Office Technology
You need to show Tom how you pull together monthly data, and one of the newly hired assistants needs coaching on some online tools. Here’s an easy way to accomplish both: Screencast-o-Matic lets you create a video from your screen (your “screencast”) and upload it to share.
Make Adobe Reader remember where you left off, as well as your selected zoom and pan settings … Improve daily planning by being specific on your to-do list … Expect a VIP visitor at the office? Use this tactic from Darienne Page, receptionist for President Obama’s Oval Office …
Social media, such as blogs, Facebook and Twitter, are leading to confusion over what’s appropriate: Should your boss be your Facebook friend? Can you “tweet” about work? What would your firm’s VP say about your mentioning him in your blog? Some tips from etiquette expert and labor lawyer Joseph Clees:
You need online passwords for everything. How “tricky” do they need to be in order to be safe? Follow these tips from Microsoft:
Who has the best burger in Boise? Where do locals go for the freshest seafood? … Here are three online tools for travelers who love to dine out: Twitter, Yelp and Chowhound.
Imagine typing only about half of what you do now. With typing-expansion software, you can turn words you type often into abbreviations. For example, type “t” for “the,” and “ty” for “thank you.” What shorthand did for handwritten note-taking, this software can do for typing.
If you’ve ever wanted to be the next Arianna Huffington, your dream has never been more within reach. “This is the perfect venue to share your expertise and elevate your visibility to a whole new level,” says Scott Ginsberg, author of Stick Yourself Out There. Follow these steps for blogging brilliance:
“All first drafts are terrible. I don’t care if you’re Hemingway.” That comes from a writing professor who may as well have been talking about email. No email should be sent without revision. Here’s an email etiquette checklist to follow:
With more than 200 other administrative assistants in her building, Ilja Kraag sees admins working away in their “own little boxes,” independently figuring out how to tackle tasks that an admin at the next desk may have mastered long ago. So she decided to share some of her “best practices,” especially for common tasks, such as scheduling meetings.
Give those URLs a trim … Show your e-mail skills by avoiding supersize attachments … Use the subject line to identify different categories of e-mail … Feel more rejuvenated after a summer vacation by coming home on a Saturday …
“It’s one thing to keep a crowd engaged for two minutes, but two hours—or more—requires a different set of techniques,” says communications coach Carmine Gallo in BusinessWeek. So if you’re preparing a PowerPoint presentation, remember Gallo’s rules for keeping an audience captivated:
Catch a second wind by tackling a task on your “Mind Like Mush” list … Is your boss an ‘allergic-to-details’ type? Keep project files handy that contain details he or she is likely to need … Find travel deals by booking later … Spruce up your administrative “portfolio” by adding a dash of visual material.
Tracking web sites, blogs, social networking sites, Twitter—it can be overwhelming. And if you’re not fluent with online tools, it can sometimes feel like a serious waste of time. Here are four tools to help you keep track, without straying to web pages you don’t have time for.
