Wednesday, April 27, 2016

Favorite short-cuts to save time!

Here are my favorite short-cuts:

1.  Drag & Drop - Highlight any email and drag it to feature in Outlook  - Calendar, Contacts, Note, or Tasks.   You can also highlight text and drag it to another location.  This works in Word & Excel too!

2.  Right-Click - This will always bring up a menu with more choices.

3.  CTRL + Z -  Hold down the Control Key (CTRL) on your keyboard and the Z Key. This will un-do you last move.  Works in Outlook, Word, Excel, etc.

4.  CTRL + B - Hold down the Control Key (CTRL) on your keyboard and the B key.  This will bold your text.

5.  CTRL + U - Hold down the Control Key (CTRL) on your keyboard and the U key.  This will underline your text.

6.  CTRL + I - Hold down the Control Key (CTRL) on your keyboard and the I key.  This will italicize  your text.

Wednesday, September 2, 2015

Start your day with Outlook Today!

OUTLOOK TODAY gives the ability to see the “big picture” of your day - messages, calendar, and tasks.  These are the three areas where time is spent. 

To locate this feature, look for the folder right above the Inbox.  It might be your name, email address, or be called Personal Folder.   This is your MAILBOX and all your Outlook folders (Inbox, Calendar, Contacts, Notes, Tasks, etc.) are under this folder.

To customize OUTLOOK TODAY:

Ø  Highlight MAILBOX – (your name)

Ø  Choose CUSTOMIZE OUTLOOK TODAY
 
These options can be customized:

Ø  START UP - It is recommended that this box is checked (Note: to turn this feature off, simply uncheck the box)

Ø  MESSAGES – Select CHOOSE FOLERS (In addition to default folders, others can be added.)

Ø   CALENDAR – Select the number of days

Ø  TASKS – Show TODAY’S TASKS ONLY sorted by DUE DATE, then IMPORTANCE (Uncheck INCLUDE
    TASKS WITH NO DUE DATE.)

Ø   STYLES – Several styles are available to choose from

Ø  Select SAVE CHANGES

This is a great way to start the day!  It can help you be proactive & easily prioritize.

 

Friday, August 28, 2015

Delegate a task using Assign Task Feature


Use this feature to efficiently delegate tasks!

Ø  In TASKS, select NEW TASK icon

Ø  In SUBJECT, type your request and be sure to include the due date

Ø  Select the ASSIGN TASK icon in the MENU RIBBON

Ø  Choose TO and select the recipient

Ø  Note:  You can assign task to multiple people, but you will lose the tracking ability.

Ø  In the body of the task you can add more detail or attach documents/emails using the INSERT tab

Ø  Select SEND

This task will show your list with and ASSIGN TASK icon.  You will not be able to change or update after you give this task away.

The recipient will receive an invitation to ACCEPT or DECLINE this task.   Once it is accepted, any changes or updates will be sent to you via email.  

Important!  Only use this for people who use their Outlook Tasks Feature. 

Thursday, October 16, 2014

Delay the Delivery of Email!

You can create an email and then tell Outlook when to send it. Follow these steps:

  • Create & address the email
  • Choose the OPTIONS tab
  • Select the DELAY DELIVERY icon
  • Under DELIVERY OPTIONS, check the box DO NOT DELIVER BEFORE
  • Use the pull-down arrows to choose a date & time

Email will stay in the Outbox and will send automatically at the selected time.

Monday, August 4, 2014

How to use Voting Buttons in an email

Do you need to collect a Yes or No response regarding an event or certain topic?  You can use the VOTING BUTTON feature in Outlook to collect this information.

For this example, we will be posing a question.  The question is "Should we add a vending machine to the break room?"

Follow these steps:
  • Open up a new email
  • In SUBJECT, type the question you want to ask.  We will type the question posed above.
  • Choose the recipients for the email
  • Select the OPTIONS tab
  • Locate the USE VOTING BUTTONS icon
  • Use pull-down arrow to choose from these options: ACCEPT;REJECT, YES;NO,YES;NO;MAYBE
In the body of the email, type these instructions:
Voting Buttons do not work on your iPhone, iPad, or DROID
Respond only from your Outlook Inbox
Open up the email
Locate the VOTE icon in the RESPOND section of the menu ribbon
Use the pull-down arrow and choose your response - YES or NO
  • Choose SEND
At DJC we teach you how to create folders to hold information until you are ready to review.
  • Create a folder to hold these responses
  • As emails are received, move them to the folder
  • When you are ready to review all of the answers, it will be easy to go back & sort by SUBJECT to see the results of the voting.


Monday, May 19, 2014

Using the Activities feature in Contacts

I had a client who was having trouble with a vendor who never returned email requests. Using the Activities feature in Contacts, we were able to provide a record of all emails sent and answered from this vendor.  The client was able to share this real-time information in order to confirm the communication issues. 


Follow these steps:
1.  Locate a contact record to use in your Outlook CONTACTS
2.  From the HOME tab, choose the ACTIVITIES icon in the menu ribbon
3.  In SHOW, use the pull-down arrow to change from ALL ITEMS to E-MAIL
4.  Search will begin and all emails will be listed
5.  Select the GENERAL tab to return to the default view

This is one of those hidden features in Outlook that can be beneficial when looking for needed information!

Monday, April 21, 2014

Translate an email written in another language

It is possible to translate an email written in another language to English. You could also translate an email from English to another language if you needed to send it to another country.  The feature called Translate will allow you do this is in Outlook 2010 & 2013.

If you would like to practice this, copy & paste this phrase written in French into an email:    Libérez votre potentiel pour gérer l'information, le temps et la technologie!  You will need to forward the email to yourself and then follow these steps

Ø  Open the email and highlight the phrase or words written in another language. 

Ø  Click on the TRANSLATE icon in the MESSAGE tab (2013 users will need to choose the REVIEW tab)

Ø  Select CHOOSE TRANSLATION LANGAUGE  

Ø  Under CHOOSE ITEM TRANSLATION LANGUAGES, use pull-down arrow under TRANSLATE FROM to choose language (in this example French)

Ø  In TRANSLATE TO, use pull-down arrow and choose English (US)

Ø  Select OK

Ø  Now the languages are set, click on the TRANSLATE icon again in the MESSAGE tab

Ø  Choose TRANSLATE ITEM FROM FRENCH (FRANCE) TO ENGLISH (US) 

Ø  A message will appear that Word is about to send the document for translation over the Internet, select SEND

Ø  The translation will appear in Microsoft’s Translator Help webpage.  In English, the phrase is our tagline “Release (Unleash) your Potential to Manage Information, Time, and Technology!”

There are many languages to choose from and you can easily change them as needed. This feature is also available in Word under the REVIEW tab.