Tricks of the Trade (A few ideas to improve productivity)

February 2007 from 180 Systems – Many people spend the majority of their time with a few programs that they know well enough to get the job done. They realize they could find a more efficient way to get the job done, but the effort involved seems to outweigh the benefit. So they’re stuck in a rut. This article will give you a few ideas to crawl out.

One big waster of time is searching for information. Let’s assume that it’s on your computer somewhere and you keep everything important. The 1st trick does not involve recent technology, just common sense. Organize your documents and email in folders or directories. However even if you’re diligent in filing things away, you could be looking for something that spans directories, email and different document types. There are solutions that are easy and inexpensive that will automate the search process. All you need to do is type the keyword and you can instantly see a subset of files or emails that contain the keyword. And the keyword does not need to be a tag that you manually apply. It’s just text somewhere in the document or email. There are solutions like X1, Google desktop, ISYS that can help. And Microsoft Vista (The new Windows system) now includes search right out of the box.

Meetings are also right up there as big wasters of time. Once again, you can use common sense to reduce the wasted time by making sure everyone gets to the meeting on time, establishing a tight agenda, issuing documents in advance…. But technology can help too especially if the participants are not in the same office. Try one of the web conferencing tools such as WebEx or GoToMeeting.

You can also waste time flipping back and forth between documents. Windows does let you split the screen and synchronize or de-synchronize scrolling, but you don’t see as much as you would like. The solution is relatively inexpensive by using a dual monitor or using one of your old clunkers to view a document while you do the heavy lifting on your new PC.

When creating presentations or writing documentation, you will want to copy something that appears on your computer screen. There has always been the PrintScreen function that can give you the whole screen or just the current window by also using the ALT key when you press the PrintScreen function key. But if you can’t do it because there are restrictions on the document you are reviewing, or you want to be more picky, there is help using a program such as SnagIT. (I know I don’t need to remind you to give credit to other people’s work and make sure that you are not violating copyright)

There are also many time savers in the programs we use everyday. The best way to leverage these tricks of the trade is to provide training. Why not have a series of lunch and learn sessions? Get your best technical person to show time savers in MS Word or Excel. For example, teach the group how to do multiple selects from a list using the CTRL or ALT key or to automatically populate a series of days, months, years… Take a look at Office Watch for instruction on how to use AutoFill

We are sure there are many other ways to be more efficient, and would welcome any of your suggestions. Please update the blog with your suggestions. Thanks

180 View – We wrote it so you already know our view.