Spreadsheets and word processors have been staple software applications since the earliest days of the personal computer in business settings. Adding presentation software, database developers, email, scheduling and more, Microsoft Office became the first prominent productivity suite, and it remains the standard for business use around the world.
The keys to the success of Microsoft Office are the adaptability and flexibility of its three main applications, Word, Excel and PowerPoint. A word processor, spreadsheet and presentation package respectively, these apps fulfill the daily demands of many work environments. Consider two typical small business situations: a silk screening enterprise and a cleaning service. There are some obvious – and not so obvious – uses for the Big Three in the Microsoft Office package for each of these companies.
There are some standard ways in which Office programs serve the needs of any business. A silk screening shop occasionally needs to generate business correspondence, but it’s not a daily demand. Microsoft Word doesn’t discriminate. It’s a powerful word processor that works well for a business that generates hundreds of documents a week, and it’s easy to use for a small business with only occasional need of professionally formatted correspondence.
Excel is an intuitive way to store and retrieve data. Though it’s not a high-powered relational database, it’s far more intuitive for novice users. The silk screeners keep track of design files in a simple spreadsheet that started as a list. Each file has a number, name, description and hyperlink to the image files needed to create a new product. The screeners know common designs by number, and they can search the Excel spread sheet to find more obscure patterns they’ve stored.
PowerPoint lets the silk screening shop create workflow postings. Since they often use temporary workers to handle periods of high order volumes, their PowerPoint workflow plan gets printed, laminated and mounted at each station. PowerPoint’s ability to combine words and images makes it ideally suited for these workflow guidelines, custom made, featuring the equipment and tools used by the silk screening shop. Office also features Publisher, which has similar capabilities, and many still use Word in a similar capacity. With several options to perform similar functions, Office lets you choose the environment in which you’re most comfortable.
The cleaning service also uses Word for business correspondence, but primarily it’s a document management system for the company. The service has a number of standard form contracts for clients, employees and subcontractors. The office manager can quickly recall these, enter the necessary information, such as client name, services for delivery and dates. Then the form is saved and printed for signatures. There’s no need to start a contract from scratch each time.
With several work crews out in the field and a constantly evolving workload, using Excel to manage employee hours is convenient and fast. The office manager takes data provided from the team leaders on a daily basis and enters hours worked by every staff member. At the end of the week, every employee’s work hours are visible at a glance, since formulas in the Excel spreadsheet automatically do the math. Clients of the company are also collected in a data spreadsheet which can be merged with Word forms to create letters advertising spring cleaning specials and other promotions, a demonstration of the way that Office applications can integrate.
The owner of the cleaning service is also the principal salesperson. A short PowerPoint presentation serves as a calling card to new clients, whether presented in person on a laptop or tablet, or as a video email attachment. PowerPoint does double-duty when it comes to hazardous chemical training for employees. Each employee can view the PowerPoint slides when it’s convenient for them. There’s no need to assemble the entire staff to present this information.
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Writer Bio
With degrees in Photography and Recorded Music Production, Scott spent over 20 years as an Operations Manager with Kodak before starting a second career as a freelance content creator specializing in business, accounting and tax topics. Periodicals include FIVE Magazine and Your Business for the Your Magazines Canada group and online clients include TurboTax, Office Depot, Hyundai USA and VISA. www.shpak60.ca
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