| name | word-authoring |
| category | kumite-office |
| description | Author, edit, review, and ship Word (.docx) deliverables with M365 Copilot — using Word styles, tracked changes, comments, sections, and templates. Use whenever the deliverable is a Word document (memo, policy, report, briefing pack, contract redline, board pre-read), not a chat message or quick note. Triggers: "draft a memo", "write a report", "review this Word doc", "redline", "tracked changes", "policy document", ".docx". |
Word Authoring
Word is not a long email. Use structure — styles, headings, comments, tracked changes — that's how Word docs get reviewed and approved in the real world.
Cowork skill, not an agent skill. This skill governs how a human drives Copilot in Word. For programmatic .docx generation (docx-js, OOXML), use the agents dojo.
Quick Reference
| Task | Approach |
|---|
| New document | Open the team template first; draft section-by-section with Copilot |
| Edit someone else's doc | Turn on Track Changes before any Copilot edit |
| Long document refactor | Outline view -> restructure headings -> regenerate sections |
| Review a draft | Copilot summary + your structured review (facts, tone, gaps, bias) |
| Convert format (memo <-> deck <-> email) | Storyboard the new format first; don't auto-convert |
| Find / replace at scale | Word's built-in Find/Replace with styles, then verify three samples |
When to Use
- Drafting any deliverable longer than one screen.
- Editing an existing document where the reviewer expects tracked changes.
- Producing branded, template-conformant docs (board memo, policy, SOW, audit response).
- Multi-author collaboration where attribution matters.
How to Use
- Anchor the template first. Open the document or attach it before prompting. Tell Copilot which heading styles exist (
Heading 1, Heading 2, Quote, Caption).
- Draft section by section, not all at once. "Draft Section 2 — Background — using the attached briefing as source." Each section is a verifiable unit.
- Use Copilot for revisions as tracked changes, not silent overwrites. Ask: "Apply these edits as tracked changes I can accept individually."
- Comments for open questions. When Copilot is unsure, instruct it to insert a Word comment (margin) rather than guess inline.
- Headers, footers, page numbers, ToC — generate after structure is stable. ToC must be regenerated manually after major edits.
- Verify the table of contents and cross-references after every structural edit.
- Final pass: accept-all + sensitivity label + audience check before sending.
Examples
| Don't: Anti-example | Do: Good example |
|---|
| "Write me a 5-page strategy doc." | "Using the attached one-pager, draft Section 3 (Risks) with three Heading-2 risks; mitigation as sub-bullets." |
| Pasting Copilot output into a blank doc and emailing. | Drafting into the team template, accepting/rejecting tracked changes, sensitivity-labeled, then sending. |
| "Edit this doc to be more concise." | "Reduce Section 4 by ~30% as tracked changes. Preserve every numeric figure and every cited source." |
| Auto-generated bullets in a numbered-headings template. | Bullets only inside body paragraphs; numbering matches the template's outline. |
Critical Rules
- Always work inside the approved template. Out-of-template formatting breaks downstream tooling (PDF export, accessibility, search).
- Track Changes on for any doc you don't own. Off = silent rewrite = trust incident.
- One section per Copilot turn for substantive edits. Big-bang prompts produce un-reviewable diffs.
- Quote sources verbatim when the deliverable is legal, regulatory, or contractual. Paraphrase ≠ binding.
- Verify tables, citations, and figures by hand. Copilot reflows numbers more often than it should.
- Sensitivity label before share — and re-check after every external send.
- Use the comment feature for unknowns instead of inventing content.
Common Pitfalls
- One mega-prompt for the whole document — impossible to review, easy to ship hallucinations.
- Bypassing tracked changes on a doc someone else owns. They lose their audit trail.
- Auto-formatted bullets where the template uses numbered headings — breaks export.
- Headers/footers regenerated by Copilot that strip the tenant logo or classification banner.
- Stale ToC / cross-references after a re-structure — must regenerate (
F9 in Word).
- Pasting from a different sensitivity tier — labels do not auto-downgrade.
- Smart-quote / dash inconsistency between Copilot output and template body. Run Find/Replace.
Anti-Patterns
- "Make it sound more executive" — vague; restate as audience + length + tone.
- Letting Copilot pick the layout / cover page / styles — you'll get inconsistent siblings.
- Treating the Word "rewrite" suggestion as the deliverable. It's a draft, not a ship.
Verify Before Send
Related
