to have Copilot Cowork, so my automation is limited to chat, too.
What you do in the instance of option 2: Copy the output that Copilot produced, and open Copilot within the Outlook app.
Copy the prompt to Copilot within Outlook, and it'll draft the emails and schedule the reminder events.
Step 1
Paste the prompt into Copilot chat
Open Copilot chat and go to Cowork. 
Paste a prompt that does three jobs:
  1. It finds the emails that need a response from you.
  2. It writes a ready-to-send draft for each email that remains.
  3. Creates meeting invitations that remind you of when a task is complete. 
Cheat Sheet
Step
Where and What
What you get
Catalogue wins
Catalogue wins
Step 1: Paste the prompt
In Copilot chat, paste the win review prompt
What to do: Open Copilot chat and paste the prompt
Wins in four groups with each having a source link
Output: Copilot knows which emails to find and how to write the drafts
Find gaps and plan
Find gaps and plan
Step 2: Schedule the prompt
In the same Copilot chat, paste the gap and plan prompt
What to do: Hover back to the prompt to select Schedule. This will pick the time and date(s)
Table of goals, steps, and scheduled prompts
Output: The prompt runs without you
Daily check-in
Daily check-in
Step 3: Read the draft outputs
In the same chat, hover over completed prompt, then Save/Schedule this prompt
What to do: In Outlook, you'll get an email when a prompt successfully runs on schedule. Click into the URL in the email
Short morning list of this week's actions
Output: You get a list of email drafts in either Outlook itself or Copilot (that you will have to copy and paste)