Microsoft Office Training Courses – What you need to know

For many years now Microsoft Office has been the software of choice for businesses and home users around the world. Getting to grips with the software can prove tricky for some, but with the correct Microsoft Office training courses you will soon become proficient.

Whether you are looking for managing your accounts with a spreadsheet, typing letters using a word processor or even simply to send email to contacts, you will find Microsoft Office highly beneficial to you. Within the office suite there are a number of useful applications which will increase your productivity and take your career forward. I’ll now describe the applications available in MS Office.

Word – This is a word processing package which can be used to create letters and documents. Newer versions are so powerful that you can use it to handle certain publishing tasks.

Excel – This is a spreadsheet program that is used for manipulating and analysing numerical information. You may apply functions such as averaging and summing to the data. Charting and forecasting are available within the package. Newer versions use a feature called sparklines which enable you to have mini graph lines within cells that represent trends in the data.

PowerPoint – You may want to present your ideas to a group of people in a meeting. This is where PowerPoint comes into play. You can present ideas via slides and add sound, text, music, animation and video.

Outlook – This is primarily an email package which has some powerful features. It is also a contact manager and enables you to schedule tasks, meetings and appointments. Outlook is used in billions of companies worldwide.

Access – This package allows you to create databases which hold large volumes of data. You create screen forms which are used to display and enter data. The information can be extracted by using something called queries to filter out data based on criteria. For instance, you may wish to know how many widgets were sold in Europe for the month of August. Management reports of the data can be easily created and printed also.

OneNote – This is like an electronic binder which you can use to jot down ideas. Add music, sound files, text, photos and video to your notes. You can even bring in other office components such as Excel spreadsheets and Word documents. OneNote can create handy journals or scrapbooks of your data, pulling it all into one place.

Having a good grounding using jargon free online Microsoft Office training courses will stand you in good stead in the business world. Home users and students will also find this software beneficial to their needs. In these tough economic times it is important to keep our computer skills up to date in order to stay ahead in the business world.