What's the difference between coaching and mentoring in this program?

Coaching focuses on structured, goal-oriented conversations using frameworks like GROW and CLEAR, typically addressing specific performance or development areas. Mentoring emphasizes longer-term relationship building, career guidance, and knowledge transfer through peer networks you'll learn to design and manage.

How does AI fit into coaching and mentorship?

You'll use Microsoft Copilot and Viva Insights to enhance (not replace) human coaching. AI helps with theme clustering from coaching transcripts, sentiment analysis of sessions, engagement data interpretation, and generating insights that inform your coaching approach.

Is this course really 100% online? Do I need to attend any classes in person?

This course is completely online, so there’s no need to show up to a classroom in person. You can access your lectures, readings and assignments anytime and anywhere via the web or your mobile device.

Can I just enroll in a single course?

Yes! To get started, click the course card that interests you and enroll. You can enroll and complete the course to earn a shareable certificate. When you subscribe to a course that is part of a Certificate, you’re automatically subscribed to the full Certificate. Visit your learner dashboard to track your progress.

Microsoft Leadership Coaching and Mentoring using AI Professional Certificate

Lead People Development with AI-Powered Coaching.

Build coaching, mentoring, and engagement skills using Microsoft Viva, Copilot, and Power BI.

Instructor: Microsoft

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4 course series

Earn a career credential that demonstrates your expertise

Beginner level

Recommended experience

4 weeks to complete

at 10 hours a week

Flexible schedule

Learn at your own pace

4 course series

Earn a career credential that demonstrates your expertise

Beginner level

Recommended experience

4 weeks to complete

at 10 hours a week

Flexible schedule

Learn at your own pace

What you'll learn

Implement GROW and Situational coaching programs aligned to organizational goals and measure impact using Microsoft Viva Insights analytics.
Design peer-mentoring networks using data-driven matching and SharePoint to launch structured guidance and support systems for employees.
Build Power BI analytics dashboards correlating coaching hours to performance while using Copilot for sentiment and theme clustering analysis.
Develop culture roadmaps and empowerment playbooks informed by engagement metrics and burnout signals identified through Viva dashboards.

Details to know

Shareable certificate

Add to your LinkedIn profile

Taught in English

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Advance your career with in-demand skills

Receive professional-level training from Microsoft
Demonstrate your technical proficiency
Earn an employer-recognized certificate from Microsoft

Professional Certificate - 4 course series

Coach, mentor, and develop your people using Microsoft's AI-powered productivity suite. This program builds job-ready skills across structured coaching frameworks, peer-mentoring network design, employee engagement analysis, and culture transformation.

You will practice with realistic leadership tasks: building coaching roadmaps in Planner, analyzing Viva Insights data for burnout signals, creating Power BI people analytics dashboards, and using Copilot to cluster development themes and run sentiment analysis on coaching sessions.

Across three skill areas, you'll implement GROW, CLEAR, and Situational Coaching frameworks; design and launch peer-mentoring networks with data-driven matching; interpret engagement dashboards to identify burnout drivers; and create culture transformation roadmaps informed by real workforce data.

This program covers tools you will use on the job—Microsoft Viva Insights, Copilot, Power BI, Teams, Planner, SharePoint, and more—giving you a practical, tool-grounded skill set you can apply immediately.

This program is designed for mid-level leaders, people managers, HR business partners, and talent development professionals responsible for developing others, improving team engagement, or building people-focused culture initiatives. It's a strong fit if you're moving into a people manager, HR strategic partner, or talent development leadership role. Some prior experience in leadership, team management, or people development is recommended.

Applied Learning Project

Throughout this program, you'll complete hands-on projects that simulate real leadership and people development tasks. You'll build a coaching roadmap in Microsoft Planner, publish a Mentor Starter Kit in SharePoint, and create a people analytics dashboard in Power BI that visualizes coaching-to-performance correlations using Viva Insights and 15Five data. You'll also design a culture transformation roadmap in Visio informed by sentiment analytics, and launch an empowerment playbook via Teams. These projects are designed to produce portfolio-ready deliverables that demonstrate practical, AI-enhanced leadership skills.

Coaching & Mentoring Practice

Course 1, 8 hours

What you'll learn

Implement a GROW coaching program using Microsoft Planner and Viva Insights to track progress and measure performance impact.
Design and launch a peer-mentoring network with strengths-based matching, SharePoint guidance materials, and a virtual kick-off.
Adapt coaching stances to employee readiness using CLEAR and Situational Coaching frameworks and Copilot-assisted session analysis.
Build a Power BI people analytics dashboard linking coaching hours to performance outcomes using regression analysis.

Engagement & Feedback Optimization

Course 2, 6 hours

What you'll learn

Analyze Viva Insights engagement dashboards to identify burnout drivers and build intervention action plans with quarterly tracking.
Create a multi-source feedback system pulling data from 15Five, Teams, and Cultivate into Power BI manager-level dashboards.
Configure advanced Viva Insights queries and export segmented results to Power BI for business unit-level analysis.
Evaluate workplace pilot initiatives using pre/post Viva metrics and communicate findings to executive leadership.

Performance & Culture Alignment

Course 3, 6 hours

What you'll learn

Facilitate quarterly OKR workshops using Microsoft Copilot in Whiteboard and Planner, and evaluate mid-cycle achievement against benchmarks.
Design a three-pillar culture transformation roadmap in Visio, informed by Viva sentiment analytics, with milestones and clear ownership.
Create an empowerment playbook defining decision rights, guardrails, and escalation paths for your team.
Evaluate culture and empowerment progress by triangulating turnover, engagement, inclusion, and Cultivate sentiment metrics.

Career Pathways in Coaching & People Development Leadership

Course 4, 1 hour

What you'll learn

Identify career pathways in people development and articulate the value of AI-enhanced coaching capabilities to employers
Build a professional portfolio by framing coaching, analytics, and culture transformation artifacts around business impact and quantified outcomes
Apply the STAR method to prepare responses for networking, behavioral interview, and internal advancement conversations
Create a 90-day career action plan with targeted portfolio artifacts, profile updates, and outreach steps aligned to a chosen pathway

Earn a career certificate

Add this credential to your LinkedIn profile, resume, or CV. Share it on social media and in your performance review.

Instructor

Microsoft

378 Courses2,695,108 learners

Offered by

Microsoft

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Frequently asked questions

No. You can take this program as an HR business partner, talent development specialist, project lead, or aspiring manager. The skills focus on coaching conversations, mentoring design, and people analytics that apply whether or not you have direct reports.

This program is aligned to CB3 (Intermediate). It's best if you already have some experience developing others, leading small teams, or supporting people initiatives. If you're brand new to coaching, you may benefit from foundational management content first.

Some activities reference Microsoft tools (Viva Insights, Copilot, Power BI) that may require paid access through your organization. If you don't have access, you can still learn the concepts and complete alternative versions using equivalent tools, but some hands-on activities may need to be completed off-platform.