welcome to microsoft outlook! outlook.pdf · i can navigate between different areas (from mailbox...

Microsoft Outlook: A Valuable Resource For Option 1 Employees

Welcome to Microsoft Outlook! Microsoft Outlook is used by Option 1 employees to communicate, to store valuable information, and to manage their time. Use its email functions to communicate with the rest of the team; use its calendar and task list functions to manage your time well, and use the notes and contacts functions to securely store valuable information.

Outlook does it all – maintains your contact information, keeps track of your calendar, manages your to do list, keeps your notes, and manages your email – all in one handy program!

In the next couple of hours, it will be our objective to do the following:

• Become acquainted with the general functions of Microsoft Outlook • Effectively use email functions (read, delete, organize, and send email messages) • Effectively use the calendar functions • Effectively use the task list functions • Effectively use the notes functions • Become familiar with the contacts functions

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Outlook Skills Assessment

Before AfterI know how to open Microsoft Outlook. I can navigate between different areas (from mailbox to calendar, from contacts to notes, etc.). I am familiar with the Outlook Today screen. I know how to view and access the “Public Folders”. I can open/read/delete emails. I can compose a new email and run spell check. I understand how to reply to or forward emails. I can create and use folders to organize my email. I can print within Outlook (emails, calendars, contacts, etc). I know how to “flag” an email for follow-up. I know how to accept/decline calendar appointments. I can schedule an appointment or meeting. I know how to change the calendar view. I can set recurring calendar appointments. I know how to create a task. I know how to mark tasks as complete or incomplete. I can assign a task to someone else. I can create a new note. I can update an existing note. I can delete a note.

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General Navigation To display the navigation pane, hit alt + F1 or select Navigation Pane from the View menu.

Navigation Pane

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Click on mailbox to show the Outlook Today screen. You can customize this screen by clicking on Customize Outlook Today in the upper right corner. Outlook Today: The Outlook Today page provides a preview of your day. By using Microsoft Outlook Today, you can see a summary of your appointments, a list of your tasks, and how many new e-mail messages you have.

Click on the various icons in the Navigation Pane to switch between individual functions.

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There is a lot of useful information that can be found in Public Folders. In fact, your department may use a calendar within these folders for something.

Helpful Tip: Take a few moments to explore Public Folders. Can you find the “Staff Meetings and Training” calendar?

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Email To read an email, click on it once to make it appear in the Display Pane. Or, you can double-click the email to open it completely in its own window.

Display Pane

To delete an email, you can click it once and hit the delete key. Or, you can double-click to open the email and then click on the delete (x) icon on the toolbar.

Delete Icon

Question: Where would you look to find a deleted email?

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To compose a new email, click on New. Then, type in your recipients, the subject line, and the message body.

Message Body

Subject Line

Recipients

Question: In the recipient fields, when is it appropriate to use to, cc, and/or bcc?

Helpful Tip: Never put a member’s confidential information (i.e. social security numbers, account numbers, balances, etc.) in an email that is leaving our immediate network. We can not guarantee confidentiality outside of our internal network. Once an email is sent to another network (i.e. aol, yahoo, gmail, etc), it could potentially become compromised.

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To run spell-check, select Spelling and Grammar from the tools menu after typing the message.

Shortcut: When you see directions like this next to a menu option, those are shortcuts. For example, a shortcut for running the spell-check is to hit the F7 button.

Helpful Tip: In Microsoft Outlook, there is often more than one way to do something (just like with other Microsoft products). For example, there are at least four ways to print am item: 1) select print from the file menu, 2) click on the printer icon, 3) hold down the control button and the P button, or 4) right-click on the item and select print from the menu that appears.

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To create a signature, go to the Tools menu and select Options. Then, open the Mail Format tab at the top of the dialogue box that appears and click on Signatures.

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Click on New. Enter a name for your signature and click next. Then, type your email signature exactly as you want it to appear and click finish.

Type your signature exactly as you want it to appear.

Type name of signature here.

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Helpful Tips: We are all representatives of Option 1 and it is important that we project a unified, professional image when we communicate with members and others. When e-mailing members, vendors or other individuals outside of Option 1, the below guidelines must be followed:

Background – Use standard white. Although Outlook offers customization tools, outgoing e-mail should not include colored backgrounds, patterned backgrounds or wallpapers. Message Font – Use a standard, professional font such as Arial, Times or Garamond. Trendy and cartoon fonts or fonts that mimic handwriting should not be used. Script fonts should also be avoided. Message text should be standard black. Signature Format – The format can change based on the needs of each individual department, but most signatures should follow this standard format: Format Example Name Dollar Dog Title Kids Club Mascot Option 1 Credit Union Option 1 Credit Union Phone w/ ext P: (616) 243-0125 x1207 Fax F: (616) 243-9970 e-mail [email protected] Do not include the Option 1 logo in your signature, as it can cause your e-mail to be blocked by filters. A logo is an image file and image files can cause various problems when included in e-mail. Your signature font should follow the same guidelines as “Message Font” above.

Question: Do you think these email appearance guidelines help to portray a professional image of the Credit Union? Why or why not?

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To turn your email signature on, open the Tools menu and select Options. Open the Mail Format tab. Then, select the signature from the appropriate drop-down boxes. Click OK.

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To reply to or forward an email, simply open the email, click on the appropriate icon, complete recipient fields as needed, type your message if desired and click send.

Question: Which folder would you look in to find a sent email?

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To create a folder, right-click in the folders portion of the Navigation Pane and select New Folder. Then, name the folder, select where to place the folder and click OK.

Helpful Tip: Use folders to store emails in an organized manner that will allow you to retrieve them easily when you need them.

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To sort emails, simply click on the Arranged By button at the top of your displayed inbox. Then choose the criteria that you want the emails arranged by.

Question: Which “arrange by” sort methods do you think would be most helpful?

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To print an email, select the email you want to print, open the File menu, select Print and click OK.

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To flag an email, open the email and click on the follow up flag icon. Fill in the appropriate fields and click OK.

Helpful Tip: Take a few moments to explore the various dropdown options. Flags serve many useful purposes.

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Calendar To accept or decline meetings, open the emailed invitation and choose the appropriate response of accept, tentatively accept, or decline. Once you have chosen the appropriate response, Outlook will ask if you would like to send a response to the meeting organizer. Select the desired option and click OK.

Helpful Tip: When accepting an invitation to a full staff meeting, always choose “don’t send a response”. Otherwise, the organizer’s inbox becomes inundated with responses.

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To change the view on your calendar, choose from the different options available at the top of your screen. Those views include today, day, work week, week and month.

To move to a different date, use the calendar on the left of your screen. The small arrows will move the calendar forward or backward. And, of course, the today view will automatically return you to today’s date on the calendar.

To print your calendar, open the file menu and select print. Select the print style you want and the date range. Then, click OK.

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To create a new appointment or meeting, click on new within your calendar. Fill in a subject, update the date and times, set the reminder, and add any additional information. Then, click on save and close.

Update the date and times by using the dropdown menus here (or click on all day event).

Fill in the subject. (This is the brief snapshot that appears at first-glance in your calendar.)

Set a reminder. (Simply check this box and select an option from the dropdown menu.)

Insert additional information here.

Helpful Tip: After creating an appointment, you should be able to see it in your calendar. You can view the full appointment details by double-clicking on it within your calendar.

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To set up a recurring appointment, follow the same procedures listed on the previous page and add one more step – click on recurrence, fill in the appropriate fields, and click OK.

Question: What types of appointments might be recurring ones?

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To invite others to participate in a meeting, set up the appointment by following the procedures on page 20, and then, click on invite attendees. This will open a to field. Fill in the to field just as you would on an email. Then, click on send.

To track responses or attendees’ availability, you must first open the meeting item found in your calendar. Open the scheduling tab to check on availability. Open the tracking tab to track responses.

Insert attendees here.

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To cancel an appointment/meeting, simply open the calendar item and click the delete icon. If other’s were invited to attend the meeting, Outlook will automatically ask you if you would like to send a cancellation notice to the attendees. Click OK.

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Tasks To create a new task, simply click on New. Fill in the subject and other fields as appropriate (such as due date, start date, priority, status, % complete, reminder, and additional details). Then, click on save and close. Your newly created task should appear in your task list.

The subject displays in your task list.

Use these features to track your progress on the task.

Type any additional information in this space.

Helpful Tip: Tasks offer many features to help you track your progress on projects. Open the details tab to show even more nifty tracking features.

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To assign a task to someone else, create it as usual then click on assign task. Assign the task by using the to field. Select additional options as desired, and click on send.

Assign task to someone else here.

Use these features to track the progress (if desired).

Helpful Tip: If someone assigns a task to you, you will receive an email asking you to accept or decline the task (similar to meeting invitations). Upon acceptance, the task will automatically be added to your task list.

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To mark a task as completed… this can be done a couple of different ways – 1) you can simply check it off from your task list, or 2) you can open the task, change the status to completed, and click on save and close.

Once you check a task as completed, it crosses the item off from your task list.

Uncompleted tasks will continue to display as usual on the task list until checked off.

Another way to mark a task as “completed” is to open the item and change the status. Then, click on save and close.

Helpful Tip: To mark a completed task as incomplete, simply uncheck the box on your task list. Or, open the item, change the status (from completed to a more appropriate status description), and click on save and close.

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Notes To create a note, click on new and type your notes into the box.

Type your notes in here.

Your note will save automatically when you close it by clicking on this x.

Helpful Tip: It is recommended that you store all of your confidential password information within Microsoft Outlook as a note. You should never store your passwords on a sheet of paper hidden at your work area.

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To change the information within a note, open the note you and simply add/change/delete the information you want to change. The changes will be saved automatically once you close the note again. To change the color of a note, select the note you wish to change and right-click with your mouse. Choose the desired color by following the menu that appears.

Select the note and right-click with your mouse to display these menu options.

To delete a note, select the note you want to delete and then click on the delete icon. Or, right-click on the note and select delete from the menu.

Select the note and then click on the delete icon.

Or, select the note and right-

click. Then, choose delete from the menu that appears.

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Contacts To create a contact, click on new, fill in the appropriate fields, and click on save and close.

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To update a contact, open the contact, add/change/remove necessary information, then click on save and close. To delete a contact, select the contact and click on the delete icon. Or, select the contact, right-click, and select delete from the menu.

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Time Management Tips Email:

• Use folders to organize the messages you keep. Create a folder system that allows you to retrieve emails easily and quickly.

• Clear your inbox by the end of each workday. • Handle each email only once. • Don’t check your email constantly. Instead, check your email at specific times each day.

(For example: check your email first thing, right before lunch and again in the mid-afternoon.)

• Flag emails that require follow-up. • Use rules to automatically process certain email messages. • Convert emails requiring action into tasks. You can do this by dragging the email to the

tasks icon in the Navigation Pane. Calendar:

• Use your Outlook calendar to keep track of your schedule. • Set reminders for appointments and meetings to help you stay on track. • Place meetings on the calendars of others by sending them a meeting invitation.

Tasks:

• Keep a running to do list by using the tasks list. • Choose a system and stick with it. For example, you may choose to spend the first part of

each workday reviewing and prioritizing your tasks for that day. Then, refer to these tasks throughout the day to stay on track.

• Sort your task list by priority to help you target your time more effectively. • Break up tasks into manageable chunks. Rather than add major tasks that require several

days to complete, break up projects like this into several subtasks that you can accomplish in a typical day.

Notes:

• Use notes to store passwords and other information that you need to quickly reference in order to perform your job. Remember: this is a safe and secure means to store confidential information like passwords.

• Consider color-coding your notes for quicker retrieval. For example, passwords may be yellow notes, procedures may be green notes, etc.

Contacts:

• Keep all of your contacts in one handy place by using Outlook Contacts. This will ensure that you can always find someone’s contact information when you need it.

• Fill out each contact as completely as you can.

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Notes:

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