☕ Tech Tips & Tales from The MS Office Maestro

Your weekly guided mini lesson on Microsoft, Copilot & smart working

☕ Capacity, Opportunity and Boundaries...

Hello Reader

This week I found myself facing a dilemma that I suspect many of you encounter regularly.

I was approached by a large online training company about a new consultancy project. The work would involve helping to design learning sessions for an organisation beginning its Microsoft 365 and Copilot journey.

It was exactly the sort of project I enjoy. It was interesting, challenging and offered an opportunity to shape a learning programme from the ground up. Best of all, it came from a company I had worked with before, so their approach wasn't completely out of the blue.

Naturally, I was excited.

There's something very satisfying about being asked back to work with a client again. It feels like confirmation that the previous work made a difference. I immediately started thinking about what the programme might look like and how I could contribute.

Then I opened my calendar.

September is already looking rather busy. Cohort 5 of my Microsoft 365 with AI and Copilot programme is running, I have an in-house Human Advantage cohort scheduled, and the Jewish New Year holidays are approaching. As anyone who celebrates holidays knows, there's usually quite a bit of preparation to fit around normal work as well.

My first instinct was the one many of us have.

"I'll find a way to fit it in."

But the more I thought about it, the more I realised this wasn't really a question about time.

It was a question about capacity.

There's an important difference.

Most of us can squeeze another task into a busy week. Capacity is about whether we can give something the attention, focus and quality it deserves without compromising the commitments we've already made.

After looking carefully at the scope of the project and what was already on my plate, I realised I probably did have the capacity to take it on but only if clear boundaries and realistic timescales were agreed from the outset.

That felt like a much better answer than simply saying yes because I was excited.

It's also a reminder that every yes quietly comes with a no attached to it somewhere else.

Saying yes to a new project might mean saying no to free time. Saying yes to an additional responsibility might mean saying no to another opportunity. The challenge isn't deciding whether something sounds exciting. The challenge is deciding whether you have the capacity to do it well.

For assistants, administrators and business professionals who spend their days balancing competing priorities, I suspect that's a familiar lesson.

Sometimes the most productive thing we can do is pause before answering and ask ourselves not, "Can I do this?" but "Can I do this well?"

✨ This week's Copilot Moment

Decision log from meeting notes

You know when an important decision is made in a meeting… and then a few weeks later someone asks, “Why did we decide that?” This is a simple way to stop those moments happening.

Instead of decisions living half‑remembered in notes or emails, you can turn them into a clear, searchable log.

Try this in Copilot:

Role: Acting as my meeting scribe

Goal: Create a decision log from these notes

Context: Neutral tone; include who made the decision and when

​Steps: Extract decisions only and present them in a table

​Expectations: Table with Decision, Rationale, Owners and Date

Why this helps at work

Decisions are easy to reference later, context isn’t lost and follow‑up conversations become much clearer.

Quick win: Run this on notes from a recent call and save the table in your project folder as a running log.

📌 A tiny Microsoft tip

Loop components in Teams or Outlook

If a decision, action list, or agenda keeps changing, Loop components can help everyone work from the same live version.

You can create a small table, checklist, paragraph, or task list that stays editable wherever it is shared.

Where to find it:

In Teams chat or Outlook, look for the Loop components button and choose the type of component you need, such as a checklist or table.

Why this helps

It reduces version confusion and keeps updates in one shared space, instead of burying the latest information in separate replies.

Try this today:

Create one Loop checklist for a small set of follow-up actions and share it in the relevant Teams chat or email thread.

Coming up: Excel with Copilot webinar Next Week - August 18!

Thinking about capacity reminded me of something I see regularly in training.

Many people spend far more time wrestling with spreadsheets than they need to, simply because nobody has shown them a quicker way.

That's exactly what we'll be exploring in my Excel with Copilot Webinar on 18 August.

We'll look at practical Excel skills alongside ways Copilot can help you understand formulas, analyse data and work more confidently with spreadsheets.

No jargon. No overwhelm. Just practical techniques you can start using straight away.

Save your spot here - Excel with Copilot​

🚀 Early Bird Pricing Ends 25 August

If you're looking to build your Microsoft 365 and Copilot skills in a structured, practical way, now is also a good time to take a look at my next Microsoft 365 with AI and Copilot: The Human Advantage cohort.

The programme is designed for busy professionals who want practical ways to work more effectively with Microsoft 365 while developing the human skills that become even more valuable as AI becomes more common in the workplace.

Early Bird pricing closes on 25 August.

💛 Before I Go...

This week's lesson has reminded me that opportunities aren't always the difficult part.

Sometimes the difficult part is deciding which opportunities deserve our time and attention.

The right opportunity at the wrong time can quickly become overwhelming. The right opportunity, combined with clear boundaries and realistic expectations, can be incredibly rewarding.

Whatever lands on your desk this week, I hope you give yourself permission to pause, consider your capacity and make a thoughtful decision.

Warm regards

✍️ Shelley Fishel

The MS Office Maestro​
Expert-led, human-centered Microsoft 365 training