Do you use Microsoft Office 365 in your business? Do you want to become a master of using Office 365 and increase your business’ productivity?Â
There is no doubt that Microsoft Office 365 is one of the most helpful products companies invest in. Statistics reveal that over 1.178 million companies are using Microsoft Office 365. It doesn’t come as a surprise since a subscription gives you access to valuable apps and key features.
Aside from the essential apps like Excel, Word, PowerPoint, and Outlook, Office 365 also gives you 1TB of OneDrive cloud storage. Moreover, it comes with exclusive upgrades and updates.
Best of all, your Mac, Windows PC, and mobile devices are all supporting Office 365.
But how do you become a master in Office 365? Continue reading below as we give you 10 expert Office 365 tips that will help you in your business.
1. Access Local Files Remotely
Though you have the option to use Microsoft Pay Per Incident Support whenever issues with the Office 365 arise, it is best if you know the ins and outs of your subscription. For example, your computer decides not to cooperate when you are saving your files. When this happens, you can use Office 365 to access local files remotely.
To do this, you will have to use the OneDrive Fetch feature. Using a remote computer, launch the Fetch feature. Head on to https://onedrive.live.com and log into the computer’s account.
Hit the “Settings” icon on the OneDrive window.
From the options list, select “PCs” and choose the host PC that hosts the files you wish to open. Go over the PST computer via the OneDrive interface.
This is also useful in case you forgot to bring your flash drive to an important meeting.
2. Everyone in Sync
Another trick you need to master is staying in-sync with everyone. This means staying on the same page with your employees whichever part of the world they may be. By using Office 365’s SharePoint, you can have everyone on your team working on one single document.
This will prevent you from having different versions of the document. This will also help reduce confusion and increase the productivity of everyone.
3. Disable Old Employee Accounts
Did some of your employees resign years ago? Then you need to make sure that you disabled their old accounts. Thankfully, Office 365 lets you do this.
Also, you want to discard all dormant accounts. These are the old accounts of your current employees. Doing these will help you streamline your company’s user-account management.
4. Master the Shortcuts
Another important tip especially when using Office 365’s Excel is learning the keyboard shortcuts. Shortcuts can save you a lot of time in using and navigating your Excel files. They are also helpful for employees who have problems with their vision and mobility.
Check out this link from Microsoft and start mastering those Excel shortcuts.
5. Tap the Scheduling Assistant
Another important feature in Microsoft Office 365 that you need to use more often is the Scheduling Assistant. This tool will help you manage your meetings better so you won’t forget any of them. The Scheduling Assistant tells you if the other party is busy, free, or out of the office.
To use this feature, open your Outlook and create a meeting invitation. Add the people you wish to have a meeting with. Go to the Ribbon and select “Scheduling Assistant.”
Find the perfect time where both of you are available then hit the “Send” button.
6. Manage Your Calendar
Apart from using the Scheduling Assistant, you must also manage your calendar. Incorporate color categories in your calendar. For example, you can assign the color blue for your personal appointments.
As for your business meetings, you can pick the color green.
Furthermore, consider sharing your calendar with people outside of your company. This will help other people know about your availability.
From the Calendar app, go to the top navigation and click “Share.” Click on “Calendar” then enter the email addresses of the persons you wish to share your calendar with. Hit “Send” to complete the process.
7. Recall an Email
Do you sometimes send emails inadvertently to the wrong person? Office 365 can help you recall those emails even after hitting the “Send” button.
To pull this off, go to the “Sent” folder and open the email you want to recall. Click the “Move” option and hit the “Actions” button. Look for the “Recall This Message” option then click it.
If you want to delete the message from the receiver’s inbox, select “Delete Unread Copies of this Message.”
8. Use Recurring Meeting
Going back to your meetings, you will likely have recurring ones on your calendar. However, changes regarding the venue, time, and attendees may change. Hence, you need to tweak the recurring meeting feature.
In your Outlook calendar, change your recurring meetings to no longer than the following quarter. This will reduce confusion and save you time in sorting out the details of the meetings.
9. “Alert Me” is Your Friend
You also need to use SharePoint’s Alert Me function. This tool notifies you whenever there are tweaks and changes to your files. Alert Me will automatically send you a text or email regarding the changes.
To enable this, go to “List,” click “Alert Me,” then select “Set Alert to This Document (or Library). This will ensure that you are going into your meetings with the updated files on hand.
10. Protect Your Sensitive Files
Last but not least, you need to learn how to protect your sensitive files using Office 365. Sometimes, you want to share confidential information for a particular period. To do this, you need to add an expiry link to your files.
Click on “Share” then hit “Link Settings.” From there, select “Add Expiry Date” then add a date. Furthermore, you can add passwords to your links containing sensitive data.
To do this, go to “Share” then hit “Set Password.” Decide a password then copy the link to your file then send it to your desired receiver.
Go Beyond Using Office 365 Like a Pro
Through these expert tips, using Office 365 will never be the same. You will be able to do more things and save more time at work. However, you shouldn’t stop there.
Learn more about different Office applications and other tools by checking out our other blog posts. We also discuss more tips and tricks that will help you become more productive in your business.
