Getting started Claude Cowork

How do you get to grips with Claude Cowork?

1250 € per session, excl. VAT

In short

Half a day to get to grips with Claude Cowork: this three-hour half-day session introduces Claude Cowork through a fictitious folder of documents. Participants identify the essential controls, formulate a simple request, monitor its execution and check the result. They experiment with summarising documents and preparing an action list, with no prior knowledge of AI required.

Why this training?

With Cowork, a request can cover a set of files rather than a single piece of text. To get started, you need to understand which documents are accessible, specify the work expected and distinguish a suggestion from the assistant from a result that has actually been checked. A well-written summary may omit a caveat or present an assumption as a decision. The exercises teach participants to limit the scope of the work assigned to Cowork, monitor its work and return to the sources before reusing its output. Ongoing case study: The fictitious association « Rivage des Savoirs » is preparing a volunteer gathering. Its folder contains a preparation note, a provisional programme and meeting minutes. Participants use Cowork to summarise the useful information and identify actions still to be confirmed, without modifying the originals. Application at work: After the session, choose a small, non-sensitive folder approved by your organisation. Reuse the instruction tested during the session to obtain a short summary, then compare each piece of information with the source documents before any use.

Objectives of this training

  • Identify the areas for submitting requests, monitoring progress and viewing results in Cowork.
  • Define which files are accessible for a simple task.
  • Formulate an instruction specifying the objective, sources, constraints and expected format.
  • Produce a summary and an action list from the fictitious folder.
  • Check the information produced and request a targeted correction.

Who is it for and what are the prerequisites?

Roles and tasks concerned

  • Staff discovering Cowork for reading and summarising small folders of documents.
  • Assistants and coordinators wishing to explore support with document preparation.

Prior skills

  • No prior knowledge of AI required: the necessary terms are explained during the introduction.
  • Ability to open a folder and view a document on your computer.

What you will work on

  1. Finding your way around and defining access

    Objective: Understand where to perform actions in Cowork and which files to entrust to it. Introduction to the available interface, the request area and task monitoring. Explanation of file access and precautions before taking any action.

  2. Writing a first actionable request

    Objective: Obtain a short summary from a defined set of sources. Structure of an instruction: objective, documents, length, recipient and limits. Explicitly requesting that missing information be flagged rather than filled in.

  3. Checking and then correcting the output

    Objective: Distinguish writing quality from fidelity to the documents. Checking fictitious names, deadlines, decisions and caveats. The difference between omission, extrapolation and acceptable rephrasing. Correction through a targeted request.

  4. Completing a simple task independently

    Objective: Reapply the initial working habits with less guidance. Extracting actions, identifying the people responsible where mentioned and flagging missing deadlines. Final check before reuse.

What you take away

  • Cowork quick reference sheet and agreed access scope.
  • Annotated instruction for summarising a folder of documents.
  • Corrected summary and action list with sources.
  • Checklist before reusing a result.

Method and assessment

  • Short explanations followed by immediate practice on the ongoing case study.
  • Individual work followed by work in pairs, with participants reviewing each other’s output.
  • Guided group discussion: what works, what needs correcting and what remains a human decision.
  • Preparation: Have a computer with working access to Claude Cowork, authorised by your organisation; check the access conditions and available features before the session. Place the fictitious training folder in a dedicated location, separate from work files; keep an unaltered copy of the documents.

Observable criteria: The participant locates the request, its progress and the result in the available interface. ; The accessible scope is limited to the designated training folder. ; The instruction specifies the sources, the expected format and the prohibition on modifying the originals. ; The summary distinguishes confirmed information from missing points. ; The participant justifies a correction by citing the source document..

Frequently asked questions

Do you need to be familiar with an AI assistant already?

No. The introduction starts with the Cowork interface and a guided request.

Can you use your work folders?

The exercises use fictitious or anonymised data, exclusively in tools authorised by the organisation.

Is access to Cowork provided?

The course outline does not include provision of access. Its availability must be checked before the session.

Will you learn to automate an entire process?

No. This introductory course remains focused on understanding Cowork and carrying out initial simple tasks in a controlled way.

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