Learn how in this video to work with Expanding menus in Microsoft Excel 2003
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Developing a Learning Strategy When Migrating from Office 2003 to 2010
When Microsoft announced that they were releasing a new version of Microsoft Office in 2007 and that it was radically different to Microsoft Office 2003, the announcement was met with major concern in both the IT field and learning and development arena. Most people recognised that the radical changes would create a new headache for IT and Learning and Development because it meant for the first time in over 20 years, companies would have to reinvest in the development of their staffs computer skills.
If you aren’t already aware the number one change in Microsoft Office 2007 and 2010 is the removal of the toolbars and menus from the core interface and their replacement with the Ribbon. When this change was first announced it was met with disdain and concern that Microsoft was playing with something that worked, but five years on most IT specialists will agree that the change has brought about key productivity improvements.
The challenge though is that as we head into 2012, we are only now seeing most large corporations invest in upgrading to Microsoft Office 2010 and what this means is that if you are making this transition then you need to ensure that as part of your migration strategy you include a solid learning and development plan.
The fact of the matter is that if we were to neglect implementing a learning and development plan, then you would see a decrease in productivity in the organisation rather than increasing it. The common problem from a users perspective in Microsoft Office 2007 and 2010 is locating where functions are. Once your users understand how to use the ribbon effectively and the hiden secrets of the ribbon then productivity in using the application will increase.
When you are developing your learning and development plan it is very important that five key issues are identified:
1. Ensure you stream your classes by User Capability
2. Ensure that you don’t bore your users with information they already know
3. Identify and train in the users core programs
4. Ensure that the training incorporates an assessment strategy
5. Ensure you undertake both pre and post training review
Recently I undertook a training program with a local council where we not provided access to the students prior to the training day. We found that in the class we had some users who were considered super users and others that were not familiar in using a computer at all. Because the council had failed to stream the classes we had some very unhappy students because some were bored whilst others found the course to hard.
When you develop your migration learning and development strategy, I recommend that you focus on developing it in a manner in which you have three different types of courses:
1. An Upgrade to Office 2010 Course
2. An Upgrade to specific applications
3. A Full Course on How to Use each of the Microsoft Office Applications
Having these three different types of courses will help people choose what is appropriate for their current computer skills. The upgrade to Microsoft Office 2010 course should focus on how the Ribbon Works and a rough overview of all the features that can be found in Microsoft Office 2010. This course would be specifically developed for Super Users or regular users of the Microsoft Office Applications.
The Upgrade to Microsoft Word 2010 course or application specific course should be focused first on the changes within the ribbon but then focusing on specific program changes. For example what new features have been added to Microsoft Word and how can they be harnessed to make your life more productive in using the program. This style of course should be focused on the Microsoft Word Super User and should definetly include many of the advanced features of the program.
The third course should be developed for new users or those with limited computing skills. The course should teach them the fundamentals of working with the core Microsoft Office Skills.
In all three of the course types there needs to be particular attention paid for all attendees to undergo some type of competency testing, this will ensure that they pay attention as the undertake their training.
If you are considering migrating from Microsoft Office 2003 to 2007 or 2010 and would like to develop an effective Learning and Development strategy then contact Chris Le Roy at One-on-One Professional Business Training on 1800 66 00 00 and he will be more than happy to assist you in developing your plan. Alternatively we have a range of Microsoft Office courses available in both Brisbane and Townsville.
Top 5 Reasons To Upgrade to Microsoft Project 2010
I regularly run courses in Microsoft Project and many of my clients have been asking me whether it is worth upgrading from Microsoft Project 2007 to Microsoft Project 2010. Obviously, this program is not cheap and when you have large teams of project managers, there is a considerable cost in outfitting the team.
In my honest opinion, upgrading to Microsoft Project 2010 should be a mandatory decision as the new features in Microsoft Project 2010 definetly will help every project manager and in this article I will look at my Top 5 Reasons to upgrade.
1. The Ribbon
The ribbon didn’t make it into Microsoft Project 2007 however in the latest version it is available. What I like about the ribbon is that it makes it easier to use the program and once you get used to the way it works, I find that it is faster to use the Ribbon than the traditional Menu and Toolbars.
2. Timeline Function
The timeline function is a new tool provided in this version which allows you to plot key tasks on a traditional style timeline instead of the Gantt Chart. One of the key reasons I use the timeline function is to highlight key events within the project plan.
3. The Inactive Tasks Function
This is probably the most powerful feature to be added in Project 2010. It allows you to add in key tasks that might be a contingency if something goes wrong without them actually influencing your Gantt chart, costs or resourcing.
4. The Ability To Schedule Data in the Calendar
One of the new features in the calendar is your ability to setup and schedule multiple dates for non-workdays or with specific working times in one go rather than having to set each day specifically.
For example, if your team have a RDO(recreational day off) once a fortnight, you can actually tell the calendar for the first time that every two weeks you want a specific day off. This is a huge time saver in setting up your calendars and was a feature I have been asked about by many large companies who do have RDO’s.
5. Team Planner
The team planner is a huge step forward as you can now clearly see where resources are overallocated or where they are not allocated at all. Some of the advantages of the Team Planner are that you can:
1. See Your resources work load over time
2. Identify problems quickly
3. Drag and drop tasks to resolve those problems
Microsoft Project 2010 is a great step forward in project management software and I would definetly recommend that you upgrade to this version. These five reasons will on their own save you more money in using the program than if you don’t.
I would also add that some of these functions are only available in Microsoft Project 2007 Professional.
Hard Page Break vs Soft Page Break
In Microsoft Word there has always been two key page breaks types, a soft page break and a hard page break and they both have different roles. I want to take some time to explain the difference between the two.
A soft page break is inserted by Microsoft Word when you get to the end of the page and the program can no longer fit any more text on the page. How much can be fit on the page is dictated by Page Layout elements such as page size, orientation, margins and font size and type.
The soft page break cannot be removed by the user and as such we really don’t have a lot of control over where it is placed on the page except for modifying the Page Layout elements I talked about before.
A Hard Page break is different, you can insert a hard page break at anytime into a document. The hard page break tells the program that this is where you want to end the text on this page and then start a new page.
To insert a hard page break you can do this in Microsoft Office 2003 by using the Insert menu and then choosing break from the drop down menu. In Microsoft Office 2007 and 2010 you can choose the same option from the ribbon. The easiest way to insert a hard page break is to use the shortcut keys and the shortcut key for a Hard page break is ….. [Ctrl] +[Enter]