There is a creative heart and soul that resides under this boring façade of “state worker-ness.” I used to be a hairdresser, beautician, “Cosmetologist.” See, I even love the term: cosmetologist. Sounds so “cosmopolitan,” urban, citified, and stylish.
I miss the creativity and, essentially, the “license” to play and try new things. It is a profession of always learning, keeping up with the latest. Computer programs and technology give me that outlet. So today we will get a little artistic in how we can present our masterpieces of work and, once again, maybe turn some heads in our aptitude to bring some style to the workplace document.
Let’s Begin
For this exercise I won’t need to provide you a template to work with. We will be working from a new Word document.
How To Create an Eye Catching Graphic
Here’s a picture of what we will accomplish today:
How-To
- Open a New Word document.
- Click on the Insert tab and, in the Illustrations group, click on SmartArt.
- All is already selected for you so you can see everything that is available to you.
- When you click on each picture in the list, you will see what it will look like on the page.
- Select Hierarchy and click on OK.
- Once you click on OK, it places the graphic at the cursor in your document.
- If you clicked out of the graphic, to get back to the Design tab, just double-click on the graphic.
- Within the Design tab, in the SmartArt Styles group, click on Change Colors.
- As your cursor hovers over each selection, you will notice your graphic take on the elements of that style. To make your selection, click on the color style you want to apply. You don’t need to say OK here. By clicking on the color style, you have made your selection. I chose Colorful Range – Accent Colors 5 to 6 (the 5th and last choice in the Colorful line items).
- In the Design tab, SmartArt Styles group, just to the right of Change Colors, you will see arrows beside three initial colorful styles to select from. There are more available and we want to choose from one of those. So click on the very bottom arrow to display a menu of selection.
- As your cursor hovers over each selection, you will notice your graphic take on the elements of that style. To make your selection, click on the color style you want to apply. You don’t need to say OK here. By clicking on the color style, you have made your selection. I chose 3-D – Sunset Theme (3rd (last) row in 3-D range, middle selection.).
- Just click on [Text] to replace the information with your own.
And, you’re done! See, this stuff isn’t so hard. Let me know what you think. Are you having fun? Drop me a note and let me know your ideas.
Dress up your document with pre-set Style Sets.
If you haven’t been using your “Styles,” I thought I would give you some inspiration to really make the formatting of your document sing.
In older versions of Word, you could select your Style, change it, and save that style. You had to do this with each individual Style. Word 2007 lets you create Style Sets. Here is the nifty thing with the addition of Style Sets. When you apply each of your individual Styles to the various parts of your document, a Style Set will apply changes to all the individual Styles used according to that Set or Theme in the entirety of the document.
Find Your Style
On the Home tab, in the Styles group, you will see Change Style. When clicked on, a drop down menu with Style Sets, Colors, and Fonts will display. As you hover your cursor over each one, a menu will display the various choices you have.
Style Set
Click on Change Styles in your Styles group. As you hover over Style Set, slide your cursor over the menu of various Style Sets. As you pass over each Style Set, the document will automatically transition to that look. When you click on your choice, that selection will apply to your document once you cursor away. Neat, right?!
Colors
Selecting a color theme is just as easy. Click on Change Style in the Styles group and this time hover over Colors. Slide your cursor over the menu of Color sets. Once again, as you pass over each Color set, your document will automatically transition the coloring of the Style Sets.
Create Your Own Sets
You can also create your own Color and Style Sets, but I must admit that Word has created some really amazing combinations. Between the two features, you have an interesting combination of document formats to put together.
Now if it was only that easy to change my style each day for work. Maybe I can get Microsoft to put together some style sets for my wardrobe so my mornings are as much a “no brainer” as dressing up my documents. Yeah… I guess not.
Create your own visual style… let it be unique for yourself and yet identifiable for others. –Orson Welles
I tend to write about a bit more obscure and “off the beaten path” of the tools that Word provides you with. This little trick, I admit, would have come in handy when I was doing my college papers, as I spent many years writing my own and putting together the team papers for classes in APA. I also provided a service to read, edit, and properly format college papers according to APA rules and guidelines.
Now understand that Word can’t write your paper (DARN!), but it can insert your subsequent citations in the place you designate and automatically create your bibliography with the citations that you reference in your document.
Creating Citations
The technique is as follows:
1. Click on the References tab in the Ribbon.
2. In the Citations & Bibliography group click on the arrow for Style to display the drop list of selections.
3. Select the style you want to use.
4. Click the end of the sentence or the end of the quote that you want the citation and source to reference.
5. In the Citations & Bibliography group again, click Insert Citation and select Add New Source.
What looks like an index card will appear for you to provide the relevant data.
You also have the option to select Add New Placeholder and enter the data later in your Source Manager.
6. In Type of Source, you can select from the following: book, book section, journal article, article in periodical, conference proceedings, report, website, document from website, electronic source, art, sound recording, performance, film, interview, patent, case, and miscellaneous.
7. Now all you have left to do is fill in the remainder of the information.
8. To insert the citation, just place your cursor in the location that you want it to go and click on Insert Citation from the Citations & Bibliography group and your sources will display above Add New Source.
Managing Sources
You can locate and manage your sources for your various papers by clicking on the Manage Sources in the Citations & Bibliography group and preview how they will look in MLA format from the window. You can also edit and delete your citations sources here as well.
If you know what sources you will be using in your paper, you can create them in advance by clicking on New. I generally use the steps outlined earlier as I am writing or editing a paper. Now all you have left to do is insert your bibliography by placing your cursor at the end of your paper on a new page and clicking on Bibliography in the Citations & Bibliography group.
It’s a great tool in managing a “master list” of resources. Needless to say this is just a small part of the larger work (writing the content of your paper). It’s nice to have a list of works you have cited and have it automatically populate your bibliography for you.
Final note: Remember to proof everything so that it is properly formatted and correct for submission.
Are there documents that you work with ALL the time? This tip will definitely help you out with current documents that you are working on and would like to quickly grab the next day or later in the week.
This tip only works with the 2007 version of Access, Excel, Powerpoint, and Word.
- To keep a file in your Recent Documents list, click on the Microsoft Office Button
and then click on the little pin 
(as you hover over the pin, it will say “Pin this document to the Recent Documents list”). - When the document is pinned to your Recent Documents list, the pin changes to view from the top of the push pin
.
Short, simple, easy.
Did you know that Word 2007 provides you with an Excel workbook that maps each menu and toolbar for Word 2003 and 2007 and how to get to a particular function. Talk about a cheat sheet!
The workbook is comprised of 50 tabs and that doesn’t include the Introduction. Some functions have been removed from Word 2007. That’s a lot of utility in one program.
“So where can I find this workbook?” you ask. Easy.
Step 1. Click on the Microsoft Office Word Help icon or press F1. This will execute Word Help.
Step 2. In the Search box located on the top left-hand side type in “Reference: Locations of Word 2003 commands in Word 2007.” A results list will display. Click on the very first result called, “Reference: Locations of Word 2003 commands in Word 2007.” This will display interesting information regarding where you will find commands and toolbars that you used to find in 2003 and where they are located in the new interface of 2007.
Step 3. Scroll all the way to the bottom where you will see a heading called, “New locations of familiar commands.” There is a brief paragraph and within that paragraph is a hyperlink called Word Ribbon mapping workbook. Click on that hyperlink to execute the Excel spreadsheet.
Here is a quick outline of the 50 tabs of menus and toolbars that show where to navigate Word 2007 to find the function you are looking for:
Menus
File Menu
Edit Menu
View Menu
Insert Menu
Format Menu
Tools Menu
Table Menu
Window Menu
Help Menu
Toolbars
Standard Toolbar
Formatting Toolbar
AutoText Toolbar
Control Toolbox Toolbar
Database Toolbar
Drawing Toolbar
E-mail Toolbar
Extended Formatting Toolbar
Forms Toolbar
Frames Toolbar
Function Key Display Toolbar
Ink Annotations Toolbar
Ink Drawing and Writing Toolbar
Japanese Greetings Toolbar
Mail Merge Toolbar
Outlining Toolbar
Picture Toolbar
Reviewing Toolbar
Tables and Borders Toolbar
Visual Basic Toolbar
Web Toolbar
Word Count Toolbar
WordArt Toolbar
3-D Settings Toolbar
Shadow Settings Toolbar
Drawing Canvas Toolbar
Organization Chart Toolbar
Diagram Toolbar
Header and Footer Toolbar
Full Screen Toolbar
Stop Recording Toolbar
Microsoft Toolbar
Print Preview Toolbar
AutoSummarize Toolbar
Exit Design Mode Toolbar
Text Box Toolbar
Refresh Toolbar
Reading Layout Toolbar
Compare Side by Side Toolbar
System Toolbar
Online Meeting Toolbar
Did you ever think that you have only touched the surface of what Word 2007 is capable of? Well, maybe we’ll make it interesting and find out together as I give you insight in the “How Tos” in Administrative Sparkle. So keep checking back. This could be FUN!
What is AutoSummary?
AutoSummarize is a feature in Word 2007 that identifies the key points in a document by analyzing and assigning a score to each sentence. The sentences containing words used frequently in the document are given a higher score. AutoSummarize is best used on well-structured documents such as the following:
- Reports,
- Articles, and
- Scientific papers.
How to Activate AutoSummary
To utilize this tool, you must first activate it by doing the following:
- Click the Microsoft Office Button , select Word Options.
- Customize.
- From the Choose commands from list, select All Commands.
- Select AutoSummary Tools and click Add.
That’s all there is too it. You should now see the AutoSummary Tools icon in your Quick Access Toolbar.
How Would You Like to Display Your Summary?
You have four choices how to view your summary. The following are:
- Highlight key points. This will use the yellow highlighter to view key sentences as you scroll within the document.
- Create a new document and put the summary there. This option will pull (copy) the key points and populate onto a new document.
- Insert an executive summary or abstract at the top of the document. This feature will automatically place the title “Summary” and populate your key points at the very beginning of your document.
- Hide everything but the summary without leaving the original document. This option will reveal the key sentences that you would normally see in the “Highlight key points” and hides the rest of the document. If you look to the bottom left of the Word program, you will see the original “Page” and “Words” count. To reveal the document in its entirety, you will click on the “AutoSummary Tools” in the Ribbon and click on the “Highlight/Show Only Summary.” When you choose to unhide the contents of the document, the summary information is displayed like the first option, “Highlight key points.” The “Highlight/Show Only Summary” is a kind of toggle off and on switch.
Select Your Summary Length
You determine the length of the summary with the following choices:
- 10 sentences,
- 20 sentences,
- 100 words or less,
- 500 words or less,
- 10 percent,
- 25 percent,
- 50 percent,
- 75 percent, or
- Enter your own criteria.
As Microsoft specifically states:
“Complying with all applicable copyright laws is your responsibility. You should review the accuracy of any summary because it is, by its nature, not the entirety of the work.”
AutoSummary isn’t designed to completely do the job for you. You will still want to go through it and possibly make some edits. However, it is a nice feature to breakdown and pinpoint the key idea of the contents that you are reading.
Does your boss or you, for that matter, go over quite a few reports and would find it helpful to have a brief Summary page in the beginning? Is this a skill that you can offer to your boss as a quick overview to the reports he receives? How do you see yourself using this feature in your work environment? Did you know this feature existed? Would love to hear your feedback and impression of what you think of this Word 2007 feature.
Here is a nifty trick to add to your Master Document: bookmarks. Most of us know what bookmarking is when we are navigating the web, or at least I hope so. The basic premise of bookmarking is the idea of saving a place in a way so that you can easily find it again and again without having to endure relentlessly searching for it over and over. Just like marking the page in an actual book so you know where you left off and can easily navigate to the exact page to resume without wasting time flipping through pages to find where you left off.
A little diversional sidenote here, I will occasionally pick up a stack of those heavyweight card bookmarks at Barnes & Noble they keep on the checkout counter. They’re promotional, but they’re FREE, and I have and read a lot of different books at any given time. I’ve also been know to use the self-adhesive sticky notes to mark my place in books. I always have a handy stack of bookmarks ready when I happen to go out on a book shopping spree.
Back to point. MS Word’s Help feature gives a great definition for the bookmarking feature:
A bookmark identifies a location or a selection of text that you name and identify for future reference. For example, you might use a bookmark to identify text that you want to revise at a later time. Instead of scrolling through the document to locate the text, you can go to it by using the Bookmark dialog box.
You can also add cross-references to bookmarks. For example, after you insert a bookmark in a document, you can refer to that bookmark from other places in the text by creating cross-references to the bookmark.
I would suggest setting up your Word program to view Bookmarks first. By default, this feature is not a feature selected to view bookmarks. Just saving you a bit of confusion when we get to the part of inserting a bookmark and you see nothing. Made me think for a minute I might not be doing it right.
View/Hide Bookmark
- Click on your Office Button. At the bottom right of the window, next to the Exit Word button, click on Word Options.
- Click Advanced and scroll down to the section titled, Show document content. Click on Show bookmarks to get the checkmark on it.
- Click OK.
NOTE: If you place a bookmark over a block of text, the bookmark appears in brackets ([…]) on the screen. If you place the bookmark at a specific location, the bookmark appears as an I-beam. The brackets do not print.
Insert Bookmark
- Select the text or item you want to bookmark or click where you want the bookmark.
- From the menu select the Insert tab, in the Links group, click Bookmark.
- Under Bookmark name, type or select a name.
NOTE: Bookmark names must begin with a letter and can contain numbers. You can’t include spaces in a bookmark name. However, you can use the underscore character to separate words — for example, “First_heading.” - Click Add.
Go To a Bookmark
- From the menu select the Insert tab, in the Links group, click Bookmark.
- Select Name or Location to sort your bookmarks.
- Click on the name of the bookmark you want to go to.
- Click Go To.
Lastly, you might want to know how to delete your bookmarks. Easy peasy.
Delete Bookmark
- From the menu select the Insert tab, in the Links group, click Bookmark.
- Click on the name of the bookmark you want to delete and then click Delete.
NOTE: To delete both the bookmark and the bookmarked item (such as a block of text or other element), select the information within your Word document and press DELETE.
You’ll find this to be a great tool for extensive documents you reference specific material on a regular basis or tagging your favorites locations and information.
Did you like this? Would love to hear from you. More Master Document information to come. Just click on the RSS icon to add me to your RSS feeds to get updates as soon as I post something new. Feel free to contribute your suggestions or little tips with other administrative professionals who stop by my website in the comments.
Happy bookmarking my friends,
This article will take your Master Document further with some nifty Word features that I find are rarely used or, for that matter, most people are not even aware of their existence. The Document Map and Thumbnail feature.
Document Map
The Document Map will display as a separate panel along the left side of your Word document giving you a brief listing of your general headings. It is similar to the Outline View except for two obvious things.
- You are able to continue to work in your standard Print Layout View document. The Outline View doesn’t give you the visual Print Layout or WYSIWYG view of what the final print of your document is, which is the predominant preference.
- The Outline View gives you the complete text document, while the Document Map appears on the left sidebar with a single line of information that comprises the heading, without all the subsequent information that details that heading, allowing you to locate information quickly and easily when navigating for a specific location in a document.
This is how you access the Document Map:
1. Select Document Map from the View menu (a checkmark is placed next to Document Map).
2. You can navigate Document Map by doing the following:
a. When using your Style Headings, the Document Map will break down the outline into its heading for navigating. It is the feature that you will see when you collapse the view of your headings in the Outline View. Except, once again, you are still able to work in the Print Layout View of your document when using Document Map.
b. You can go directly to the information you are looking for by clicking on the heading name in Document Map. Similar to the Find (Ctrl+F) feature, but you don’t need to know the page or section you are looking for or processing through each occurrence of a word till you arrive at your destination. You also don’t need to scroll or Page Down, with the possibility of passing the information right by. Click on the heading in Document Map and your arrive at your destination instantly.
3. To exit Document Map, select Document Map in the View menu (you will see the checkmark disappear).
Thumbnails
You’ve seen thumbnails in Adobe whenever you open PDF documents. Did you know you have that feature in Word? You betcha! This feature gives you mini pictures of your document. If you work on documents that have a distinct look throughout by using tables and / or images, this feature may come in handy. However, you will find with straight text, it is not quite so functional. You are limited to manually clicking on pages to find what you are looking for. It’s probably just easier to Page Up and Page Down. Like I said, your document would require distinct visual interest to each page for this feature to be handy.
- Select Thumbnails from the View menu (a checkmark is placed next to Thumbnails).
- To exit Thumbnails, select Thumbnails in the View menu (you will see the checkmark disappear).
If you like learning new things and seeing what works and what doesn’t, I hope you find this article interesting and informative. And, hey, you may actually find these two Word features useful in some of your projects.
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A master document will help you with large documents by organizing lengthy sections or chapters. It keeps your complete document manageable and consolidated with all the required information in an easy retrievable and uncluttered fashion. This way you can work on each individual part exclusively and yet organize your information simply through the use of the master document.
Creating the Master Document
- Open or create a document you want to be the master document.
- Select Outline from the View menu.
- Place your cursor at the text you want to be a heading.
- Click the Promote to Heading 1 button in the Outline Tools toolbar by clicking on the green double-arrow (this will promote the selected paragraph to the highest level of the outline).
- Repeat for each heading. You can promote your paragraph incrementally to a higher level by clicking on the green single arrow that points the to the left (Alt+Shift+Left) or demote the paragraph incrementally by clicking on the green single arrow pointing right (Alt+Shift+Right). Note: Level 1 is obviously the highest level and as much as you click to promote it, it will not elevate further.
- When you have completed your document , click on the Save As in the File menu.
- Select the location to save the file and click the Save button.
Adding a Subdocument to the Master Document
- Open or create the master document (see directions listed above).
- Select the Outline from the View menu.
- There are two ways of adding subdocuments: a) within the mater document itself or b) inserting an existing document located in your files. Note: you may need to click on Show Document to reveal the following additional buttons of features.
- Creating a subdocument from text within the master document, select the headings and text you want in the subdocument. Click the Create button in the Master Document toolbar of the Outlining menu. Note: you cannot embed a subdocument within body text; it must be imbedded after a heading. Also, ensure that Expand Subdocuments is turned on before using this feature.
- To add an existing file to the master document as a subdocument, first click at the location of where you want the existing document to be placed. Click Insert button in the Master Document toolbar of the Outlining menu, then browse for the existing file to embed as your subdocument and click the Open button. Note: once again, ensure that Expand Subdocuments is turned on before using this feature.
More Outline Tools
You can easily move paragraphs up and down, without Cutting and Pasting, by clicking on the blue up arrow button (Alt+Shift+Up) and the blue down arrow (Alt+Shift+Down). Just by placing your cursor within that paragraph and clicking on the blue up or down button will move the entire paragraph up or down past each subsequent paragraph located above or below it. How much easier does that get?!
The blue plus and minus buttons will allow you to expand or collapse the entire subdocument. Note: the cursor must be located within a heading of that subdocument to execute. This will clean up your document so you can view only what you are presently working on by eliminating the clutter and distraction of the rest of the document.
Once you get used to using this dynamic feature, you will find much more control over viewing and managing large documents. Stayed tuned for other features you can use in creating the more complex documents of a master document.
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There is a lot to be done when you want to get from where you are right now to where you want to be. There are different programs you can use, I like to call “tools,” that can keep you on track. I don’t like to say that they necessarily simplify life, but it does keep your projects organized and you on track. And, that is what we are trying to achieve here.
I have been crazy-busy the past couple of weeks and even took a couple of weeks off from the gym. Suffered the consequences for that one, but I am pleased to say I am back on track. The fallout, and I am being extreme, is that I feel like I gained one pound for every day I took off. That is good enough reason or incentive to get back with conviction to the goal.
At the Office
I track my executive’s projects with an Excel spreadsheet. It’s a tool, it works, but it really is basic. Mostly it is about maintenance, otherwise it just doesn’t work. Like anything else. I cannot stress the importance of assigning Task Submission Dates. This is the key column with which you sort to view what goals are getting close to coming due and what are overdue. When they are overdue, write notes of what you plan to do in the Comments column and then update the Task Submission Date to reflect when you will have it done.
The spreadsheet that I use for my executive provides the following columns of information:
- Date Assigned: This tells the executive when he/she initially assigned it and is able to get an idea of how long the project has been around.
- Title of Assignment: You will want to give it a relevant and informative title.
- Primary Manager: The manager assigned responsibility for the project.
- Assigned To: The manager usually has someone on his/her team or staff that is doing work on the project.
- Submission Date: This is the date my executive wants to receive the task or details of the project in her office.
- Comments: The executive’s directives and comments by the managers detailing what is happening with the project. It provides a little bit of the history, what is holding it up, or what still needs to be done.
- Assignment Tracking Number: This is a specific tracking number that identifies the assignment. This is also tracked in my Outlook “Tasks,” along with any email and written documentation pertaining to the project.
An Auto Filter is applied to the column titles, which its use will be explained. Information is sorted and presented to the executive in different ways, depending on the use.
- A running account of all active projects. This is Sorted by Submission Date, so the most pressing and urgent are seen and attended to first.
- Individual manager’s meetings, a spreadsheet that only reflects that manager’s active projects. This is filtered by Primary Manager and then Sorted by Submission Date. This way the executive does not have to visually sort through all projects that is on the spreadsheet that do not apply to that specific manager. In my executive’s case, we are running close to 75 projects. As an added perk, the managers are able view and print projects that only relate to them.
NOTE: I tried finding a project spreadsheet on Microsoft’s Template website to no avail. Maybe I should submit mine. However, I am considering doing a little tweaking on it to make it even more informative. Not by adding more information, but visually and trying the Groups feature to see how that works in comparison to the Filter. I will let you know.
At Home
I use MindJet MindManager. This program allows me to work in one program and have the various information populate into my Outlook Notes, Calendar, Timeline, Contacts, and Tasks. I am also able to attach various documentation from all my Microsoft programs, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Project, Visio and execute from MindJet MindManager. I can make it available for others to have access to it outside my network. The best feature, is the ability to see it as a MindMap. There is a map view and an outline view, allowing me both the visual aspect to see how some things are interrelated and viewing it in running points.
There is a lot more to this program that makes it hyper-intensive in the amount of information that it can hold, including the Internet and as its own Project program assigning deadlines. The program will automatically flag items that show Past Due and At Risk.
MindJet MindManager has helped me mange finding an apartment. I had a certain criteria and I was able to define what needed to be done to achieve my desired goal. Some features keep me on track. For example, after researching several apartments that met my criteria and selecting the one I wanted to move into, I had forms that needed to be filled out and submitted, processing fees and dates that they need them. I was able to follow-up with the apartment management team to ask what I need to do, what I need to provide them, and when it is due.
Right now in that task I will have a populating calendar item to pay the deposit on April 1 and the rent to be paid upon moving in on the 7th of May. I also have a calendar item for the move in date of May 7. I can now make a list of what I need for the move, such as boxes and create a schedule of prepacking. I can also make a list of resources I need for the move, vehicles, equipment, and people who can help. This would also include ideas for incentives such as pizza and beer. You get the idea.
That is just one of the projects I am currently working on. Obviously, Health and Diet is another and Budget.
MindMapping allows you to expand on all the little details required to make it fun and manageable. So wish me luck with the move. I just might need it.
Whether you use an Excel spreadsheet, Outlook, or an outside program such as MindJet MindManager, the goal is to account for it, SET DEADLINES, and take ACTION. That is all it takes, but you have to write it out. I know there are a lot of people who say they have it in their head of what they need to do, “It’s all up here” (motioning to their noggin), but unless you get it down on something, you will reduce your chances of success.
Here is to your success! Please let the rest of us know what you use to track and manage your projects and goals. I am sure we all could use the ideas and suggestions. I know I would. I’m always looking for a better way of doing things. I look forward to hearing from you.
To your SUCCESS!
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