Most teams are already experimenting with AI, but results are inconsistent. Microsoft’s 2025 Work Trend Index shows leaders moving ahead and expecting staff to manage AI “agents” within five years; the gap now is skills and structure, not appetite. microsoft.com
This article gives UK SMEs and charities a simple, credible way to level up staff safely and measurably in six weeks. You’ll set a clear baseline of 12 competencies, run a champions network, and track a small set of KPIs that boards and funders will recognise.
What is an “AI skills baseline” — and why now?
An AI skills baseline is the minimum capability you want every eligible role to demonstrate — not to build AI, but to use approved tools competently and safely in day‑to‑day work. It complements your basic digital skills training. The UK’s Essential Digital Skills framework already defines what “good” looks like for life and work online; this plan adds a light layer for AI‑assisted tasks. gov.uk
Security matters. UK public sector guidance is unambiguous: never put sensitive or non‑public information into public AI tools; verify outputs; and use enterprise‑approved options. Build your baseline to reinforce those behaviours. gov.uk
The 12 competencies (Foundation → Practitioner → Champion)
Define three levels for each competency. Foundation = can complete routine tasks with sign‑off. Practitioner = can choose the right tool, handle edge‑cases, and self‑check. Champion = can coach peers and spot risks.
1) Safe use and judgement
- Know what can/can’t be pasted into public tools; recognise sensitive data.
- Verify outputs and cite sources when communicating externally.
2) Prompts for everyday tasks
- Summarise long text, draft emails, rewrite for tone, extract bullet points.
- Use examples rather than adjectives; specify audience and constraints.
3) Meeting and notes co‑pilot
- Create action logs from agendas and recordings where approved.
- Turn notes into follow‑up emails and ticket updates.
4) Writing and content reuse
- Draft from a rough outline; adapt for web, newsletter, and PDF.
- Check tone, reading age, and key messages before publish.
5) Spreadsheet and documents co‑pilot
- Explain a formula; classify rows; generate charts with plain‑English instructions.
- Spot anomalies with simple prompts.
6) Research and fact‑checking
- Use grounded search; ask for citations; validate key claims.
7) Customer service assists
- Produce draft replies from policy and knowledge base; personalise correctly.
8) Fundraising/bid support (charities/SMEs)
- Turn bullet points into case studies; map outcomes to funder criteria.
9) Internal knowledge search
- Ask questions against approved repositories; avoid data sprawl.
10) Light workflow assistance
- Chain two or three steps (e.g., summarise, tag, and file a document) using approved tools.
11) Accessibility and inclusion
- Generate alt text, captions, and reading‑age‑appropriate versions.
12) Reporting and reflection
- Log time saved, quality uplift, and any issues; suggest improvements.
Tip: keep your baseline role‑specific. A finance officer’s Week‑3 exercises should differ from a fundraiser’s.
The 6‑week rollout plan (works with Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace)
Week 0 — Quick setup
- Decide the initial cohort (e.g., 30–60 staff across ops, finance, customer, fundraising).
- Pick one approved tool per workflow (e.g., Microsoft Copilot in Teams/Word/Excel if you’re on M365). Check your licence and data protections; Copilot for Microsoft 365 is an add‑on to qualifying plans. microsoft.com
- Publish a one‑page safe‑use policy based on UK guidance: don’t paste sensitive data into public tools; verify outputs; keep a log of AI‑assisted decisions. gov.uk
- Nominate 1 champion per 12 learners; book two weekly “office hours”.
Week 1 — Onboarding + guardrails
- 60‑minute kick‑off. Show 3–4 tasks per role that the baseline covers. Contrast “public chatbots” vs enterprise‑approved tools and why it matters. gov.uk
- Run a 30‑minute micro‑module on “prompts that work”.
- Light assessment: a short scenario to show safe handling and verification habits.
Week 2 — Writing and meetings
- Use AI to summarise a 30‑minute meeting and draft follow‑ups; manager reviews a sample.
- Rewrite three stale email templates with tone and clarity improvements.
Week 3 — Operations and finance
- Classify 200 spreadsheet rows; generate two charts and a one‑page commentary.
- Draft an SOP from bullet notes, with a risk and controls section.
Week 4 — Customer, sales and supporter care
- Create response drafts from policy and knowledge base; personalise correctly.
- Produce a two‑paragraph explainer for a new product or service.
Week 5 — Knowledge and search
- Ask and answer five “how do we…?” questions using your internal repository.
- Log where content is missing and assign owners to fix it.
Week 6 — Evidence and handover
- Each learner submits two before/after examples with time saved and quality notes.
- Managers validate a sample; champions record near‑misses and lessons learned.
- Report to the board with the KPIs below.
KPIs a board can understand
- Adoption: % of targeted staff who completed Week‑6 tasks and passed the baseline.
- Time: median minutes saved per common task (from learner logs and manager spot‑checks).
- Quality: share of outputs that needed only light edits (vs heavy rewrites) in Weeks 4–6.
- Risk hygiene: number of near‑misses reported; % remediated with a control or guidance.
- Reuse: number of approved prompts/templates added to your shared library.
Microsoft’s Work Trend Index indicates leaders are already saving meaningful time; your KPI pack should show whether similar gains appear in your context and where coaching improves them. microsoft.com
Costs, effort and a simple way to budget
| Option | What’s included | Typical effort | Cash costs | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baseline using Microsoft 365 Copilot | Writing, meetings, spreadsheet assists, grounded search | 2–3 hours per learner per week | Copilot licence per user, plus your existing M365 plan | Verify your plan eligibility and data protections before rollout. microsoft.com |
| Baseline using public tools (tightly controlled) | Writing and research tasks only; no sensitive data | 2 hours per learner per week | Low or none | Reinforce “no sensitive data”; add manual checks; limit to low‑risk content. gov.uk |
| Bootcamps or external micro‑credentials | Short courses aligned to job roles | Half‑day to 2 days | Varies; some areas supported via Skills Bootcamps funding | Check local allocations for 2025–26; co‑design with employers. gov.uk |
A lightweight policy your staff will actually read
Base yours on UK government guidance and keep it to one page:
- Use approved tools first. Prefer enterprise‑licensed options integrated with your email, files and permissions.
- Protect information. Do not paste sensitive, non‑public, or personal data into public tools. gov.uk
- Verify and cite. Treat outputs as drafts; verify facts and cite sources before external use. gov.uk
- Human in the loop. For irreversible actions (e.g., sending emails to customers or updating records), a person reviews first. gov.uk
- Log usage. Add a line to your task log if AI was used and why.
- Report issues. Record near‑misses; champions update guidance monthly.
If you develop your own AI or integrate vendors, align with joint NCSC/CISA secure AI development guidance for a secure‑by‑design posture. cisa.gov
How to run the champions network
- Ratio: 1 champion to ~12 learners, spread across functions and shifts.
- Rhythm: two weekly drop‑in sessions of 25 minutes; champions collect examples and issues.
- Content: focus on the 12 competencies; build a shared library of approved prompts and checklists.
- Incentives: recognise the best validated before/after example each week.
Want a ready‑made cadence? Borrow from our AI Office Hours format and pair staff using our 30‑day Buddy System to keep momentum between sessions.
Role‑specific exercises you can copy
Finance
- Explain a formula and propose a check to avoid double‑counting.
- Summarise three supplier contracts into a one‑pager for managers.
Operations
- Turn an incident ticket thread into a root‑cause summary and next steps.
- Create a rota change email with a clear ask and deadline.
Customer/support
- Draft replies from policy and knowledge base; highlight when to escalate.
Fundraising/bids
- Map outcomes to a funder’s criteria; produce a 200‑word case study.
HR/People
- Rewrite a policy paragraph for readability; generate interview questions aligned to competencies.
Marketing
- Repurpose a long article into a newsletter and three social captions; verify claims and links.
How to measure time saved without a stopwatch
- Pick three common tasks per team (e.g., draft customer email; summarise meeting; classify spreadsheet rows).
- Ask learners to log their best “before” time from last quarter and “after” time in Week 6.
- Managers spot‑check 10% of submissions; discard any example that needed heavy edits.
- Report the median time saved to remove outliers and show a conservative result.
De‑risking the rollout
- Use feature flags or staged enablement to throttle access while you learn what works. See our Feature Flags for AI playbook.
- Hold costs to a 90‑day cap while you assess value. Our 90‑day Cost Guardrail explains how.
- Run a go‑live check before switching on any net‑new AI in production. See The Go‑Live Gate.
Procurement questions for training partners
- Which competencies will you cover and how will you evidence them at Foundation/Practitioner/Champion?
- What KPIs will we see by Week 6? Show a template report with anonymised examples.
- How do you enforce safe‑use rules and align with UK guidance? Provide your policy and escalation path. gov.uk
- How do you support champions and knowledge reuse after the course?
- What’s your plan to adapt content for our sector roles?
Linking to recognised UK frameworks
Your AI baseline should sit alongside existing digital skills standards and local training routes. The Department for Education’s Essential Digital Skills framework remains the reference point for basic digital capability; Skills Bootcamps provide flexible, employer‑co‑designed pathways where relevant. gov.uk
Bottom line
In six weeks you can move from scattered experiments to a measurable, safer baseline that improves real work. Keep it simple: 12 competencies, champions to support the habits, and a KPI pack that shows time, quality and risk in plain English. Build on UK guidance, prefer enterprise‑approved tools, and evidence progress you’d be happy to show your board or funder. gov.uk