For years I taught nights at a business college at Tidewater Tech here in Norfolk, VA. It was one of the most intrinsically rewarding positions I have ever held. I felt like I was giving back. During my career I have spent a whole lot of time reading, researching, and developing my expertise with the use of software applications.
The courses I taught were business and computer-related courses. One of the things I quickly realized by working with so many students over the years at different levels on the computer learning curve was the most underutilized feature in any software application is "Help". The help is normally the last item on the menu bar with any software, even web browsing software. It seems most people are ashamed to use. Me personally, I use it all the time. The more I use it the more I learn.
The help feature has saved me a lot of time and resources over the years. A lot of times rather than create a document from scratch I will use help to assist me with finding a template I can just tweak for my own purposes. I wanted to share some of the ways I use help that has proven to be a great time saver for me.
First and foremost if I want a fancy looking form for business use I can use the help feature and search for the type of form I'm looking to create. Normally the links returned from the search results like if I'm searching in MS Excel normal more than meet my expectations. I am normally presented with spreadsheets templates with varying colors, layouts, and functionality. I choose the one I feel will best serve my objectives.
One of my favorites is to use MS Excel to search for help on budgets. Almost everyone one that has a business has a budget whether it is for-profit, non-profit, or just a hobby. Go ahead and give it a try. Start out by searching help for "budget" and opt to search templates online (you are probably already familiar with the ones on your computer by now anyways). Expand your horizons and see what the help links you to online. Almost immediately you should see links to budget worksheets. Wow! Hopefully you came up with a variety of templates accessible via your MS Excel help task pane. As you will see there are varied types of budget spreadsheets presented.
Another great help feature in MS Excel is when you search for "training". Even me as an expert user I use the training modules from time to time. Sometimes picking up one little thing I missed from all my years of growth in Excel prop up. When you search for "training" you will almost undoubtedly I would imagine come across a training module that is normally free to use. It presents with lessons in audio, text, and visual format. There are even tests at the end of the chapter. What a great give back on the part of the software giant. Personally, I love Microsoft. They have always been my favorite software company. If all else fails, just go directly to "http://www.Microsoft.com/training" a newer training module will probably come up. I prefer the older style found via using the help feature in MS Excel.
I've used the help tool to find forms like shopping lists, business plans, cost estimates, training lesson grids, presentations, and for other uses as well. If you're an advanced user you will probably appreciate some of the forms which incorporate some of the advanced features like what-if analysis, scenarios, creating forms for input, pivot tables and charts, form validation. There is so much so don't limit yourself by what you search for.
I would go on to write about using the help feature in other applications, however, I do not want to make this post anymore enormously longer than it already is. Hopefully you get the idea I'm trying to present. If not just ask me for "help" by sending me an email. Hey I would like to receive an email once in a while any way to know what you think about my blog. Just send it to Lynne@LynneRuffin.com.
By the way, I also get help by going to the Microsoft website direct and type in what I'm looking for in the search box. Now some things have changed over the years. I've been using Microsoft products for a long time. I'm very thankful for Microsoft and the impact they have had on the business processes I've been involved with over the years. How their website has evolved with their product lines. Almost all the companies I have worked for have used some form of Microsoft products. In fact, the majority I think always used the whole suite of products.
I have to admit my two favorite Microsoft software products are FrontPage (which is no longer supported) and Access. I'm a database fool. I love designing, developing, and using databases and to be able to deploy them to use along with web applications I feel is something that was just heaven sent.
Since I realize more people in the housing business or looking for homes read my post I will share my favorite real estate help portal. You guessed it, I found it on Microsoft.com as well a few years ago.
Sometimes I get a "this file no longer exists" or similar message. However, thankfully there's a wealth of other stuff available with the different templates, downloads, etc.
Also, they do a great job on the site about occasion appropriate graphics and templates. No matter what the holiday or occasion there are normally a few selections which are really good as far as templates and graphics.
Since I am one who has written technical papers for the "Help" module in custom design applications, my tip for today is to use "Help". It is the most underutilized feature in any software application.
Here's a random link to a list of templates to get you started: http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/templates/CT101450061033.aspx at a glance they look great.
If you have any problems using the templates you come across remember to use the "Help" feature. (smile)
