Taking it to the streets: Rolling out GitHub Copilot

Set your organization and developers up for success when enabling GitHub Copilot.

Rolling out GitHub Copilot to an organization follows many of the same practices as rolling out any new developer tool, but there are some key differences. To get the most out of Copilot, developers need to incorporate it into their daily workflow, which involves changing some existing behaviors. But unlike a new tool for automation, for example, where a developer is "required" to use it whenever they need to take advantage of automation, one can continue to create code without using Copilot.

So how can we ensure they're using the tool, and in turn seeing benefits from it? As Staff Researcher Ya Gao explains, there are four keys to successfully rolling out GitHub Copilot and onboarding developers, and it all starts with setting goals.

As Ya discusses with host Christopher Harrison, goals are important because without them, we don't have a direction and won't know if we've succeeded. From there, we can begin working through the next keys to a successful rollout: champions, reminders, and training.

Ya defines champions as the developers people look up to rather than the leadership team. After all, they're the ones who will also be using the tool, and have experiences they can then share with others. These can be principle or staff-level developers: those who are actively writing code and mentoring others. They help create the excitement which drives adoption and usage of any new product, including Copilot.

Probably the most overlooked and impactful strategy is sending reminders to install (and use) Copilot. When a developer is granted access to Copilot, they receive an email, which includes instructions on how to install the extension in their IDE. But these emails can often be overlooked and forgotten. Sending additional reminders, either via email or another tool, helps drive installation and adoption.

Finally Ya walks us through the importance of training. Rather than a single point-in-time event, training should be continuous and take multiple forms. This can include hosting a workshop where an instructor leads developers through best practices; office hours where developers can ask questions of an expert; or informal methods such as a channel on Teams or Slack. Ensuring developers have access to the information they need, when they need it, will help them get the most out of the tool.

To learn more and continue your journey, explore the resources below:

Docs

Tools

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