“Wow, I can do that?” Ever find yourself saying this when somebody shows you a little-known feature on your computer? Even some of the most frequent computer users find themselves surprised when they learn about a capability one of their programs has that they weren’t even aware of. And if you use the Microsoft 365 suite of office software, there may be a few features that will come in handy when you’re trying to get the job done and run your business.
Here are five of our favorite things you can do with Microsoft 365 that you might not know about:
1) Sync up all of your applications across any computer
Okay, so maybe you already know about this one. In fact, if you’ve been using Microsoft for years, you probably already do know about this one. But we’re bringing it up to emphasize what a difference it makes when you’re trying to be efficient in your business practices, especially if you have multiple people working on the same project or if you tend to work in different places throughout the day.
The way syncing works, in short, is that any document you create (whether it’s a Word document, Excel spreadsheet, PowerPoint presentation, and so forth) gets synced up to any device that’s logged into your Microsoft 365 account. Therefore, you don’t need to worry about saving anything to a flash drive if you want to take your work with you. You can simply shut down your computer at work, go home to take care of family stuff, and get back to work on your home computer later that evening. Headed out on the road? Take your laptop or tablet and pull up the docs you need when you’re working at a coffee shop.
This also means you don’t have to worry about losing access to your documents if you’re unable to get to the office for some reason. The next time a huge blizzard sweeps through town unexpectedly, you’re able to carry on work from your home office without missing a beat.
2) Focus your Outlook Inbox
Ever feel as if your email inbox is just a mess that you’ll never be able to conquer? We all feel that way from time to time. And then we’re faced with the inevitable nightmare of overlooking an important email from a client.
This is why the Focused Inbox feature in Microsoft Outlook is such a big deal. When you implement this feature, your Outlook Inbox is suddenly sorted based on how important the content is or how frequently you interact with the sender. So if it’s somebody you are emailing on a regular basis, you can let your inbox know to give that sender’s email higher priority. On the flip side, if there’s certain email content you’re worried about overlooking (maybe anything that says “payment due soon”) you can let your inbox know to prioritize that as well.
Focused Inbox is a great way of ensuring you don’t overlook the important stuff, even when you’re bombarded with endless messages every day.
3) Feel extra smart by using Smart Lookup in Microsoft Word
Ever find yourself typing something up and you’re second-guessing yourself about something important. Whether it’s a word you need the definition for, a date you need to confirm, or a person you need background info on, this is necessary information. And the Smart Lookup feature in Microsoft Word makes it so easy to simply right-click that word in your document and pull up an internet search on it. You get images, web searches, and even a straightforward definition right there in a tab within Microsoft Word—there’s no need to even open up an internet browser.
4. Record and transcribe meetings with Microsoft Teams
We all love the feeling of a productive, collaborative meeting, but what happens if you have a colleague who can’t make it or you want to make sure you have a record of everything you discussed? That’s where the recording and transcription feature of Microsoft Teams comes into play. Now, maybe the ability to create a video recording of your virtual meeting isn’t that big a deal—after all, most video conference apps give you this ability. But what sets Microsoft Teams apart is that it can also produce a transcription of everything said in your meeting. That way, if watching a video of the meeting isn’t convenient, you can go back and read through it.
5) Use Microsoft To-Do to manage everything you need to get done throughout the day
Ever have trouble managing your list of everything you want to accomplish that day or that week? Go ahead and make use of Microsoft To-Do, the app that syncs up with your other 365 software programs to let you schedule tasks, manage projects, and prioritize everything. It’s like having your own personal secretary right there on your device.
Technology is a huge asset to your business. Are you making the most of it? Allow our team at Gryphon Consulting to provide guidance. Give us a call today at 410-789-1029.
