Efficiency Best Practices for Microsoft 365

Efficiency Best Practices for Microsoft 365

by Dr. Nitin Paranjape
Released December 2021
Publisher(s): Packt Publishing
ISBN: 9781801072267

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Book description

A practical guide to working with Microsoft 365 apps such as Office, Teams, Excel, and Power BI for automating tasks and managing projects effectively

Key Features

  • Learn how to save time while using M365 apps from Microsoft productivity expert Dr. Nitin Paranjape
  • Discover smarter ways to work with over 20 M365 apps to enhance your efficiency
  • Use Microsoft 365 tools to automate repetitive tasks without coding

Book Description

Efficiency Best Practices for Microsoft 365 covers the entire range of over 25 desktop and mobile applications on the Microsoft 365 platform. This book will provide simple, immediately usable, and authoritative guidance to help you save at least 20 minutes every day, advance in your career, and achieve business growth.

You'll start by covering components and tasks such as creating and storing files and then move on to data management and data analysis. As you progress through the chapters, you'll learn how to manage, monitor, and execute your tasks efficiently, focusing on creating a master task list, linking notes to meetings, and more. The book also guides you through handling projects involving many people and external contractors/agencies; you'll explore effective email communication, meeting management, and open collaboration across the organization. You'll also learn how to automate different repetitive tasks quickly and easily, even if you're not a programmer, transforming the way you import, clean, and analyze data.

By the end of this Microsoft 365 book, you'll have gained the skills you need to improve efficiency with the help of expert tips and techniques for using M365 apps.

What you will learn

  • Understand how different MS 365 tools, such as Office desktop, Teams, Power BI, Lists, and OneDrive, can increase work efficiency
  • Identify time-consuming processes and understand how to work through them more efficiently
  • Create professional documents quickly with minimal effort
  • Work across multiple teams, meetings, and projects without email overload
  • Automate mundane, repetitive, and time-consuming manual work
  • Manage work, delegation, execution, and project management

Who this book is for

If you use Microsoft 365, including MS Office 365, on a regular basis and want to learn about the features that can help improve your efficiency, this book is for you. You do not require any specialized knowledge to get started.

Table of contents

  1. Efficiency Best Practices for Microsoft 365
  2. Contributors
  3. About the author
  4. About the reviewers
  5. Preface
    1. Who this book is for
    2. What this book covers
    3. To get the most out of this book
    4. Download sample files and resources
    5. Download the color images
    6. Conventions used
    7. Get in touch
    8. Share Your Thoughts
  6. Section 1: Efficient Content Creation
  7. Chapter 1: Fortunately, You're Inefficient!
    1. Technical requirements
    2. What will you gain by reading this book?
    3. Evaluating your efficiency
      1. Fitting a table in a Word doc
      2. Editing formulas in Excel
      3. Using the Send to Back option in PowerPoint
    4. Inefficiency audit – how to find your own inefficiency
      1. Useless repetition
      2. Hands versus brain
      3. Who is helping whom?
    5. Why are there 14,000+ features?
      1. Why do we use only a few features?
    6. How to learn (to find the best way)
      1. Observing the menus logically
      2. Local problem – right-clicking
      3. Global problems – top menu
      4. Other ways to learn while you work
    7. Discovering your needs behind solutions/features
    8. Moving from a vicious to a virtuous cycle
    9. Frequent questions answered
      1. Which apps/tools are we covering?
      2. How can you cover so many tools in one book?
      3. Is this a tips and tricks book?
      4. What will we not cover?
      5. Why are there so many apps? Do I need all of them?
      6. How to use this book
    10. Prerequisites
    11. Summary
  8. Chapter 2: Components of Work
    1. How is this book organized?
      1. Creating files and content
      2. Data management and analysis
      3. Storing and managing files
      4. Managing time and tasks
      5. Managing teamwork and meetings
      6. Automating repetitive tasks
      7. Putting it all together
      8. Maximizing efficiency across the organization
    2. Efficiency primer
      1. You are the boss
      2. Mouse cursor shape
      3. Using dialogs efficiently
      4. Using the taskbar
      5. Pinning apps to your taskbar
      6. Rearranging taskbar icons on demand
      7. Using System Tray icons
      8. When to use a single click versus a double-click
      9. Using the burger, waffle, and overflow menus
      10. Important keyboard shortcuts
      11. Creating custom toolbars
      12. How and when to use the Shift, Ctrl, and Alt keys
      13. Using Alt + Tab and Windows + Tab
      14. Options available in the Office Ribbon
      15. Using the File menu efficiently
      16. Pinning often used files and folders
      17. Getting familiar with the status bar
      18. Getting twenty-four clipboards
      19. Windows grouping
      20. Reading efficiently using Immersive Reader
      21. Using the Start menu to search
      22. The Everything app
    3. Summary
  9. Chapter 3: Creating Content for Effective Communication
    1. Technical requirement
    2. Professional documents with Word
      1. Objectives
      2. Styles – no more manual formatting
      3. Understanding sections
      4. Working with tables
      5. Your personal language coach
      6. More about Word
    3. Effective emails using Outlook
      1. Using color
      2. Quick Parts
      3. Using tables to simplify replies
      4. Email table of contents
      5. The Focused and Other folders
      6. Highlighting important emails automatically
    4. Taking notes using OneNote
      1. Why do you need OneNote?
      2. How to get OneNote
      3. Adding notebooks to OneNote
      4. Mobile to desktop sync
      5. Myth – a stylus/pen is a must to use OneNote
      6. Autosaving – no folders or filenames
      7. Linking notes to meetings
      8. Searching for text in scanned documents and photos
      9. OneNote calculator
    5. Flowcharts with Visio
    6. High-impact presentations with PowerPoint
      1. Design Ideas
      2. Design templates
      3. Stock images
      4. SmartArt
      5. Layouts
      6. Capturing screenshots
      7. Animation, transitions, and Morph
      8. Creating videos and GIFs
      9. Coach
    7. Creating an Office theme for your brand
    8. Efficient copy and pasting
      1. The "right" way to copy and paste
      2. Paste and link
      3. Moving paragraphs
      4. Converting any content into a picture
      5. Chart color changes after pasting
    9. Instant web pages using Sway
      1. Adding content
      2. Playing and testing
      3. Designing
      4. Publishing
      5. Creating a Sway page from Word
      6. Creating a Sway page from PowerPoint
    10. Summary
  10. Chapter 4: Intelligent Data Analysis
    1. Technical requirements
    2. Data analysis in three steps
    3. Clean data checklist
      1. How to use this checklist
      2. How to capture clean data
    4. Entering clean data using Lists
      1. Creating a new list
      2. Adding columns
      3. Sharing with people
      4. Setting security
      5. Data entry
      6. Creating views
      7. Connecting to Excel
      8. Creating reports from Lists data
      9. Automatic data entry from photos
    5. Importing and cleaning up using Power Query
      1. Crosstab data
      2. Data with blank cells
      3. Data in multiple CSV files
    6. Importance of Excel tables
    7. Data analysis
      1. Quick Analysis
      2. Analyzing data using AI
      3. How does Excel know which reports to show?
      4. Asking Excel a question
      5. Creating reports with PivotTables
      6. Show Values As
      7. Charts and PivotCharts
      8. Creating interactive reports using Power BI
    8. Which Excel functions to learn and how
      1. Shortlisting useful functions
      2. How to learn any Excel function
      3. Applying these functions to your files
    9. Surveys and polls
      1. Creating a survey
      2. Surveys
      3. Settings
      4. Adding questions
      5. Sharing the form
      6. Analysis
    10. Quizzes
      1. Creating quiz questions
      2. Scoring the quiz
      3. Automation after submission
      4. Inserting a quiz in training videos
    11. Summary
  11. Chapter 5: Managing Files Efficiently
    1. Why storing files on the local drive is inefficient
    2. Why sending attachments is bad
    3. OneDrive, Teams, and Stream
    4. Using OneDrive on Windows 10
      1. Do I have OneDrive?
      2. The latest version of OneDrive
      3. Synchronizing files to the local drive
      4. Storing new files on OneDrive
      5. Saving files on the local drive plus the cloud
      6. Automatic backup and restore
      7. Who can see my OneDrive files?
      8. OneDrive file icons
      9. Editing files when offline
      10. Deleting files
      11. Files available across devices
      12. OneDrive capacity
      13. Documents and Desktop folder redirection
    5. Benefits of storing files on OneDrive
      1. AutoSave – no more file corruption
      2. Auto-versions – 500 versions (base file size counted quota)
      3. Editing in the browser/on mobile
      4. Ransomware protection
    6. Sharing links from OneDrive
      1. Word, Excel, and PowerPoint sharing
      2. Understanding the Share dialog
      3. Allow editing
      4. Block download
      5. Adding email IDs
      6. Sending the link
      7. Sharing with external people
      8. Sharing large files – up to 250 GB
      9. How to stop sharing
      10. File Explorer, web, and mobile sharing
      11. Forwarded links will not work
      12. Share contextually with @mention in comments
      13. Editing together
      14. The latest version is always visible
      15. Why sending links is safer
      16. Non-Microsoft files
      17. Who edited what?
      18. Files shared with me
    7. OneDrive benefits summary
    8. Summary
  12. Section 2: Efficient Collaboration
  13. Chapter 6: Time and Task Management
    1. Growth mindset
    2. Universal inefficiency
    3. Step 1 – creating a master task list
      1. Adding tasks
      2. Handling delegation
      3. Converting emails into tasks
      4. Categorizing tasks
      5. Tasks on mobile – the To Do app
      6. Converting emails into tasks on mobile
    4. Step 2 – finding time to execute tasks
    5. Monitoring work
    6. Monitoring delegated work
    7. Action points in meeting notes
    8. Daily Briefing emails
    9. Viva Insights
    10. Managing contacts (people)
      1. Outlook profile cards
      2. Organization chart
      3. Creating contacts from email
      4. Outlook contacts on mobile
      5. Syncing Outlook contacts with your phone
      6. Importing contacts into Outlook
      7. Sending emails to multiple contacts
    11. Online service booking
    12. Managing shifts
    13. Summary
  14. Chapter 7: Efficient Teamwork and Meetings
    1. Managing simple teamwork
      1. Activity breakdown
      2. Teams for collaboration
      3. Teams menus
      4. Teams chat
      5. Teams chat files
    2. Managing multiple related tasks
      1. Problem – Email Overload
      2. Solution – Use Teams
      3. How to create a Team
      4. When to create a Team in Teams
      5. Adding Team members
      6. Channel the teamwork
      7. Working inside channels
      8. Pinning important channels
      9. Sharing an email to Teams
      10. Channel email ID
      11. Conversations versus chat
      12. Files in Teams
      13. Shared task list
      14. My work across projects
      15. Viewing tasks on mobile
    3. Efficient Teams meetings
      1. Teams meetings have a long life
      2. Organizing a Teams meeting
      3. Presenting in a Teams meeting
      4. How to control notifications
      5. How often should you check Teams?
    4. Engaging with all employees
      1. Centralized sharing with SharePoint
      2. Open collaboration using Yammer
    5. Summary
  15. Section 3: Integration
  16. Chapter 8: Automating Work without Programming
    1. Understanding macros
    2. Understanding Inbox rules in Outlook
    3. PA – Automation without programming
      1. Trigger actions across apps
      2. First automation
      3. Learning from templates
      4. Exploring all connectors
      5. Types of automation
      6. Approvals
      7. Premium connectors
      8. How to learn and apply PA
    4. Power Apps – apps without programming
      1. Creating apps without programming
      2. Creating an app from a list
      3. Exploring UI options
      4. Using AI in Power Apps
      5. Creating apps inside Teams
      6. Actions in Power Apps
    5. Summary
  17. Chapter 9: Putting It All Together
    1. Technical requirement
    2. Microsoft 365 best practices
      1. Word
      2. Lists
      3. Excel
      4. Power BI
      5. Visio
      6. PowerPoint
      7. Office
      8. OneNote
      9. Sway
      10. Forms
      11. OneDrive for Business
      12. SharePoint
      13. Stream
      14. Outlook
      15. Viva Insights
      16. Delve
      17. To Do
      18. Shifts
      19. Bookings
      20. Teams
      21. Planner
      22. Whiteboard
      23. Yammer
      24. Power Automate
      25. Power Apps
    3. Needs to solutions library
    4. Efficient execution and collaboration
      1. My work and delegated work
      2. Need input from someone?
      3. Need input about or inside a file?
      4. Meetings – before, during, and after
      5. Teamwork with a common goal
      6. Opening collaboration across the organization
      7. Knowledge/files repository
      8. Complex projects with linked tasks
    5. Integration across the apps
      1. Embedding an app inside a Sway web page
      2. Creating interactive dashboards/reports from data
      3. Converting action points in meeting notes to tasks
      4. Linking notes to meetings
      5. Sending emails from data (Mail Merge)
      6. Managing my work and project-related work
      7. Creating an app from data
      8. Automating work across apps
      9. Creating a document from a presentation
      10. Creating a web page from a presentation
      11. Adding any app to manage teamwork
      12. Converting a document into a presentation
      13. Converting a Word document into a web page
      14. Updating data in a file based upon data in another file
    6. Summary
  18. Chapter 10: Maximizing Efficiency across the Organization
    1. Why is the adoption of Microsoft 365 poor?
    2. Benefits of effective adoption
    3. Who will do it? The bosses!
    4. Educate everyone. I repeat – everyone
    5. Standardization with best practices
      1. Best practices format
      2. Best practices examples
    6. Efficiency champions
      1. How to identify champions
      2. The process
    7. Notes for IT
      1. Don'ts
      2. Dos
    8. Summary
    9. Sample files and additional content
    10. Your feedback matters
    11. Why subscribe?
  19. Other Books You May Enjoy
    1. Packt is searching for authors like you

Product information

  • Title: Efficiency Best Practices for Microsoft 365
  • Author(s): Dr. Nitin Paranjape
  • Release date: December 2021
  • Publisher(s): Packt Publishing
  • ISBN: 9781801072267