Lesson 2: Which Tool for Which Job, and Where Copilot Fits

Why One Question Saves Hours

In Level 1 you checked which plan you have and which features your IT team may have switched off. This level answers the next question: where should each piece of work go?

Most lost tasks and duplicated notes come from putting work in the wrong tool. A team deadline kept in your personal list is invisible to colleagues. Meeting notes typed into a task disappear once the task is ticked off. In this level you will:

1. Learn a five-question decision checklist.
2. Sort ten tasks from your own work with it.
3. Learn where Copilot fits and which licence each Copilot feature needs.
4. Choose the one personal system you will build during the course.

The Six Tools in One Line Each

• Microsoft To Do: your personal task list. Only you do the work.
• Microsoft Planner: shared team plans, with tasks assigned to people, due dates and a board view.
• OneNote: notes you want to keep, organised in notebooks, sections and pages.
• Loop: content that several people edit live, which can also sit inside a Teams chat, an email or a meeting.
• Microsoft Lists: structured tracking. Many items share the same columns, such as status, owner and date.
• Power Automate: automation. It repeats the same steps every time something happens.

A useful comparison: To Do is your pocket notebook, Planner is the team whiteboard, OneNote is the filing cabinet, Loop is a shared page everyone writes on at once, Lists is a spreadsheet with rules, and Power Automate is the assistant who does the repetitive filing.

Plan note: To Do and OneNote work with a free personal Microsoft account. Planner, Loop workspaces and Lists need a work or school account, and IT may limit them. Power Automate in business plans includes standard connectors (such as Outlook, Teams, Planner and SharePoint). Premium connectors need a separate Power Automate licence.

The Decision Checklist

Ask these questions in order and stop at the first "yes":

1. Is it repeated, rule-based work that something triggers? ("Every time X happens, do Y.") Use Power Automate.
2. Does more than one person own or need to see the action? Use Planner.
3. Is it one of many similar items you track by the same fields over time? (Requests, assets, issues.) Use Lists.
4. Is it content that others will edit with you right now, in a chat, email or meeting? Use Loop.
5. Is it information to keep and look up later, not an action? Use OneNote.
6. Anything else that is an action only you will do: use To Do.

Examples:

• "Book my dentist appointment" goes to To Do.
• "Launch the spring newsletter with design and sales" goes to Planner.
• "Track 40 laptop loans with borrower and return date" goes to Lists.
• "Agree the meeting agenda with three colleagues before 10:00" goes to Loop.
• "Notes from supplier call" goes to OneNote.
• "Save every invoice attachment to a folder" goes to Power Automate.

Task 1: Sort Ten Tasks from Your Own Work

Do this now (15 minutes):

1. Open a blank page in any app, or use paper.
2. Write down ten real items from this week: tasks, notes, requests and repeated chores.
3. Run each item through the checklist above and write the tool name next to it.
4. Mark any item that fits two tools. These are usually a task (To Do or Planner) plus a note (OneNote). Note both.
5. Count the results. The tool with the most items is your main tool.

Do not move anything yet. You will set up each tool in later levels.

Where Copilot Fits, and the Licence It Needs

There are two different things called Copilot at work. Keep them apart.

Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat is included with work accounts at no extra cost. It is grounded mainly in the web, plus files you share with it. Since mid-2026 Microsoft has shown it as Copilot Chat (Basic) for unlicensed users. Microsoft message centre notices of March 2026 said that from May 2026, in organisations with 2,000 or more users, unlicensed users lose Copilot inside Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote. Smaller organisations keep it with "standard", lower-priority access. Unlicensed users can still use the separate Copilot Chat app.

Microsoft 365 Copilot is a paid add-on licence. It works with your work data (email, files, meetings) and inside the apps. Prices checked 2 November 2026 (US, annual billing):

• Microsoft 365 Copilot Business (small business): $21 per user per month, with a promotional $18 between 1 July and 31 December 2026.
• Microsoft 365 Copilot (enterprise): $30 per user per month.
• Both need a qualifying base plan.

How this affects each tool:

• OneNote: Copilot Notebooks need a Microsoft 365 Copilot licence.
• Loop: Copilot in Loop needs a Microsoft 365 Copilot licence.
• Planner: Copilot features in Planner need a Microsoft 365 Copilot licence. Some extras also need a premium Planner licence.
• Consumer plans: Microsoft 365 Personal and Family include a monthly allowance of AI credits (60 for the plan owner) for Copilot in apps such as OneNote and Outlook.

Prices, labels and features change often. Check Microsoft's current pages before you buy anything. Whatever your plan, always check Copilot's output: names, dates, owners and anything it says was "agreed".

Task 2: Choose Your One Personal System

Do not try to build everything. Choose one combination now:

• Solo worker: To Do + OneNote + one Power Automate flow.
• Team member: To Do (personal) + Planner (team) + OneNote.
• Coordinator: Planner + Lists + Loop for meetings.

Do this now:

1. Look at your count from Task 1.
2. Choose the system whose tools cover most of your items.
3. Write two sentences: "I chose ___ because ___. Copilot is / is not available to me because ___."
4. Keep this note. The final challenge builds this system.

Key Takeaways

• Stop at the first "yes" in the checklist: automation, then shared action, then tracking, then live co-editing, then notes. Anything left over is personal To Do.
• To Do is for personal actions, Planner for shared team work, OneNote for knowledge, Loop for live shared content, Lists for structured tracking and Power Automate for repeated steps.
• Copilot Chat (Basic) is included with work accounts. Copilot in OneNote Notebooks, Loop and Planner needs a paid Microsoft 365 Copilot licence.
• Copilot access inside apps for unlicensed users depends on the size of your organisation and on IT settings.
• Build one system that fits your work, and check every Copilot answer before you rely on it.