Learn Office 2007 with Ribbon Hero

One of the biggest problems with Office 2007 is that the interface of the programs is very different from previous versions of Office.  Tasks you can usually do with your eyes closed have become absurdly hard in 2007 simply because we have to relearn the interface.  Once you figure out the interface, you’ll find that Office 2007 is really a great set of programs, but you might pull your hair out learning it.

Well, the folks at Microsoft have finally come up with a way to help us learn the new interface.  It’s called Office Ribbon Hero, and it’s a [...] Continue Reading…

Setting Up A Filing System Part 4: Naming Computer Files

Naming computer files in most ways is the same as naming any other file, except for a few conventions you need to think about.
Using Special Characters
Generally, when naming computer files in Windows, you cannot use the following characters:

< (less than)
> (greater than)
: (colon)
” (double quote)
/ (forward slash)
\ (backslash)
| (vertical bar or pipe)
? (question mark)
* (asterisk)

However, there are other characters which are allowed under Windows that you should avoid.

Period or dot (.) should only be used before the file name extension (i.e. .doc, .ppt, .mdb, .txt, etc.).  While you can throw a dot in anywhere, it can be confusing to [...] Continue Reading…

Links Roundup February 19, 2010

Once again, here are the links for administrative support tips I’ve shared with my followers on Twitter in the last week .  If you want to follow me on twitter, my twitter page is here.

Tips and templates for administrative professionals. http://ow.ly/18MLL, also templates to thank your admin.
Would SalesData mean more in an #Excel #formula than $A2:$F$874? Create a Named Range. http://bit.ly/vmurQ #smbiz #b2b
Need to delete items in your #BlackBerry? Select, use the DEL key and confirm with the enter key
Office ‘bullying’ a grey area for employers http://bit.ly/bFf007
RT @OfficeArrow: I took some advice [...] Continue Reading…

Setting Up a Filing System Part 3: Creating Your Files

In Part 1 of Setting Up a Filing System, I talked about the types of filing systems you can choose from.  In Part 2, I talked about Active vs. Historical files.  Now that you have some of the theory behind you, let’s talk about actually setting up your files.

Most of the time when we design a filing system, we already have files in place that we are recategorizing.  If that is the case, you want to start by removing all of the files from the cabinets.  If you are starting from scratch with many documents to file, then you [...] Continue Reading…

Setting Up a Filing System Part 2: Active vs. Historical Files

One thing to consider when setting up your filing system is how you are going to treat active versus historical files.

Essentially, active files are ones you still need to have regular access to while historical files are those which you are unlikely need to access to, but which need to be kept for legal purposes.
Types of Active Files
When you start thinking about active files, your main consideration is how often you need to access those files.

Working Files – generally, I keep files I’m currently working with in my desk drawer or on a file holder on my desk.  In [...] Continue Reading…

Setting Up a Filing System Part I

No matter what level you work at in the administrative support field, whether you’re a receptionist or a C-Level Executive Assistant, you are going to end up doing filing.  That’s just the way it is.  When you work with documents, you have to know where to file those documents for later retrieval.  Most of what I will discuss in this series should apply equally to paper as well as electronic files.  There are a few things that will apply to one or the other, and I will point that out at the time.

Many times, we let our filing system [...] Continue Reading…

Links Roundup – February 4, 2010

Here’s my non-so-weekly links roundup, listing all the links I’ve shared on Twitter in the last couple of weeks.

11 Common Blunders in Web Design
Want to make an Appointment out of an Outlook email? Drag it from the list to the little calendar. http://bit.ly/wa5iH
Getting Your Name Off a Hiring Blacklist – WSJ.com http://bit.ly/dfv0xv
Abstract Thoughts Prompt Literal Physical Responses – NYTimes.com http://nyti.ms/afTmW8
Webinar: Building a Better Relationship with Your Boss http://ow.ly/16tQUH
All About Workplace Relationships: Enter to Win http://ow.ly/16tQUI
The Seven Deadly Sins of the Job Search – Lusting After the Wrong Job http://tinyurl.com/ybp4ot8
Grammar tip for the day: It’s “should have”, not “should of” [...] Continue Reading…

Ask the Admin: Becoming a Virtual Assistant

I received this e-mail from Andrea:
On my personal day off, I’ve been thinking about leaving my cubicle assistant job–where I’m basically working as assistant for a bank via a real-estate holding company–and making it a start-up business for myself.  I want to become a virtual admin assistant with an added value of research assistant (so I can use my librarianship degree).

Any advice, such as your read of the market for such a business in this economic climate? Any insight is welcome!
Thanks for a very timely question, Andrea.

With the current economic crisis, many assistants are looking at becoming a Virtual [...] Continue Reading…

Ask the Admin – What More Do I Need?

I received this e-mail from Kathy:
I have a AA in Business Administration with a concentration in management, a bookkeeping diploma and a administrative assistant diploma and I still have a hard time getting an administrative assistant job. As for experience I would say i have the bear minimum because of where I live. What do I need to do in order to get an administrative assistant position?
It sounds to me that with your education you should be able to qualify for an entry level assistant position.  You’d qualify for more with more experience, probably.  The main problem at the [...] Continue Reading…

Ask the Admin: Staying in Touch While Traveling

Lisa sent me the following e-mail:
Do you have any tips or advice for communicating daily, weekly or priority items when traveling for weeks at a time.
Thanks for your e-mail, Lisa.  As it happens, I worked for 3 years for one boss who traveled almost 50% of his time, so I learned a great deal about how to keep in touch while he was traveling.
Make Sure You Have a Plan
If you have a boss who travels frequently, you need to have a plan in place to make sure the two of you stay in touch while he’s out of the [...] Continue Reading…