Outlook Has Joined the Social Party Train
If it has not come to your attention, Microsoft Outlook has designed the Social Connector. I’m running Outlook 2007 on my system.
You have four choices at the time of this writing:
I have chosen to integrate Facebook and LinkedIn into my Outlook. The process for downloading and activating the various social networks is simple enough. However, when prompted for your LinkedIn “User Name,” that’s not quite accurate. You will need to provide your sign-in email address (just like signing into LinkedIn directly). The request for your user name in Facebook is correct, mine is layne.tinsley. So just a heads up with LinkedIn or you will get the message, “Either the User Name or Password is incorrect.”
This Is What You Can Expect to See in Outlook
- Home view: you will not see the People Pane here.
- Email Inbox: a People Pane appears below the message by default. As you select the email message, all information related to that contact will appear. An icon that identifies the social network you are connected with for this person will display emails, meetings, attachments, and updates between the two of you. Cool!
- Calendar view: I don’t have appointments or calendar items that were requested or sent via email. So I can’t explain the view on this.
- Contacts: you will not see the People Pane when viewing all contacts. Once you open an individual contact card, all related social media details and information will populate for that specific contact. Cool again!
Here is an example of what you will see in viewing a specific Contact Card.
Pros: one of the things this tool alleviates is the need to sort your email by name. The People Pane populates the specific contact related information from Outlook and the social networks.
Cons: haven’t really seen any as of yet, but would love to hear back from you if you see a downside.
Please take the time to share your thoughts on what you think of having a Social Connector incorporated into your email and calendaring system. Do you think is it just one more thing contributing to distraction and attention deficit to doing your job? Or is it just easier to have access to all your various email and information in one place; thus, reducing randomly checking the Internet and/or your phone?
With love and appreciation,
My latest challenge involves using distribution lists when all users access the same “Global” directory.
THE SCENARIO
I work for the State of California. One of my tasks was to manage the Branch’s distribution lists. Adding new staff and removing staff who have left. Quite a few months ago IT created new distribution lists, distribution lists that I did not have permissions to edit in order to keep them current. The distribution lists recreated in the “Global” do not reflect the continual revolving door of staff leaving and coming on. So, in the interim, till IT is able to resolve the issue by giving me the necessary permission or, in the alternative, maintaining the lists themselves, I created distribution lists that I could send to the entire Branch staff for use.
This fix however does not resolve the issue for outside departments and units who do not receive my distribution lists, which are sent by email as attachments and saved in each person’s personal Contacts directory, such as the Receiver’s office.
Nevertheless, I was asked by someone from another department how I was able to send my distribution lists to other people to use and directions on how to transfer them into their own personal Contacts directory. And, yes, I have created a reputation for knowing how to do really unusual computer stuff to people outside of my own department, even so far as departments in other locations outside of my direct sphere of contact, network, or relationship to my department. Word gets out and people let their colleagues know a resource they find valuable. Strange, but true.
So here is the step-by-step on how to save a distribution list that has been sent to you by email.
DIRECTIONS
While in your opened email with the attached distribution lists, using your mouse, you will need to “drag and drop” each distribution list, individually, onto your “Contacts” tab in Outlook. If you hold down the Shift key and mouse click on each distribution list, this will allow you to select them all and drag them collectively to your “Contacts” tab in one fell swoop.
We will use the following example distributions lists as the attached:
- Centralized Hiring (contains individual emails addresses from the “Global” directory)
- Education & Training (contains individual emails addresses from the “Global” directory)
- Planning Northern (contains individual emails addresses from the “Global” directory)
- Planning Southern (contains individual emails addresses from the “Global” directory)
- Recruitment Outreach (contains individual emails addresses from the “Global” directory)
- Selection Services (contains individual emails addresses from the “Global” directory)
- Workforce Development Branch (contains individual emails addresses from the “Global” directory, as well as the six distribution lists above). This will be the master distribution list for the entire Branch.
DIRECTIONS FOR WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT BRANCH
This distribution list allows you to send to the entire Branch without having to select each unit distribution lists individually because we are consolidating all of them within this one distribution list. Did that make sense? I hope so.
This particular distribution list will require your edits; otherwise, it will not recognize the referenced distribution lists.
- With the Workforce Development Branch transferred into your “Contacts,” double-click on it to open it for editing.
- Delete the existing distribution lists (they are bold). The reason for deleting the existing distribution lists is because your system is looking for them on the global and they don’t exist there. What we need to do is replace them with the ones you transferred to your personal Contact list.
- With the Workforce Development Branch distribution list still open (only individual names remaining), first, select the tab titled “Select Members.”
- The “Select Members” dialog box will appear. At the top right hand side of the dialog box, just below the big red X, a drop down menu called “Show Names from the” will display your various directories. Select “Outlook Address Book: Contacts.” This is your personal directory. The “Select Members” dialog will refresh to display all the names and distribution lists that you create in Outlook.
- Scroll down to the bolded distribution lists that you added earlier and select all the above distribution lists except Workforce Development Branch distribution list, by clicking on and selecting each distribution list and then clicking on the tab “Members” just below the window of names where it says “Add to distribution list.” Once again, If you hold down the Shift key and mouse click on each distribution list, this will allow you to select them all and add by clicking on “Members” in one fell swoop.
- Click on the OK button located at the very bottom of the dialog box.
- The dialog box will disappear. One last step. On the Menu Bar, click on Save and Close.
That’s it!
REMINDER
Individual names and distribution lists will transfer as long as they come directly from the community-shared “Global” directory. If the names and distribution lists are unique to your personal “Contacts” directory, they will not transfer.
ANOTHER REMINDER
To use these distribution lists in your email, remember to access them from “Outlook Address Book: Contacts,” where it says “Show Names from the” drop down directory listing.
UPDATE
Tami left me a comment that encouraged me to probe the effect of whether my distribution lists sent by email worked when sent outside the “internal” office global directory network. This is what I discovered:
I have to admit this would be a “internal” business tip. In researching the effects when the distribution lists are sent outside the office (or office computer network), I sent the distribution lists to my home computer. Two issues arise:
1. I use MS Outlook Standard at home and MS Outlook Professional at work. My attachments come over as email messages, they are no longer distribution lists containing the contact information. This brings us to Point 2.
2. The names provided in the distribution lists come from the “internal” network global directory. Outside the office, they don’t exist.
Would you like to streamline and create processes for your routine emails? Here are a couple of tools in your Outlook you can use to create your emails in advance and send them without you even sitting in front of your computer.
Create Your Distribution List
If you haven’t already done so, this is accomplished by going into the Contacts section of your Outlook. Select New and click on Distribution List. You can either add email addresses with Select Members or Add New. You can enter in Notes the purpose of that distribution list, assign it a Category, as well as other nice little features. Give the distribution list a Name and then Save & Close.
Create your email message.
Sending a Message at a Specified Time
In Outlook 2007, once you have completed the content and addressed with your distribution list:
- Go to your Options tab and select Delay Delivery.
- In the Deliveries options portion of the form, check Do not deliver before: and indicate a date and time and Close.
- Send.
You may want to edit your Outlook frequency for sending and receiving.
- Select Tools and then Options.
- Click on the Mail Setup tab and then click the Send/Receive button.
- Check Schedule an automatic send/receive every and enter how many minutes. Every ten minutes would keep you pretty current with incoming and outgoing mail.
That’s the really simplified version without getting overly complex and time intensive, but very easy and gets the job done. However, you will need to make sure that you have Outlook open and are able to send and receive for this to work.
Please feel free to let me know if you find this helpful. Also submit your suggestions or ideas on how you simplify your emailing process. Everyone has a set of circumstances that brings into account different techniques. Would love to hear what yours are. Also, don’t forget to share with your colleague if this is the perfect information they may be looking for.
Today’s challenge.
A colleague needed to send out an email with over 20 attachments (I’m guessing because it was probably more). I came by her office to ask her for some personnel data that I needed for a department budget worksheet that I work on. So the timing was perfect. She puts the email together and has all the documents attached. She asks me if there is another way to attach so many documents. When there is a list of attachments, most people don’t realize they have to go through the scroll bar to see that there are more than the five or eight that are within view and actually miss the extent of information that has been provided.
The solution.
Zip them up. I brought up the Zip program, anything like WinZip will work, grabbed all the files she needed and attached that. It took less than five minutes and now all the recipients will receive the collection of files already foldered up in one place and viewable at a glance.
Tell me what suggestions you would have come up with for this challenge.
A Little About Outlook Rule Feature
Microsoft Outlook has a feature called “Create Rule.” This is a feature that directs specific email to go into a folder you have designated to hold that particular content. It is simple to set up, easy to use, and organizes your incoming mail into its designated location. It’s like having an assistant who brings your mail to you in prearranged piles, e.g., bills, clients, vendors, magazines (or in the case of your email, newsletters), junk, etc. You get the picture. This allows you to get straight to the most important mail first without being distracted by other mail that is not pressing.
I take care of bills right at the beginning of the month, so during that time I will have all my “bills” mail in one place to go through at that specific moment. Magazines, periodicals, and informational literature I can grab and go through when I have a chance. First thing in the morning I can go through “client” mail to see if there is anything that needs to be taken care and requires a prompt response. It allows me to prioritize and take care of the important stuff first.
Another advantage is it keeps your desk clean. For many, the inbox has become the way station. When retrieving mail, use the four-step screening process. 1. handle: determine to keep or discard; 2. delegate: is this something that someone else can do; 3. file: if it is not urgent, but something you will read later; and 4. expedite: this leaves information that requires your immediate attention and action. Make a decision about each piece of mail as soon as you read it. Determine if you should 1. throw it out; 2. review later; 3. delegate; or 4. respond, take action.
Be discriminating with your mail and make a decision to do something with it. It is possible that the “review later” pile could grow and become unmanageable. You don’t want to have to rehandle mail over and over. Be decisive.
How to Create a Rule
In your inbox, right click on an incoming message that you would like to designate to a folder. Select “Create Rule.” You will be asked “When I get e-mail with all of the selected conditions.” Then select the checkbox(es) with a click of your mouse. You will then be asked to “Do the following.” You have the choice of selecting “Display in the New Item Alert Window,” “Play a selected sound,” or “Move the item to folder.” There are other options and criteria you can set in the Advanced Options, but I wouldn’t suggest making it too complicated. You merely want to direct related email to a location that you can filter through at the moment of your choosing.
The goal is clear your inbox to mail that requires your action. Once you have taken action on it and it is completed you can move that folder into its assigned location or delete. Basically your inbox becomes more of your task list and this is where you can use Screening and Decision processes.
Good luck in your efforts to streamline your email and share any tips and ideas that you may have.
It would be nice to access all my internet mail into Outlook. I don’t always have access to my computer where email is directly to my Outlook and have acquired a couple of onlien emails over the years. I use both Google’s Gmail and Yahoo, as well as the internet social sites. So having done a little bit of research, this is what I came up with.
Gmail
I would like to thank http://www.howtogeek.com/ for the directions on how to do this one. It was really easy! I keep an RSS Feed (more on RSS Feeds in a later post) for http://www.lifehacker.com/ that gives me lot of tips and tricks where the How To Geek writes articles. The directions are easy to follow and I was able to have my Gmail up and running on my Outlook the first time out of the box without any complications. Follow this link to set up IMAP in Outlook 2007.
Yahoo
I use the Yahoo basic email and have not upgraded to Yahoo’s Mail Plus. So… since I don’t pay for Yahoo, one of the features that I’m unable to do is have my Outlook access my Yahoo accounts. I am sure there are other ways to get around it and hijack it through some complicated means, which I did make an attempt. I downloaded the tool and proceeded to following the directions to no avail.
I’ve got quite a bit of tech in me and can usually figure something out with time, but when I am given directions and even tools to download, I guess I’m just looking for it to work straight up. Many tips and tricks will get you from Point A to Point B without having to investigate further why it isn’t working after all. Besides, when you are given a process through one of these tips out there, ideally the complications have been identified and fixed before it gets to the reader or solutions are identified so the reader knows what to look for.
Anyway, I did locate a tool to at least keep me informed of email I have storing up in my various inboxes without having to go into each account. This tool is super rocking cool! This handy-dandy tool is by http://www.digsby.com/ that I received through my http://www.lifehacker.com/ RSS Feed. Here are some features I found helpful:
- I am able to view all my information and activities through this little gadget without having to have each account open in a web browser and logged in.
- I get pop-up balloons for the various activities that are going on in my Yahoo, Gmail, Facebook, MySpace, and LinkedIn accounts.
- I can also carry on all my IMs in one window that tabs for each person or activity. No more multiple open windows for more than one IM or more than one account.
- I just happen to come across this, but there is also a log for your conversations that the program automatically stores. So if there is a conversation that has information that I need to refer to at a later date, I can access it through the log. Neat!
- A side window appears when you place your cursor over each account and let’s you know what information or activity is in there. This let’s me know if I need to go into the account for new information, which you can access by clicking on one of the links provided in the side window at the top of the activity entries and your web browser will activate and bring up to your account. Easy-peasy.
The Outlook will take several posts to cover because there really is a lot to it if you maximize the capacity of its value in organizing your work and life. Now I use the Outlook 2007, so when giving directions, that is the version I will be referring to. Also keep in mind that not all versions are created equal, so the version you have may not have some of the features that I refer to.
Mail. This is one that is a must have even if you use nothing else. I am an organization freak and like to keep all my information in their respective folders. Personally, I have a preference for a nice clean and relatively empty inbox, but that’s me. This way when I want to go back to view information or communication, I can wire down my search as to its location. I can be pretty brutal deleting junk and email that is resolved and need not be referenced. However, I do find that I have certain folders that I don’t plan on getting rid of information, and that folder may become cumbersome.
I keep folders for each person, newspaper, magazine, blog, RSS Feed, and client I receive communication from. Many times these are kept in a group folder. For example, you could have category folders such as family, clients, health & fitness, forums, education, etc. I would then place the individual files within the category files. Now this is me. It’s kind of like a filing cabinet idea. I know where everyone is and I can generally locate exactly what I’m looking for.
Now if you are like me and can collect a lot of information, you will need to access another useful tool in order to quickly locate an item when time is of the essence. In Tools, just click on Instant Search and/or Expand the Query Builder. Seek and ye shall find.
Archive. There are two choices here. 1. Archive information you’re not working with or 2. completely forgo creating category and individual folders altogether and go direct to archive. You have your Instant Search tool. Really, for some just getting it out of the inbox serves its purpose by keeping only new incoming email and emails that need action seen. Once you’ve completed what is required of that email, you can send it straight into archive and it’s off your desktop, so to speak, and keeps your focus on the “now.”
Either way, you have managed your email, the clutter, and your sanity.
