Microsoft 365 includes dozens of applications, but most organisations don’t need to train on all of them. Once foundational skills such as Outlook, Teams, OneDrive and SharePoint are in place, the next training priorities depend on the work your team does every day. For many organisations, Excel, PowerPoint and Copilot deliver some of the greatest productivity gains, while tools such as Power BI, Project, Power Automate and SharePoint document management add value in specific roles. The key is focusing on the applications that will have the biggest impact on the way your team works.
Open the Microsoft 365 app launcher, and you will count close to 30 icons. Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Teams, SharePoint, OneDrive, OneNote, Planner, Power BI, Power Apps, Power Automate, Copilot and more. Most staff use a handful of them daily and have never opened the rest.
A common challenge when planning Microsoft Office Training is deciding where to focus beyond the basics. Outlook, Teams, file management and OneDrive form part of the everyday Microsoft 365 experience. Once those foundations are in place, organisations can focus on the applications that will have the biggest impact on productivity and performance.
So once the basics are covered, the next question becomes: what should your team learn next? This article looks at the Microsoft 365 applications that typically deliver the greatest return on training investment and where specialist tools fit into the picture.
Before we look at what’s next
Before deciding which applications to focus on next, it’s worth considering the foundational skills that support day-to-day work in most Microsoft 365 environments. These are the tools employees use to communicate, collaborate and access information every day.
- Windows and browser navigation
- Outlook for email and basic calendar management
- Teams for meetings, chat and accessing shared files
- File management across OneDrive and SharePoint
- SharePoint at a read-and-navigate level
While these skills are often treated as the foundation of working in a Microsoft 365 environment, not everyone has had the opportunity to learn them formally. Where confidence or consistency is lacking, a Microsoft 365 Modern Workplace foundation session can provide a strong starting point before moving on to more advanced applications.
What is actually inside Microsoft 365?
The suite breaks down into a few practical groups.
- Core productivity: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote
- Communication and collaboration: Outlook, Teams, SharePoint, OneDrive
- Automation and data: Power BI, Power Automate, Power Apps
- AI assistance: Microsoft Copilot
- Work Management: Planner, Project
- Specialist tools: Visio, Dynamics and other role-specific applications
Thinking about Microsoft 365 in these groups can help simplify training decisions and clarify where your team is likely to gain the most benefit. CTO’s Microsoft 365 training range covers each of these areas, from core workplace skills through to specialist applications such as Project, Power BI and Power Automate.
What are the apps worth investing in once the basics are solid?
Once the foundations are in place, the next training priorities will vary depending on the team’s role and the work they do every day. There is no single set of Microsoft 365 applications that suits every organisation. However, if we had to identify the tools that most often deliver significant productivity gains across a broad range of roles, Excel, PowerPoint and Copilot would be near the top of the list, although Copilot is increasingly becoming part of the foundation rather than an optional extra.
Excel
For anything involving numbers, tracking, reporting or data-driven decisions, Excel remains one of the most versatile tools in the Microsoft 365 suite. Building confidence in Excel can help teams work more efficiently, gain better insights from their data and make more informed decisions.
Microsoft Excel Training is one of CTO’s most requested programs across Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide and Canberra. It is a common entry point for teams looking for a structured starting course before expanding into the rest of the Microsoft 365 suite.
PowerPoint
For anything presented to a client, a board or a team, PowerPoint is the standard.Training helps users create presentations that communicate information clearly, look professional and support their message effectively. Even small improvements in presentation design can have a noticeable impact on how information is received and understood.
CTO’s Advanced PowerPoint course is a regular request from client-facing teams in Sydney and beyond, for staff who already know the basics and want to present with more polish and confidence.
Microsoft Copilot
Copilot is the application that has moved fastest from ;interesting to explore’ to ‘genuinely expected.’ For teams with access to it, the productivity gains in drafting, summarising, researching and accelerating everyday knowledge work are real and increasingly hard to ignore. The challenge is that most people do not know how to prompt it effectively. That is a trainable skill and the gap closes quickly with structured guidance.
Copilot is changing faster than almost any other Microsoft application. New features, licensing options and capabilities are being introduced regularly, making it difficult to stay current. Copilot training provides a practical starting point, helping teams build confidence and understand how AI can support their day-to-day work. For additional context, you may also find our article Microsoft Copilot: Free vs Paid (and Why It Keeps Changing) useful. It provides a snapshot of how rapidly the Copilot landscape has evolved, although some details have already changed as Microsoft continues to develop the platform.
Microsoft Word
Word is also worth considering here for teams that regularly create business documents. While almost everyone uses Word, the greatest return on training investment is often seen in roles where staff create reports, proposals, policies, procedures and other important business content.
The apps to add based on role
After the core three, the next step depends on what the team actually does.
| Team or need | Start with | Add when ready |
| Finance and reporting | Excel, Copilot | Power BI |
| Project teams | Excel, Copilot | Project or Planner |
| Operations | Excel, Copilot | Power Automate |
| Sales and client-facing | PowerPoint, Copilot | |
| Data and analytics | Excel, Copilot | Power BI |
| Document-heavy teams | Word, Copilot | SharePoint Document Management |
Microsoft Project Training is one of CTO’s most requested courses, particularly among teams juggling multiple projects without a shared system, with steady demand from teams in Brisbane, Melbourne, Canberra, Adelaide and Perth. Power BI training has seen strong growth across Australian workplaces as organisations move from static spreadsheet reporting to live, shareable dashboards, with online Power BI training a popular option for teams spread across multiple locations.
Power BI and Power Automate follow a similar pattern to Project. Teams tend to come to CTO already knowing they want a Power BI course once spreadsheet reporting stops scaling, and ask about Power Automate courses once they notice the same manual task eating up time every single week.
SharePoint Training sits slightly differently; most teams already navigate it at a basic level, but the real value comes from using it effectively to manage and share business information. For teams working with policies, procedures, project documentation and other shared organisational knowledge, training can help unlock SharePoint’s document management, collaboration and information-sharing capabilities. This is where a dedicated SharePoint training session tends to deliver the greatest benefit.
How to choose without guessing?
The fastest way to pick the wrong app to train on is to start with what is trending rather than what your team actually does. A short, honest audit answers it instead. Ask your team:
- What tasks currently take longer than they should?
- Which app already sits half-used in the background?
- Where do errors or rework keep showing up?
At CTO, our first conversation is usually about outcomes rather than applications. We want to understand what your team is trying to achieve, where frustrations are occurring and what success would look like after the training. That helps us recommend training that addresses real workplace challenges rather than simply teaching software features.
Our trainers do see patterns. An operations team convinced they needed Power BI when the real bottleneck was an Excel process nobody had ever been properly shown how to build. Once that was fixed, the data problem they thought they had mostly disappeared. The flashiest app is not always the right starting point.
The Microsoft 365 courses organisations ask us about most often
Based on training enquiries across Australian workplaces, here is where most requests land.
| Course | Typically enquired by |
| Microsoft Excel | Finance, operations and admin teams tha need stronger reporting and data handling |
| Microsoft Project | Project managers and coordinators juggling timelines across multiple jobs |
| Microsoft Teams | Whole-of-organisation roll-outs and hybrid teams standardising collaboration |
| Power BI | Analysts and managers turning spreadsheets into shareable dashboards |
| Microsoft Copilot | Leadership and admin staff, looking to speed up drafting and summarising |
| PowerPoint | Sales, marketing and client-facing teams building presentation confidence |
Start with the apps that actually move the needle
You don’t need to master all 30 Microsoft 365 apps, and trying to usually backfires. The better approach is identifying the two or three tools already costing your team the most time, then building real competence there before adding anything else.
CTO’s corporate training programs in Australia (Corporate Training Options) cover the full Microsoft 365 suite, from Excel and PowerPoint through to Project, Power BI and Copilot, delivered onsite or online and tailored to how your team actually works.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does my team need to learn all 30 Microsoft 365 apps?
No. Most Australian teams get the vast majority of their value from three to five apps used well, typically Excel, PowerPoint, Copilot and one or two role-specific tools like Project or Power BI. Learning the full suite rarely reflects how most roles actually work day to day.
What is the difference between Microsoft Office training and Microsoft 365 training?
Microsoft Office traditionally refers to desktop applications such as Word, Excel and PowerPoint. Microsoft 365 includes those familiar applications alongside cloud and collaboration services such as Teams, OneDrive and SharePoint, with Copilot available depending on licensing. In practice, most people referring to Microsoft Office courses and Microsoft Training Office 365 are often talking about the same overall skill set, which is why CTO’s programs are built to cover both under one roof.
Which Microsoft 365 app should a team prioritise after the basics?
Excel is the most common starting point for productivity training since it covers reporting and data handling for almost every role. PowerPoint and Copilot follow closely. From there, the right next app depends on the team’s function, such as Project for planning-heavy roles or Power BI for data-heavy ones.
How much does Microsoft 365 training cost for a team?
Cost depends on team size, session length, delivery format and how customised the content needs to be. CTO provides a tailored quote after a short needs analysis rather than a flat rate, since a single Excel refresher and a multi-app roll-out across several offices are not priced the same way.
Does my team need Microsoft certification, or just practical skills?
For most workplaces, practical role-specific skills deliver more day-to-day value than formal certification. Certification suits people moving into specialist or IT-facing roles, while most staff benefit more from training built around their actual tasks rather than exam-focused content.
Can training be customised to how our team actually works?
Yes, and it should be. Generic off-the-shelf sessions tend to cover features nobody uses while skipping the ones causing real friction. CTO’s programs start with a needs analysis so the course reflects your team’s actual workflow rather than a standard template.
Are Microsoft courses available online or only in person?
Both. CTO delivers Microsoft courses online, onsite and in hybrid formats across Australia. Whether your team is all in one location, spread across multiple offices or working remotely, we can tailor the delivery approach to suit your needs. Online delivery and onsite Microsoft training are available in Sydney, Melbourne, Perth and other locations, while hybrid sessions can combine in-person and virtual participants where appropriate.
How long does it take to become confident in a new Microsoft 365 app?
Most participants build practical day-to-day confidence within a single structured session, though depth varies by app. Some tools can be learned relatively quickly, while data-heavy applications such as Power BI or Power Automate often benefit from additional practice and follow-up training once the basics are applied in the workplace.
