Infero Training – Business and Technical Courses

Every industry has its myths and misconceptions. And one of those is the problem that many IT professionals have with Access. Access is sometimes seen as one of the trickiest Microsoft Windows applications. Yet with the right know-how and training, it can be an asset for all kinds of organisations.

So why do IT professionals react against the idea of Access as a possible database solution?

Reason 1: It grows

Access is frequently used for everyday work activities – even when a larger, more powerful system is available. Sometimes a relatively small-scale Access database outgrows its original purpose to become central to an organisation. The challenge at this stage for IT professionals is to put a lot of work into revamping or upgrading the Access database. This is where some of them get grumpy. They want to know why the system wasn’t developed with a more sophisticated platform from the start. But unless you’re good at reading tea leaves, it’s not easy to look into the future and see how important an Access database is going to become for a company. The secret at this stage is to adapt the database to suit the changing needs of the business.

Reason 2: It needs support

The average Access database isn’t created by an IT professional. It’s set up by anyone from an office administrator to a sales manager. Any person who needs to store, manage and analyse information, basically. Which means it’s often not seen by an IT professional until there’s a problem. The glitch might be due to too much information, lack of training or the need for a new feature. The IT person might be called on, but not want to help because of the complexity of sorting it out. This is why in some companies, IT departments have banned the use of Access. But this is missing the point. The best approach is to assess how Access could work as an asset for an organisation.

Reason 3: It’s not professional

IT professionals can be tough critics. Some of them see Access as a toy instead of a real database and won’t use it. This could be something to do with the fact that a lot of Access developers are from a non-programming background. Unfairly, this prevents IT professionals from recognising the potential of Access. Perhaps they’re a little bit jealous. After all, Access is the most popular desktop database on the market.

Reason 4: It’s too easy

What’s wrong with something being easy to use? A lot, according to some people. Believe it or nor, there are IT professionals out there who won’t use Access precisely because it’s too simple to use. Daft, isn’t it? That’s exactly why clever people use it. It’s flexible, fast and it can help resolve a range of issues.

Reason 5: It’s not strategic

Access is so versatile it’s often the basis for a database used by just a few people. This type of database usually has one clear purpose and gets on with the job. In contrast, at enterprise level, an organisation will use highly complex, powerful and expensive to develop databases to drive its needs. Some IT professionals have a problem with organisations that don’t use these powerful databases at all levels. But why apply one answer to a whole range of different issues? After all, a flexible approach can help an organisation get the best out of IT, at every level.

You can choose from a wide selection of slide design templates to create a background for your PowerPoint presentation. But sometimes you may want something more unique, which matches the content of the presentation more directly. In these cases, create your own background in PowerPoint. Follow these steps to add a photo or a clip art as a background in PowerPoint.

1. From the Ribbon, select the Design tab.
2. In the Background section, click on the Background button in the right corner. This will open the Format Background dialog box.
3. Select Picture or texture fill and from the Insert from section, click on File or Clip Art to choose the photo or clip art you want to use as a background. If the object is small, PowerPoint will stretch it to cover the whole slide. However, this can deform the graphic object.
4. If the graphic object is small, you can tile it. This means that the picture or clip art object will be placed repeatedly across the slide in rows. To do that, check the Tile picture as texture box.
5. If you don’t want to stretch or tile the picture or clip art, you can offset it from the edges of the slide. Simply, edit the text boxes for the percentage of Offset you want from each edge of the slide. As best practice – use the same number to offset for all four sides of the slides to keep the proportion ratio of the picture.
6. If you use a picture or clip art as a background it is the best practice to keep it faded or transparent. To make it transparent, in Transparency use the transparent slider or type in a transparency percentage.
7. Click on the Close or Apply to All buttons to apply a background to an individual slide or to all slides in the presentation. If you are not happy with changes you can always click on Reset Background button.

Microsoft Word can’t do the hoovering – or make you a nice cup of tea. But it can put you in more control at home. Word checklists are ideal for helping you manage all kinds of activities in your very own castle. Who would have guessed that some simple Microsoft Word training could give you so much extra organisational oomph?

To do – stop using scraps of paper

Do you have scraps of paper with ‘to do’ tasks scribbled on them? Confusing isn’t it? And bits of paper have an uncanny knack of getting lost just when you need them. Keep it together with a Word activities checklist.

Keep track of the kids

Everyone knows that taking care of little ones requires extreme organisational resources. Even a trip to the local park can feel like an outing for an ‘A’ list celebrity. There are the bags, the toys, the clothes, the demanding dietary requirements….and that’s before you even get to the park! Why not create your own checklist to keep all those child-related chores on track?

Dream a little dream (and make it happen)

You know the saying – “What gets measured gets managed.” Create your very own dream checklist to state your goals and keep tabs on how close you are to them. Whether you’re working hard towards your ideal home or that perfect job, a checklist can help you clarify exactly what you want. And that should get you closer to your goal.

A gift for giving

Every year we know when those important birthdays are due, not to mention Christmas. But most of us still find ourselves rushing around the shops at the last minute to find the perfect present. How much would a present shopping checklist reduce your stress levels? You could even build in your time and budget for when the sales are on and grab the perfect present and a bargain at the same time!

Something for the book lovers

Still wondering where that favourite book went? Wish you could keep track of all the books you’d like to read in the future? Once you’ve got the knack by taking one of our Microsoft Word courses, you can create your very own Word checklist to keep track of your fiction, your non fiction and that new biography you’ve been wanting to read for ages….

There are so many other ways you can put Word checklists to good use. From preparing for big life changes like having a baby, to everyday essentials like keeping track of your bills. And all that gives you more time for a sit down and a nice cup of tea…

There are many ways you can enter the current date into an Access’s record.

First of all select or click in the Date/Time field. Then do one of the following:

1. Type the date or time

 

Or

 

2. Click the date picker, located to the right or left of the field. From the appearing calendar control click Today

  

Or

 

3. Select a day in the current month.

 

Or

 

4. Press simultaneously <CTRL> and <:> keys on a keyboard

Access will add the current date to the record.

It’s stronger than coffee, more powerful than any energy drink and more beneficial for your business than you could ever imagine. And it can help create a happier and more motivated workforce. Have you realised the power of praise in making the most of your team’s talents?

Employee motivation is a must for every business – especially in the current economic climate. You believe in what your business has to offer, but if your staff don’t, what’s it all worth? Research has revealed that staff perform better and achieve more with the timely application of genuine praise. Not just from managers but from colleagues, too.

We human beings need to feel valued. It’s what interests and involves us and gets us at our best. Yet it’s all too easy in the hurly-burly of daily life to overlook the valuable contribution that individual staff members make every day. But with the right kind of approach and motivation training, you could be on your way to boosting your team’s performance.

Don’t fake it

Keep your praise real and you’ll keep your people on board. Make your compliments genuine and honest. They’ll mean more to your team.

It’s the little things that count

You don’t have to deliver an elaborate compliment in flowery language. Just regular, thoughtful praise. A quick, but considered comment recognising someone’s hard work is all it takes. You don’t even need to use words. Friendly, appropriate gestures such as a pat on the back, a nod, or even a thumbs-up can do the trick too.

Don’t hold back

As a new manager or with a new employee you may think you need to be cautious with praise. But the sooner you start recognising your employees’ achievements, the sooner you’ll develop a rapport with them. They’ll associate you with feeling positive and that can only be good for your business!

Be creative

Try smart little ways of showing your staff how much you value them. Ask them what they think by saying things like: “I’d like to hear your view on this, Clare.” There are other ways to boost employee morale and business performance. You can recognise outstanding effort with simple, but meaningful gestures such as writing a note, sending an e-card, or giving a small present or even time off.

So now you know. Don’t ply your people with coffee to get the job done. Motivate them with recognition. After all, genuine praise is the ultimate energizer. Staff morale is a wonderful thing. It gets things done, it creates a better working environment and ultimately it helps keep your business healthier and happier.

Find out how to make the most of your workforce with our Motivating Your Employees training course. We can give you straightforward, no-obligation advice on your training options and tell you how to access training grants. Contact us now.

Suppose you have a big project plan with lots of tasks. You would only like to display incomplete tasks in a Gantt view. What should you do?

‘Filter’ is the answer to this question. Filter specifies which task or resource information should be displayed or highlighted in a view.

Select one of the following:

• Select Incomplete Tasks from the drop down menu in Filter on the Formatting Toolbar  

• Or, from the Menu, select Project\Filtered For: All Tasks\Incomplete Tasks

Only Incomplete Tasks will be displayed. If Incomplete Tasks are still displayed then follow these steps:

1. Navigate to View\More Views.
2. From the dialog box, select Gantt Chart and click Edit.
3. Uncheck the Highlight filter and click OK.

This will ensure that only Incomplete Tasks are displayed.

It can’t make a rabbit appear out of a hat or do crafty card tricks. But Microsoft Excel really can work wonders with your business inventory. Thanks to its (almost) magical powers, you’ll soon have all kinds of admin and management tasks covered. Yes, you know about Excel, you know it comes as standard with the Microsoft Office Suite and yes – you thought it was mostly for adding things up. But did you know that with Microsoft Excel training, you could be getting this supersmart software to boost the productivity and efficiency of your business?

Your magic wand

Work schedules, timesheets, stock levels, sales figures…have you ever wondered if there’s an easier way to keep tabs on them? On return from some targeted Microsoft Excel training you could be on your way to waving a magic wand over all of them! Excel lets you get truly inventive with your inventory. With MS Excel you can create and edit your very own spreadsheets for budget keeping, for inventory control and management, for creating customer contact lists, for staff attendance, and much more.

More power to you

Excel’s magic goes even further – putting you in charge of your inventory facts and figures. Its mathematical abilities can’t turn you into Carol Vorderman, but they will give you control over the most complex of calculations. Excel’s formulas are one of its most versatile features. Get the formula in place and it will allow you to keep control of everyday office figures right through to complex calculations for high-end business projections. The most magical thing, of course, is that once you’ve set up your formulas, Excel does all the work for you. The right kind of MS Excel training could put all this power at your fingertips.

Wizards on hand

Excel is packed full of clever little wizards to help you get all kinds of business tasks done. With just a short Microsoft Excel training course you could be on your way to managing many areas of your inventory – and your business – more efficiently. Excel allows you to create your very own database to suit your customer base, your stock and your schedules. One example is when a customer phones in and asks for a part number. You need to find out straight away if the product is available and in what quantity. With just a short MS Excel training course at intermediate level you‘d have the know how to use Hlookup and Vlookup functions and get the job done ASAP!

Excel makes your job easier to do and can even free up some of your time. Now that really is magic.

Bring some Excel magic to your business with an Infero training course at introductory, intermediate and advanced levels. As well as affordable IT and business training, we also offer helpful, no-obligation advice on your training options (and information about training grants of up to £1000)! Get in touch now.

Sometimes you may struggle with formatting and you do not understand why some text is deleted or a page break is entered in the wrong place. In order to help to rectify the problem you may want to display Formatting Marks. Select one of the following:

• On the Home tab, in the Paragraph section, click Show/Hide

• Or from keyboard press a combination of <Ctrl>, <Shift>, <8> keys simultaneously.

This will display tab characters, spaces, paragraph marks, hidden text etc. Clicking again on the Show/Hide icon or a combination of keys will hide the characters.

Projects – wouldn’t it be great to know how to turn them from a bit of a nightmare into a dream for your business? A project has the potential to boost a company in all kinds of ways. But with the extra demands on your staff and your workload, even a relatively small project can snowball into something slightly scary that falls behind schedule and goes over budget. Successful project management depends on a strong mix of tools, skills and attitude. Here we list the key ingredients to getting it right.

Get in Touch

Do you know what they know? Could you be missing out on valuable project management experience within your own business? For each new project ask around your company to find out who has relevant experience. You might be surprised. Find out who they are, then get ahead of the game by building on their experience with up-to-date training and support. You’ll then have your very own in-house project management experts!

Get Connected

Every project has the potential to affect your business – for better or for worse. So don’t keep it to yourself.  Make sure the rest of the company is invested in the process. That way you’ll be more likely to have people’s cooperation when you need it. It’s easy to stay caught up in the day-to-day running of a business without sharing the strategic leaps forward. Keep everyone informed and do it appropriately. Senior management may like to have regular updates or one-to-one meetings whilst front line staff may appreciate a brief weekly email.

Get the Right Tools for the Job

You wouldn’t paint a wall with a hairbrush. So why are you trying to achieve first class results for your project with tools unfit for the job? Every project is different, but each and every one can benefit from the smart, structured software that makes up Microsoft Project. This resource will actually do a lot of the ‘thinking’ for you. Let’s face it, managing a project is multi-tasking multiplied by 100! But MS project is designed to turn the process into a clear-cut sequence of tasks. Whether you want to track budgets, workflow or people, MS Project takes the pain out of project management. It can even help you spot a specific problem long before it starts becoming a barrier to project success! Taking a little time to get skilled in using the right software is very likely to save you time, money – and headaches – further down the line. So, sign up for an MS Project training.

Would you like to get prepared for better project management with a short, affordable Project Management training course? As well as IT and business training for individuals and companies, we also offer helpful, no-obligation advice on your training options (and information about training grants of up to £1000)! Contact us now.

Creating a chart in Microsoft Office Excel is a very simple process. Excel provides a variety of chart types that you can choose from. A chart can be embedded as a graphic object on a worksheet page, or it can appear on a dedicated chart sheet.

For most charts, such as Column and Bar charts, you can create the chart by plotting the data displayed as rows and columns. However, some chart types, such as Radar, Pie or Bubble charts, require specific data arrangement.

To create a chart:

1. Select the cells that contain the data you want to use for the chart.

 

2. On the Insert tab, in the Charts group, either:

• Click the chart type, and then click the chart subtype you want to use
• Or, to see all available chart types, click on the small arrow in the bottom right corner to display the Insert Chart dialog box. Then scroll through and select the one you want to use.

The chart will be placed on the worksheet as an embedded chart

Once the chart is created you can modify its structure by using Design, Layout and Format tabs within the Chart Tools toolbar.