Infero Training – Business and Technical Courses

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.

In the “Putting the ‘Wow’ into PowerPoint Presentations – Part One – Readability” article we talked about how to make presentations readable. Here we learn how to make presentations more visually appealing.

PowerPoint – it’s one of the most commonly used presentation packages out there. That’s no surprise considering how easy it is to use. But you’d be surprised how many people aren’t making the most of this powerful software. Are you one of them?

Out of the 1 million PowerPoint presentations given every single day, many fail to make the most of images to create a great impression. A well-chosen image can grab our attention much more than lots of confusing words.

Here are some secrets for more attention grabbing PowerPoint presentations:

Picture this

You want your presentation to interest and inspire your audience. Using pictures or photos alongside your text will help people understand your message. And an unusual or amusing image could help keep your presentation in mind long after it’s over!

Aside from using images to make a point, don’t forget to use repeated background images to establish continuity between slides.

Get animated

Diagrams can be difficult to digest all at once. It’s often much more effective to present diagrams by revealing them one step at a time – rather than the whole thing in one go. For example, you could have a pyramid diagram revealing itself section by section from the bottom up.

There are lots of animation effects to choose from. They can help you control the flow of information, highlight key points and of course, keep your audience interested!

Double vision

So you’ve chosen the best images and pictures for your presentation, but how do you know they will win over your audience? It’s time to get someone you trust to take a look and see whether your images really do bring your talk to life.

Send your presentation over to a colleague or friend for review using Microsoft Outlook. Then your reviewer can view the presentation in the comfort of their own home or office and suggest changes to their copy of the presentation without having the chore of marking up hard copies. Once they’ve sent it back to you, you can add their comments using the PowerPoint reviewing tools.

Keep these simple rules in mind and you’ll soon be creating great looking presentations. A short PowerPoint training course could help you get even more out of PowerPoint and many other Microsoft packages.

Timing, teams and resources – a project is a complex mix of these aspects in any setting. That’s why it takes the right tools to manage projects effectively. Microsoft Office Project Standard 2007 is a powerful resource for more successful projects. It puts you in control of the workload, the finances and the people. And it’s designed to work seamlessly with other Microsoft programmes. Now it’s been updated, Microsoft Office Project is even more equipped for getting projects done – from the first task to the final outcome.

Advantages for your projects include:

See the impact of change

Now you can see every potential consequence of change – before you make it. Change Highlights automatically points out all the items that move as a result of the most recent change you make.

Add eyecatching highlights 

Make your information stand out even more by changing the background colour of a cell or row with Background Cell Highlighting.

Get right to the source of the issue

Now it takes less time to work out what’s affecting your task dates. Whether it’s schedule date or holiday time, Task Drivers help you understand what’s behind the start date of a task. Any delays and you can track back and work out exactly what’s holding things up!

Look ahead for your project

Ever wished you could see into the future? Well, you almost can with Multiple Level Undo. It allows you to view the implication of every possible change to your project. Just by undoing and redoing changes to views, data, and options.

Stay in control of your money

We all want more control over our finances right now. With the budget field, you can easily assign budgets to projects and programmes. The new “Cost” resource type gives you a strong grip on your cost estimation and tracking. Other advantages include more predefined fields that map to financial fields in project accounting systems!

Create customised charts and diagrams

Get your point across with impact. With the Visual Reports feature you can create customised PivotTable views, charts, graphs, and diagrams based on Project information. This smart feature uses Microsoft Office Excel and Microsoft Office Visio Professional to produce powerful visual information. You can also create your own customised report templates and share these with other Project users.

That’s a lot of advantages for better business or personal project management! And now you know the difference Microsoft Office Project Standard 2007 can make, why not boost the power of your projects with a short Microsoft Project 2007 training course?

We all know success in business can depend on completing projects on time and on budget. But how can you power up your projects using just one IT resource?

As a seriously powerful piece of software, Microsoft Project can be a little daunting for the first time user. But don’t let that put you off. A short Microsoft Project course  will give you the knowledge you need to manage all kinds of projects much more effectively.

It can be tempting to get launched into a new project without taking a good look at all the individual jobs it involves. It can also be far too easy to set down unrealistic timescales. So, before you begin – pause, take a deep breath and start planning.

Let’s go back to basics and talk about defining your tasks. Every project, from developing a new publication to moving offices, breaks down into individual tasks assigned to individual people. Do this clearly and you’ll ensure Microsoft Project works well for the lifetime of your project. Avoid the issue and you’ll find it difficult to stay in control.

Your new best friend – Work Breakdown Structure

If you’re new to project management, the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) might look like just a handy project outline. But it’s actually a great deal more than that.

Wikipedia defines the WBS as “a tree-like structure that permits summing of subordinate costs for tasks, materials, etc., into their successively higher level “parent” tasks, materials, etc. For each element of the work breakdown structure, a description of the task to be performed is generated.”

WBS actually helps you to break down your project into manageable chunks. So you can think in hours – not weeks.

A common mistake for new project planners is set tasks that are much too broad, like “Write content – 3 months”. A vague and oversized goal like that is not likely to get done on time. Plus, with no thought given to the individual steps behind the task, it’s very likely that several steps will be forgotten. This is where WBS makes all the difference.

Large, generalised tasks are difficult to track. When the write content task runs late, the manager will likely have no idea what the problem is, what can be done to speed things up, or when the real finish date is going to be.

The alternative? With WBS you can break down each task into small steps measured in hours – no more than 16 hours or two business days each. This will get you thinking about what’s really involved in that particular project. Then you’ll create a much more realistic estimate of how long the project will really take.

For project managers, WBS is a vital tool for making sure that the project plan contains all the tasks that need to be done and ONLY the tasks that need to be done. Think of your WBS as your map and chapter-by-chapter guidebook to getting your project done on target and on budget!

The skills to stay ahead

You’ll see by now that MS Project is an invaluable resource for business and one worth getting to know and understand over time.

A great start to learning how it can help you is by taking a short course. With the right techniques and knowledge, you’ll power up all your projects!

You can find out more about  Microsoft Project courses here.

Did you know that around 1 million PowerPoint presentations are given every single day? Unfortunately, many of these feature classic readability errors such as using bullet points with white text on a dark background, text that’s far too small to read and other errors! What do we mean by readability? We’re talking about presentations which are attractive, simple to follow and easy on the eye. So how can you make sure your own audience is sitting on the edge of its seat – not falling asleep?

Keep colours simple

A dark background provides a much more relaxing background for your audience – and helps them focus on the content. If you do choose a lighter colour, don’t go for white. It’s far too bright and can even become painful to look at.

Go for a font colour that strongly contrasts with the background colour. Don’t rely on the way the text looks on your computer screen. Instead project the image to check your audience will be able to see it.

Another tip is not to use red text on a green background or vice versa as these combinations don’t work for people with colour blindness.

Audience-friendly fonts

Don’t get too fancy with your fonts. Keep them simple and straightforward. For starters, your font size should be big enough so that it can read by people at the back of the room. Are you giving your presentation in an office, a hall or lecture theatre?  Keep the presentation space in mind when planning your talk. In general you should use 38 to 48 point type for titles and 24 to 32 point type for bullet points.

Put formatting first

Make your slides consistent with the same size style and font, and with text positioned in the same place on all your slides. This means you’ll get more of a ‘wow’ factor when you do change the font type, size or position for a particular slide.

You’re not obliged to fill every inch of each slide! If you do have so much text on your slide that you need to use small text, try to use a serif font like Times New Roman. Those clever little serifs (the bits that stick out on each letter) will help your audience to read and understand small text.

Don’t let your text come into the slide from the left. It’s distracting for Western audiences who are used to reading from left to right. Bringing your text in from the right or fading in words from the left will make your presentation much easier to follow.

Keep it consistent

Be kind to your audience – use the same font style and size throughout your presentations. Try to avoid using italicized type and lines in all capital letters, as they’re difficult to read.

So now you know some of the secrets behind giving great PowerPoint presentations. Interested in learning more? Find out how a short PowerPoint or Effective Presentations training courses could help you get even more out of electronic presentations.

In todays world, blogging has become a big part of the way we share our experiences. A blog (short for weblog) gives individuals the power to publish anything they want to say to the world. The incredible simplicity of blogging is one of the things that makes blogging so popular. You don’t have to know anything about HTML or how to link from one page to another – only create a page within the software provided and upload it to a Web server.

In the 2007 Microsoft Office system, Word has become that software. Now you can create blog posts from within Microsoft Office Word 2007 with a few simple clicks of the mouse. This article shows you how you can start blog posts with Office Word 2007.

Follow these steps to start a new blog post:

1. Start Word 2007.
2. Click the Microsoft Office Button, then select New.
3. In the New Document window, click New Blog Post.

The Blog Post window opens, and you will receive a popup dialog box asking you to register your blog account.

If you already have a blog account with one of the blogging service provides (such as Windows Live Spaces, Blogger, TypePad, WordPress or other), then select Register Now button and select the service to enter the information for that account as shown below.

If you do not then click Register Later and you are returned to the Blog Post window.

The Blog Post window includes two command tabs: Blog Post and Insert. Mainly you will be working with the Blog Post tab, where you have tools for working with your blog, clipboard, entering basic text, applying styles, and proofing your entry. The Insert tab is available only if your blogging service enables you to include photos.

The work in the Blog Post is based on WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) technology, in which content displayed during editing appears very similar to the final output. It is the same as creating any other document—you click and type your text as you want it to appear.

Good luck in writing your first article!

Microsoft Excel – it’s just spreadsheets and formulas, right? Wrong – there’s much more to this super-smart Microsoft programme. With the right training you could get to know Microsoft Excel’s best-kept secret and be well on your way to making the most of your business information.

You may already know that Microsoft Excel is a spreadsheet application that allows you to perform anything from basic mathematical computations to tasks involving massive amounts of data. But did you also realise that a training course could give you the tricks, tools and tips to really power up your business information? You’ll soon be able to create highly interactive spreadsheets that update as and when you add information – without having to become an expert in computer programming!

They may sound rather serious, but Excel Formulas and Functions can seriously liven up your business information. It’s time to think big. Very big. You can work with huge amounts of data, because Office Excel 2007 supports spreadsheets of up to 1 million rows by 16,000 columns! It’s better as well as bigger – Office Excel 2007 allows even faster calculation of formula-intense spreadsheets.

Imagine having to manually perform calculations on a worksheet that contains huge volumes of data. It’s dull, time consuming – with plenty of scope for human error. Cut out the complex manual calculations and use Formulas and Functions to quickly perform calculations on large data sets. Fast, efficient and free of headaches!

Monthly profits…business budgets…sales figures – whatever information you need to manage, you’ll find Excel is flexible enough to adapt.  Excel offers 10 choices of functions – from nice and simple like Summary to more complex functions like calculating financial data. You can even calculate data across different spreadsheets by using the Summary option and Three-Dimensional Cell reference! With training you’ll soon have the skills to create charts, graphs and other visuals based on all kinds of business data, whatever sector you work in.

Excel also allows you to see into the future!  Well, not quite – but it can help you plan ahead for different business scenarios. You can use its Logical functions to perform what-if analysis, for example to calculate a bonus for an employee if a sales target is met. There are also clever features like Date and Time Function for performing calculations on dates and Text functions to easily manipulate the look of your text.

Getting trained in Excel’s many smart features will give the skills to power up your data. Getting better control of your information is great for business. And that’s no secret.

It happens at the worst possible time. You are just about to finish that big project and something goes horribly wrong. Relax – whether there is a worrying error message or you just can not work out how to complete a task, there are sources of support online on all things MS Office.

Your first step – F1

F1 is a great start for all kinds of annoying software problems. All software applications are supported with help information. And it’s usually available for you to use just with one click of the F1 key or the help menu. Then simply browse the file to find your answer – or type a phrase into the search window to get instant answers.

Help files are very useful for basic or even advanced functionality. But they’re not so helpful when you’re trying to resolve a specific problem or if you’re not sure about the specifics of the software you’re using.

Get the knowledge

Most software manufacturers provide a wide range of information through online knowledge bases. These resources take the help file one step further. You can often find out what’s behind a strange error message by copying and pasting it straight into a knowledge base.

Find an official support forum

What’s a great source of up-to-date information? People of course – and you can access their experience and knowledge online through official support forums. The downside is that there just aren’t that many official support forums offered by software companies. The ones that do exist are often packed full of users, so you may not get the answer you need exactly when you need it.

Try an unofficial user group support forum

The lack of official support forums has led to the growth of many user groups with their own support forums. Visit them for access to experienced users who can provide up-to-date information on resolving your query. They’re independent so there’s no guarantee that your question will be answered quickly – or even at all. Nor is there any certainty that a particular forum will have the contacts you need.

Ask the expert

Who has access to the most up-to-date information on MS Office? Your training centre. Whether it offers a User Support Forum or one-to-one support on all kinds of issues, your Microsoft trainer is a great source of support. You can often get your question answered on a Microsoft product, usually within just a few hours.

There’s no time consuming browsing or stressful working through reams of online information. Just a certified expert with all the right information to help you solve your problem.

And do not forget! If you came to one of our courses you have the right to ask relevant questions for a month since you’ve trained with us!

In business, information is everything. But what are the best ways to manage it, communicate it and keep it safe? Simple. From sensitive documents to online marketing, these five smart features in Word 2007 will put you in better control of all kinds of business information.

1) Build documents easily

Do you get fed up of repeatedly typing out the same phrases or content in different documents? In just a few clicks, Office Word 2007’s Building Blocks feature allows you to pull documents together from frequently used content or a predefined gallery – everything from disclaimer text and pull quotes to sidebars, cover pages, and other types of content. You can even create your very own Building Blocks for your business to easily add custom content such as legal disclaimers. No more time wasted on recreating content or copying and pasting between documents! This handy feature also helps you keep all your business documents looking consistent and professional.

2) Share documents effortlessly

Want to share project information with colleagues? Office Word allows you to do this without the need for specialist software. You can convert your Word documents to Portable Document Format (PDF) or XML Paper Specification (XPS) format to help you reach out to your contacts – whatever platform they’re on.

All you need to do is install a simple add-in and then save the document as a PDF or XPS file from 2007 Microsoft Office.

3) Be a brilliant blogger

Blogging is fast becoming an essential part of online business marketing. Communicate easily with your customers on the net by composing and publishing your blog from within Office Word 2007 to many different blog services, including Office SharePoint Server 2007, MSN Spaces, Blogger, Typepad and Community Server. You can configure Office Word 2007 to link directly to your blog site – and use the rich Word experience to create blogs with images, tables, and advanced text formatting features.

4) Keep sensitive information safe

Preparing business documents often involves sensitive information such as comments on edited text and personally identifiable data. It is vital that this is kept safe. Office Word’s Document Inspector allows you to check every document you produce and send out for potentially sensitive information. Whether it’s unwanted comments or hidden text, this feature will ensure sensitive information doesn’t escape when your documents are published.

5) Keep track of document changes

Keeping up with changes to a document in development can be confusing. But Office Word 2007 makes it easy to stay up to date. Its great new tri-pane review panel helps you see both versions of a document with deleted, inserted, and moved text clearly marked.

Microsoft Access isn’t only a big plus for business – you can put it to all sorts of great uses in your personal life, too. With the right Microsoft Access training this database software can help you take control of information on everything from your finances to your favourite pastimes. It’s so versatile that you can create the database you want from scratch or make use of existing templates.

Never forget another birthday again!

It’s true – Microsoft Access can help you remember every important date. Its personal address book feature allows you to create a database with useful information about your nearest and dearest. It provides an individual record for each one of your contacts which includes name, address, telephone number, email and other details including birthdays, anniversaries and upcoming social events. Want to plan ahead?  You can even use Access to generate reports of birthdays or other special events for a particular month.

Keep track of your home contents

You might not want to think about it, but it’s important to be prepared for the worst. If you were burgled would you have the information you need to give to your insurers? With Microsoft Access training you could learn how to use Access to create a database or inventory for insurance purposes. This will allow you to keep key information together – manufacturer, model, purchase price and more. You can even create reports to list your home contents in order of value.

Get a taste for a database

Keen to keep up with a healthy eating plan? Try adding a nutritional database into your daily routine. Used properly it can help you to keep track of your weight, calorie intake, exercise regime – and even record your favourite recipes.

Keep tabs on your collections

Got a hobby? Whether you collect antiques or AC/DC records, Access allows you to keep track of all the vital information on your prized possessions.

Stay on top of your finances

Staying in control of your personal finances is more important than ever these days. But it’s not always easy to keep track of your spending. Why not use Access to create a database and keep a closer eye on your personal account transactions? You could also create regular reports to see exactly what’s going in and out of your account at particular times.