Reducing Paper Use

Concerned about waste? Finding ways to reduce and reuse paper is one way to be eco-friendly and save money, too. Try these easy ideas:

print and copy double-sided

e-mail your documents as attachments

edit documents on screen rather than printing out and hand editting

Death Bed Declaration

On their death bed, no one ever said, "I wish I had spent more time in the office."

Conserve Energy with Laptop Computers

Laptops computers use only 10% of the energy required by desktop computers, take up less desk space, and are virtually noiseless (no power supply fan noise).

Saving Energy

Turn off lights, computers, photocopiers, radios at the end of the day to save energy.

Screen Savers

Although screen savers are fun and you can get so many different and interested patterns and pictures, don´t rely on them to save energy. They are only meant to save phosphors in the screen.

Relieving Eye Strain

Look away from the computer screen regularly (stare out the window!) to exercise long-distance muscles of the eyes. Sit directly in front of your computer. When answering the phone, push the keyboard away and “swivel” your chair.

Paper Saving Fax Ideas

Reduce paper usage at the fax machine by faxing documents directly from your computer. Also, instead of using a cover sheet, use a transmittal sticky note or a rubber stamped transmittal block.

Reducing Computer´s Energy Use

Activate your computer´s ´sleep´ or ´quiet´ mode option so that when the machine is not being used, it will automatically switch from full power to sleep mode. This can reduce your computer´s energy use by as much as 70%.

Remember to Send Thank You Letters

Thank you letters are an often overlooked, but nonetheless important part of your job hunting. Think of a thank you letter as an investment in your career —they reflect well on you and further your reputation.

Avoid Crowds and Save Time

Find quicker ways of doing things and you will reap the benefits in reclaimed time. One way to save time is to avoid crowds by buying postage online or by mail. The same principles apply to purchasing office supplies or doing banking.

Virtual Meetings Reduce Air Pollution

Be kinder to the environment by conducting meetings by telephone, teleconference, video conference or web conference when possible.

Control Your Conduct

Want to be taken more seriously on the job? Then, don´t use vulgarities or swear words. Crying, shouting and other emotional outbursts will also detract from your professional image. If you´re uncontrollably sad or angry, close your door or go to the rest room until you´ve regained control.

Keyboarding Setup

Make sure your keyboarding setup is a good fit for you. When seated in your chair, with your feet flat on the floor, do your elbows and knees form right angles? If not, you are inviting discomfort - and possibly debilitating injuries to your back, arms and legs.

Reusing Format of Existing Letter

If you want to reuse the format and/or text of an existing letter, Word 97´s Letter Wizard makes it easy. Open the document you want to emulate, then select Tools/Letter Wizard from the menu bar. When applied to an existing letter, the Letter Wizard ´reads´ the document and displays a tabbed dialog box that lets you change only the key parts of the letter (such as the sender and recipient info). You aren´t forced through every step of the Wizard.

Writing Thank You Letters

Thank you letters should be warm and to the point. Try to avoid formal language. Instead write sincerely and express your honest feelings. Extend your thanks in the first paragraph. In the second paragraph, make a personal and specific comment about doing business with the client. Lastly, write another paragraph expressing your appreciation in a sincere manner and then close by thanking the client again.

Leave the Office at the Office

Treat your weekends and evenings as “mini-vacations” from work, and avoid bringing your job home with you. Setting limits to your work schedule will help you keep your feelings toward your job positive. Do things you really enjoy on your time off.

The Office Whiner

Most offices have at least one "whiner". Try to respond without being rude. Let the person complain, then acknowledge their complaint but don´t empathize. Don´t allow them to sidetrack you ——speak only about the issue at hand. If you have a solution, suggest it only once.

Be Unselfish at Work

Unselfish co-workers contribute to effectiveness and productivity in the workplace. By putting team goals and objectives before personal interests, teamplayers increase their value to the team and at the same time boost their own self-esteem and confidence.

Storage on the Cheap

When organizing a home office on a budget, consider using discarded school lockers, which work great for coats and boots. A slightly battered metal cabinet with lots of drawers can hold bills, cheques, invoices, stamps, office tools, etc.

Caution: if you will be seeing clients in your office, err on the side of professional.

E-Mail in the Workplace

E-mail is not a completely private or confidential method of communication. Although directed to one person or a group, an e-mail can easily be forwarded to others. For this reason, e-mails should be written with care and should not include subject matter that you´d be uncomfortable sending to anyone other than the intended recipient.

Proper Alignment

For maximum comfort and to avoid injury, adjust your computer and chair properly. The bottom of your chin should align with the middle of your monitor. When keying, ensure a 75 to 90 degree angle at elbows and a straight line from elbows to tips of fingers. Angle seat pan back slightly to the left curve of lower back into back support, or roll up a towel to protect the curve of your spine. Make sure your hips and knees are bent at 90 degrees.

Second Hand Furniture

When your home office budget is tight, be sure to check out secondhand furniture shops and used-office-supply stores. Gently used furniture is often available at a fraction of the cost of purchasing brand new.

Look Before You (Lovers) Leap

Romantic relationships with co-workers can be more difficult than other liaisons. Work rivalry may come between the two of you. Linking hands across ranks will generate unkind gossip about exploiting sexuality for work kudos. The office grapevine may be malicious in condemnation of the couple. Both parties could lose the respect of colleagues. Think it through before you make your move.

Calling in Sick

It´s best to stay away from the office when you´re very sick, for two very good reasons. First, you need to recover so you can be back to doing your job. Secondly, when you bring germs to work, you risk spreading your illness to others and causing additional employee down time for your employer.

Defining Office Politics

Office politics are the strategies that people use to gain or maintain a competitive advantage in the workplace. As workers, we perceive politics as the use and misuse of power in the workplace. The good news is office politics aren´t always a bad thing. The bad news? Workplace politics seem to be inevitable.

Deciding What to Wear for Dress-Down Day

Not sure what´s appropriate for casual dress days at the office? Observe the choices made by management (or the boss) and take your cues from there. Casual dress day does not mean free dress day. Clothing choices should still be neat, businesslike and professional.

Entry Level Office Jobs

Getting hired for an entry-level office job usually requires these basic clerical skills: keyboarding/typing (aim for at least 35 wpm); proficiency in a word processing program such as Word or WordPerfect; knowledge of basic filing procedures and proficiency in answering business telephones.

Plants in an Office

You may already know that adding plants to your office environment has aesthetic benefits. But did you know that it can have a positive affect on the health of your office? Research shows that indoor plants are very effective in removing many of the toxins associated with modern products, especially plastics.

Improve Your Electronic Communications

Sending e-mail and posting messages to user groups calls for strict adherence to the rules of ´netiquette.´ Protect your professional reputation by using these communication tools judiciously and being courteous. Don´t flame others, don´t send spam, trim headers and garbage from your messages. In short, be considerate and professional in all your electronic communications.

Printing Draft Copy

Printing a draft: If you need a quick paper copy of a document for proof-reading, you can print a draft with minimal formatting and only one font by choosing File | Print. Then click the Options button and select Draft Output. (Just remember to re-set this option before you print a final copy!)

Pasting from the Web

Pasting from the Web: Often, when you paste from the Web into a Word document, you´ll end up with some really strange formatting. Select the paragraph(s) you´ve pasted, and press Control + Shift + N.

Creating a Home Office in a Shared Space

If you do not have a separate room for setting up a home office, create the illusion of distinct space by setting off the working area with a barrier made from screens, drapery/curtains, shelving units or cabinetry. Arrange the barrier so that it will shield the office as much as possible from the dominant traffic pattern in the rest of the house.

Personal Business

If you have to conduct personal business during the workday, save it for lunchtime, paying for personal calls with your credit card or calling card number, keeping doctors´ appointments to the time you have free, etc.

Underline Styles

Different underlines: If you just need a thin, one line underline, use your "U" button on the toolbar. But if you need a different style, or have a document which needs more than one underline style, select your word and go to Format | Font. You´ll notice that the Underline option has a drop-down list, which lets you choose (and preview) different underline styles.

Thank Your Interviewer

Be sure to close your job interview by thanking the person or persons who conducted it. Showing your sincere gratitude (perhaps accompanied by a warm handshake) is not only polite, but it also closes an interview on a positive note. When there are a lot of candidates being considered for a position, small gestures like this may help you stand out from the crowd.

Clients at a Company Party

If you have clients that are attending your company party, remember they are your responsibility. You should stay close by, make sure they have plenty to eat and drink, and introduce them to the most important people.

ToolTip Feature

The Office 97 programs; Word, PowerPoint, and Excel, have a ToolTip feature. When you put the mouse pointer on a button in the toolbar, the text displayed in the light yellow box that explains what that particular button does, is called a ToolTip. Sometimes the ToolTip is not displayed, even though the mouse pointer is on the button. This happens when you hit Esc and point to a button on the toolbar with the mouse. For example, if you point to the left justify button, and hit Esc, the ToolTip will not appear. Now try it again, without hitting esc, and the ToolTip will appear.

Company Cell Phones

If your employer has not outlined guidelines for the use of your company provided cell phone, ask for clarification. When your employer owns the phone and pays for airtime, they have the right to monitor your usage.

Writing a Job Proposal

A job proposal is report that describes and details a job that doesn´t exist yet. In a nutshell, the proposal includes an introduction stating why this job is needed, followed by a section telling why you are qualified to fill that need, and finally details how much it will cost. (Of course, your actual proposal will cover each of these topics in further detail.) Caution: Be sure your proposal is compete, and has no misspellings, grammatical, or typographical errors.

Previewing Web Pages

While you´ll see your Web page develop as you work on it in Word, you can preview the real deal in your default browser with just one click. From any HTML document in Word, choose File/Web Page Preview, or use the Web Page Preview icon, and your browser will automatically open with your Web page displayed.