Microsoft Word is the Office Manager’s top choice for word processing office productivity software. But you may be so used to just opening the program and typing that it doesn’t seem to make you more productive – it’s just a place to type.
If you’re only using word to put pixels to paper, let us point you the way to time savers and creativity helpers. Let Word become your ally in office management and see what you can do with a single word.
No More Name Game
If executives are constantly coming to you to make signs for new employees, badges for meetings, and table tents for events, shrug off the name game with templates easily accessible from Microsoft Word and found at the Office templates website. They’re located in different places depending on which version of Word your office has – click the Office button or “File” tab/menu to find them. Then scroll through the options for what you need or simply type the term, such as “name tags” into the search bar. Keep in mind that all templates Word returns are fully customizable, so if you like the general design, download it and start working. The best part of the process? Once you invest the initial amount of time to set up the template, it’s yours every time you need it – just call the file back up and print away!
Be a Team Player (or the Whole Team)
You’re probably already wearing a number of hats as you manage the office, but one more you may be able to slip on is designer/marketer. If the idea of someone saying to you “We need a newsletter!” sends chills up your spine, consider this like a warm, fuzzy blanket – Word can help. Templates are available for just about every publication you’ll need or want, including brochures, newsletters, postcards, booklets, signs, banners, and more. The best part of using Word is that the setup is already done for you. You won’t have to worry if your text is bleeding into the margin or whether your three-column brochure has the gutter folds in the right placement areas. And once you’ve got the template setup, it’s easy to make changes for recurring materials like that newsletter your boss loves so much, he wants a new one every month.
Seek Out Super Smarts
Tucked away into Word is an army of brainpower just waiting for you to tap into, and you won’t need any more books on an already cluttered workspace. Click the “Review” tab or menu (note that different versions of Word will have different placement of these tools) and note just what you can do. The first section of the ribbon, Proofing, lets you check spelling, look up what words mean, and get synonym suggestions. If you’ve used the word “tough” 42 times in a letter, for example, Word can help you find some other terms. You can even find out some translation options, edit coworkers’ writing directly on the screen, and see how many words you’ve written.
Getting Graphic
It’s right there in the title – Microsoft WORD. So it may not be your go-to option when you think of artwork. And while Word is surely not the Picasso or Monet of the software world, it does have some tucked-away features that can give your office’s documents a little more pizazz. Click the “Insert” tab for the “Picture” (“Pictures” in 2013) and “Clip Art” buttons. Here’s where you can upload and insert images, such as a corporate logo or charts. And Clip Art lets you take advantage of Word’s included free stock of photographs and drawings. Over on the “Page Layout” tab is where you can transform your page design. Click the “Page Color” button and choose “More Color” or “Fill Effects,” which is where you can give your pages background designs, textures, or even select a photo to serve as the background. And for those office managers in a time pinch, click the “Themes” button on the “Page Layout” tab. In a single click, you can choose from a set of fonts, colors, and page design. The world of Word does not have to be just black and white.
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