Resources

Reskilling and upskilling offer UK SMBs a fast, low-risk way to boost productivity by 6–12%, often delivering full ROI within a single quarter. By building skills internally rather than relying on expensive external hires, companies can close capability gaps, fully leverage existing tools, standardise best practices, and strengthen employee engagement and retention.

The article explains that UK SMBs are facing costly first-year staff turnover, largely due to underinvestment in employee skills rather than bad luck. It breaks down the true cost of churn - hiring, onboarding, and long ramp-up times- and shows how structured training, 30-60-90 day learning paths, and better onboarding can dramatically improve retention, productivity, and profitability. Using concrete maths, a hotel case study, and practical KPIs, it gives leaders a framework to calculate their own churn costs and build data-driven training programmes that keep employees longer.

UK SMBs collectively lose £63bn a year to the digital skills gap - about £3,800 per employee - driven by countless small inefficiencies. The article pinpoints three drains: process inefficiency, errors and rework, and underused software and illustrates gains via a case study where targeted enablement improved billable hours and cut rework. It recommends a pragmatic 90-day plan: audit key workflows, deliver focused training with “digital champions,” then track ROI and bake improvements into SOPs.

The article explains that Copilot context windows are the LLM’s finite, token-based “working memory,” and distinguishes this from grounding- Microsoft 365’s RAG process that searches the Microsoft Graph, retrieves relevant snippets, and injects them into the window to answer your prompt. It shows how a fixed token budget is split across system instructions, chat history, your prompt, and the response, causing truncation and behaviours like file caps (~20 files), chunking, and “lost-in-the-middle” effects. Finally, it outlines limits and a 7-step playbook to keep Copilot conversations focused and accurate.

The Power BI Training Course – 20 Questions Checklist is a practical, printable tool to compare Power BI courses across providers objectively. Use it to score curriculum quality, delivery format, hands-on practice, certification prep, and after-course support so you can choose with confidence.

The article explains why you might remove time from Excel dates - to simplify datasets, avoid clutter in reports, and prevent calculation errors. It outlines multiple methods: duplicating a column and using INT or TRUNC, changing cell formats to Short/Long Date, and using DATEVALUE when the original entry is text. Troubleshooting focuses on correcting cell formats and double-checking formula syntax and references.

Microsoft 365 Copilot has evolved beyond basic productivity to include two specialised agents: Researcher for multi-source knowledge synthesis with citations, and Analyst for transparent, code-backed data analysis. The article shows how structured, iterative prompts can guide these agents to integrate sources, identify themes, answer deeper questions, and organise findings for real decisions. It emphasises integrating AI into workflows while verifying sources and applying human judgment to ensure reliable, ethical outcomes.

Copilot boosts productivity but can sound generic unless guided with precise, role-based instructions. Use the four pillars - Who (persona/audience), What (context and examples), How (nuanced tone), and Where (explicit structure) - to shape brand-aligned outputs. Iterate with targeted rewrite requests and reusable style guides to scale consistent, professional communication.

Microsoft Copilot can boost productivity in M365 apps, but access often fails due to connectivity, outdated software, or misaligned settings. Start with basics - verify internet, update apps/Copilot, and reboot - then tackle advanced fixes like confirming licenses, moving to supported update channels, adjusting admin/privacy policies, or repairing Office. For reliability, keep Windows and M365 updated, maintain a stable connection, monitor the Service Health dashboard, follow IT policy, and clear caches regularly.