Pen To Paper - Spring 2018

Spring 2018 | P2P Magazine | 23 www.p2pmag.co.uk STATIONERY My Favourite Things 1 Office 365 When Office 365 first came out, I was wary, even sceptical, about it – what about reliability and the security issues of saving everything to the Cloud? I’ve been using it for around six years now, and it’s never let me down. As Today’s PA run training courses all over the country, I spend a lot of time away from the office. Being able to work on the go and know that everything is saved immediately to a central point has transformed the way we work. In the past, I would need to wait until I was back in the office before uploading amended files to the server. Now, the latest version of a document is always available – anywhere, anytime. The other cool feature is that my business manager Kristina and I can work on the same document at the same time and see each other’s changes straight away. 2 Microsoft Outlook As a Microsoft Certified Expert, I love all Microsoft products, but Outlook is definitely my favourite. Amazingly, I’ve been teaching it for about 14 years now. We all tend to stick with the features we know and trust, but the functionality of the program is incredible, with tips and shortcuts to help save time and increase efficiency. Take the Tasks function: it’s like your own personal organiser. You can create project folders, note the larger tasks and then break these down into a daily to-do list. As you can sync it to all your devices, you can update it anywhere. I especially like the Categories function. My Inbox is organised into categories, so at a glance I can see who’s dealing with a particular email and what actions are required.When a new message arrives that doesn’t already have a category, I will label it ‘KP’ (Kristina and Paul). When Kristina and I catch up, we go through these ‘KPs’, decide who is dealing with each one and assign categories accordingly. All future emails are automatically allocated to the right category as soon as they arrive. We also use a function called Quick Parts. This is a database containing your email templates and images. Rather than re-typing or cutting and pasting, it’s all there in Quick Parts. You can highlight frequently used text and set up shortcuts.When you type in the first few letters, Outlook will immediately recognise the template you wish to insert. 3 Samsung S6 Over the years, I’ve had various phones – iPhones, aWindows phone, a Blackberry. All great in their own way, but the Samsung S6 is easily the best. Excellent reliability, great battery life, syncs seamlessly to Outlook (vital for me!), and the screen is large enough to work on easily. I’ve had it for about three years and it’s the only phone I’ve never thought of changing. Yes, the iPhone is excellent, but the Samsung S6 is just as slick and much better as an everyday workhorse. 4 Microsoft Surface Book with Performance Base Without doubt, the best Microsoft laptop in the world! The Surface Book is the perfect business tool, powerful and lightweight. At 680g, the Performance Base version is slightly heavier than the standard version, but it’s more than worth it for the extra functionality you get. I did a lot of research before deciding on the Surface Book, as I wanted something for both business and personal use, and this has a detachable screen that can be used on its own as a tablet (with its own built-in battery). I paid a premium for it (£3,000), but intend to keep it for a long time. Paul Pennant is the founder, managing director and principal trainer for award-winning training company Today’s PA. A Microsoft Office Specialist Master, he specialises in helping PAs utilise technology to save time and reduce stress. Here, he selects his favourite stationery, software and office products. 5 Mobile battery charger I don’t go anywhere without my iMuto power bank. It’s one of the ultra-high capacity ones (30000mAh), and my Samsung S6 can get up to eight full charges from it. It’s slightly larger than my phone – you can easily put it in your pocket – but much heavier. Even so, I don’t go anywhere without it – many a time it’s averted an emergency! 6 Post-it Notes I spend my working life training PAs, all of whom are very fond of ‘old technology’ like spiral-bound notebooks and Post-it Notes. My role is to encourage them to ditch these tools and embrace new technology instead. Writing an important message on a piece of yellow paper two inches square that’s meant to stick to things but sometimes doesn’t is a bit strange. Having said that, we all love Post-it Notes – me included! What I love is the psychology behind them. I’m fascinated by the principle of reciprocity: if you make an effort for someone, they will do the same for you. Writing your message on a Post-it note takes more effort than scribbling on a piece of paper or writing an email. The recipient will subconsciously understand this and go to similar lengths for you. To illustrate this, imagine you’ve returned to the office and there are several tasks awaiting your attention. You see a Post- it note asking you to do something. Without thinking, this will be the piece of work you do first. It’s completely unconscious, but it happens every time. Samsung S6 Microsoft Outlook iMuto power bank Microsoft Surface Book with Performance Base