Identifying and Enabling Champions

Overview

Champions are the most effective adoption accelerator available to you. Not training videos. Not executive mandates. Not email campaigns. People—credible peers who use Copilot, show others what’s possible, and answer questions at the water cooler.

This video covers how to identify the right champions, recruit them with a clear value proposition, enable them with the resources they need, and sustain their engagement over time.

What You’ll Learn

• Who to Look For: The traits that make someone an effective champion
• How to Recruit: Making the value proposition compelling
• How to Enable: Training, resources, and community structures
• How to Sustain: Recognition, engagement, and preventing burnout

Script

Hook: champions are your adoption multiplier

Here’s a truth about technology adoption: people trust people more than they trust training materials. When a colleague shows you how they used Copilot to summarize a 90-minute meeting in 30 seconds, that’s more persuasive than any official communication.

Champions are your adoption multiplier. One champion in a department of 50 people can shift adoption more than a month of email campaigns. But champions don’t appear on their own. You need to find them, recruit them, enable them, and sustain them.

Who to look for: the champion profile

The best champions share specific traits that matter more than technical skill.

Curiosity. Champions are people who try new things willingly. They were early to Teams, early to SharePoint Online, early to whatever the last technology change was. They don’t wait for training—they explore on their own and figure things out.

Communication skills. A champion who discovers a great Copilot use case but doesn’t share it is a user, not a champion. Look for people who naturally teach, who post tips in Teams channels, who help colleagues without being asked. They’re the people others go to when they have a question.

Cross-team influence. The ideal champion has relationships across the organization, not just within their immediate team. They attend cross-functional meetings, participate in working groups, or simply have a wide network. Their influence extends beyond their desk.

Willingness to give feedback. Champions need to be honest about what works and what doesn’t. They’re your feedback conduit from the front lines. If Copilot isn’t working well for a particular use case, you need your champions to tell you—not just promote the tool blindly.

Importantly, champions don’t need to be managers or technical experts. Some of the best champions are administrative professionals who process high volumes of email and documents. They see immediate value in Copilot and can demonstrate it to anyone who does similar work.

Aim for one to two champions per department or per 25 to 50 users. You need enough coverage that most employees know a champion personally.

How to recruit: the value proposition

Don’t just assign people to be champions. Recruit them with a clear value proposition.

The pitch is straightforward: you get early access to Copilot before the rest of the organization. You get dedicated training that goes deeper than what everyone else receives. You become a recognized expert in one of the most transformative tools your organization is adopting. And you join a community of peers across the organization who are leading this change.

For government employees, recognition matters. Being selected as a Copilot champion can be reflected in performance reviews, professional development plans, and leadership visibility. Work with HR and supervisors to ensure champion activity is recognized formally.

The ask is reasonable: dedicate two to four hours per month to champion activities. Attend a monthly community call. Share tips and experiences in a dedicated Teams channel. Help one or two colleagues get started with Copilot each month. Be available to answer questions.

Some organizations offer additional incentives: early access to new features, invitations to Microsoft events, or technology budgets for their teams. These aren’t required but they help with recruitment.

Recruit from your pilot group first. Your pilot users have already been using Copilot—some of them naturally emerged as enthusiasts and helpers. Start with those people.

How to enable: training and resources

Once you’ve recruited champions, give them what they need to succeed.

Training should go deeper than standard user training. Champions need to understand how Copilot works across all M365 applications, not just the ones they use personally. They need to know common troubleshooting steps so they can help peers without escalating to IT. And they need advanced prompting techniques so they can demonstrate Copilot’s capabilities effectively.

Deliver champion training in a dedicated session—a two to three hour workshop that covers all M365 Copilot features, hands-on exercises, and discussion of use cases across different roles. Update this training quarterly as Microsoft adds new capabilities.

Create a champion resource kit. This should include a quick-reference card with the most useful Copilot prompts by scenario, a FAQ document covering the questions they’ll hear most often, talking points for when colleagues express skepticism or concern, and links to Microsoft’s official Copilot learning resources.

Build a community of practice. Create a dedicated Teams channel for champions where they can share tips, ask questions, and learn from each other. Schedule monthly community calls where champions discuss what’s working, what’s not, and what they need. This community becomes self-sustaining—champions learn from each other, not just from the adoption team.

Give champions a direct line to the adoption team. When a champion encounters an issue they can’t resolve or hears a concern they can’t address, they should be able to reach your change management or IT team quickly. Champions who feel unsupported stop championing.

How to sustain: recognition and engagement

Champion programs fail when they’re launched with energy and then forgotten. Sustaining engagement requires deliberate effort.

Recognize champions publicly. Mention them in all-hands meetings. Feature their success stories in organizational communications. Acknowledge their contributions in the monthly adoption report to leadership. In government, recognition doesn’t need to be expensive—it needs to be visible.

Keep champions informed. Share adoption metrics with them before the broader organization. Brief them on upcoming features or changes. They should hear news from you first, not from a Microsoft blog post. Being “in the know” reinforces their identity as leaders of this change.

Refresh the champion roster. Not everyone stays engaged. Some champions will move to new roles, lose interest, or become too busy. Plan to recruit new champions every quarter to maintain coverage. Retiring champions gracefully—thanking them for their contribution—keeps the program’s reputation positive.

Watch for burnout. Champions are volunteers. If they feel overwhelmed by questions, unsupported by the adoption team, or underappreciated by leadership, they’ll disengage. Check in with your champions regularly. Ask what they need. Reduce the ask if necessary.

A healthy champions program is the single most effective adoption investment you can make. Invest in these people, and they’ll invest their influence in your Copilot initiative.

Sources & References

• Microsoft Copilot adoption resources — Champions program guidance
• Microsoft 365 Copilot overview — Copilot capabilities for champion training
• Microsoft Work Trend Index — Workforce adoption insights