Those of you that have ever been involved in project management should be very familiar with Gantt charts. If not, I think it'd be good for you to learn what they are. GanttChart.com states that it's a "graphical representation of the duration of tasks against the progression of time." Gantt charts are incredible useful for graphing project schedules because you're able to glean a lot of information from them in a short amount of time. GanttChart.com has a lot of useful resources on Gantt charts, including the history of them and some examples.

Most project management application (like Microsoft Project) come with the ability to create Gantt charts easier from one click after you've mapped out your project schedule. However, when you add all of the other bells and whistles needed to do complete project management, this software is very expensive; and if you don't need the other features, why spend thousands of dollars just to generate Gantt charts?

This is where Microsoft Excel comes in. Jon Peltier has written an article demonstrates two methods for creating Gantt charts: Worksheet Formatting and Stacked Bar Charts. Worksheet Formatting method involves shading the appropriate cells to show when tasks are assigned to be done. You can either shade the cells yourself, or use conditional formatting to do the work for you. The Stacked Bar chart method, however, will give you a chart that is more professional-looking and versatile to do other things with.

For even more information, check out Jon Peltier's web page that lists other links on creating Gantt Chart using Microsoft Excel. This page also lists other tools that you can use to create them for FREE.

When businesses (especially small businesses) market their products and services, tri-fold brochures are and will remain a popular choice. They are for easy to give and to receive, effective in organizing your content into small, precise chunks of content, and they're inexpensive to create (particularly if you can make them yourself.) In a previous post about tri-fold brochures, I referenced an article that I found a long time ago that details how to create one in Microsoft Word when desktop publishing software (like Adobe Pagemaker or Microsoft Publisher) is not available.

This week, I found another article on tri-fold brochures, only this time it gives pointers on how to properly design it. It also references a sample tri-fold brochure template that you can download, along with several other links to get more help on them. Though this article focuses on "educational" brochures, the suggestions given can still be applied on all types of brochures.

In the article I wrote The Bad Side of a Slide Presentation, I recalled my experience at a programming conference where I saw one bad presentation after another. For the most part, the reason for that wasn't because of the actual presentation file, but how it was presented. I believe you can have the greatest looking presentation, and it still be presented poorly by the presenter.

Darren Strange of Office Rocker! has posted some great tips on how to give a better presentation. Again, very little of this post has to do with honing your Microsoft PowerPoint skills, but more to do with making your audience comfortable and conveying your message simply and strongly. I think this quote from him really sums it up:

We've forgotten why PowerPoint was created, to help you deliver interesting and compelling presentations and get your message across to your audience. It was not designed as a way for you to bore people. Presenting is a skill and a great tool isn't all you need. Like all great tools, it is best used by a skilled practitioner - someone who knows when and how to use the tool to maximum effect.

Thanks, Darren!

More often than not, your kids' homework is nowhere close to the kind that you used to get. My kids are no exception; in fact, it got so bad when my oldest son started middle school that we had to get him his own computer. I read an interesting article from an English teacher in Philly.com who says this:

"Students today are a product of an instant-gratification society. Writing a quality paper takes time, and most teenagers aren't willing to make that sacrifice. Like steroids in major-league baseball, technology has become a way for students to cheat - to bypass hard work and cut right to the end result."

I personally think his opinion is a bit general. Besides, in order for this to be true, all schools in our country would have to educate kids that all have easy access to a computer (which I don't think is the case just yet). However, I do believe that the possibility is great if teachers and parents aren't careful. I believe half the battle is staying involved in your child's education - which is no different than 100 years ago; the only difference is that we have the opportunity to use computers as a supplement. 

The word "cheat" is a harsh word for this teacher to use in my view. Most of the time, the child simply needs to be taught how to use a computer properly - like reminding them to use a spell checker, or teaching them the difference between typing a paper for school versus typing an e-mail to a friend. I've made my children retype and edit their schoolwork many times (much to their dismay) because it was sloppy and incomplete. On the flipside, I've been able to teach my children how to make their homework better than it would have been without a computer.

Quite frankly, I think the teacher that wrote this article is a bit too "old school" and needs a lesson on how computers have and will continue to improve our way of life, especially in the classroom. Computers are here to stay; and if we keep looking back to the past, the future will leave us behind. And I'm pretty sure you don't want your chid left behind. I know I don't!

Most of you have probably never even asked yourself this question, simply because it didn't really matter. In many cases, it's simply a virus that you're trying to get rid of; even Microsoft Word and Excel warn you when they encounter one. Below is a link to the article I wrote that explains what a macro is, what they were used for, and why it doesn't matter:

What Is A Macro? Does Anyone Really Care?

But as I state in the article, macros were quite useful before Microsoft Windows came along. That was when we used DOS instead of Windows, no mouse (that's right) and relied heavily on keystrokes to save time. In those days, WordPerfect 5.1 was the undisputed heavyweight champion of word processing programs and basically put macros on the map (man, I've really dated myself, haven't I?)

Needless to say, word processing applications (along with all office suite packages) have involved quite nicely since then - so much so that saving time isn't really an issue anymore. This makes the use of macros just about useless, with the exception to mostly programmers. In Microsoft Office Word 2007, you have to save your document as a DOCM in order to even have your document macro-enabled.

So my answer to the original question is this ... unless you're just curious, don't worry about what a macro is. Of course, I'm sure some of you are asking yourselves "DOS? What in the world is DOS?" My answer to that question is the same.

Maybe it's the little kid in me, but I always enjoy the chance to add colors to anything that I'm working - whether its Word documents, websites, walls, or even my mailbox garden. With so many colors to choose from, it's a great way to express your personality; but it's also easy to get carried away and to be irresponsible in your color selection, which results in a loss of effectiveness in what you’re doing.

It's probably the reason why I end up correcting the same mistakes whenever I look at someone's brochure, a flyer, a newsletter, or any document that has color text. The following article represents the basic guidelines I follow in regard to color documents:

The Right Way to Use Text Colors

When I wrote this article, I was tempted to add one more guideline in relation to color selection; but I decided not to at the last second. In my many years of using colors on the computer, it seems that there are certain colors that I stay away from simply because they never work in any of the documents I create; but that doesn't mean that they won't work for other documents, so I left that part out.

I sure I could submit a post on someday; for now, I think it's important to point out that just because you like a particular color that doesn't mean it's going to work for a document. As I've mentioned before (and will again), the goal is to make it work for the reader, not you. Keeping this in mind should lead you to the color scheme that's right. That, my friend, is what it means to be responsible in your document design.

Well, alright, that's not fair. Of course you can touch the spacebar; we all need it to insert spaces between words when we type sentences. But that's where I draw the line! If you're using the spacebar for anything else other than that, this post has your name written all over it.  You know who you are! The ones that are still using spaces to line up your text in your documents.

If this is you, then I strongly suggest that you either take a Microsoft Word class, or buy a Microsoft Word book and learn it on your own - it's definitely worth the time. However, to address your spacebar problem immediately, I'd like for you to read this article:

Why Using Spaces To Line Up Text Is A Bad Idea

Those of you that have this habit, don't despair - you're in good company! I was inspired to write this article by someone with the same habit ... my wife. For as long as we've been married, I've been the proofreader of her documents. Spaces everywhere! After about five years of replacing her unnecessary spaces with tabs or tables, I finally had enough.

So I began teaching her how to fish, instead of always giving it to her. At first, it was a tough adjustment, as I kept finding spaces where they didn't belong; but with time, that occurred less and less. Not only has she broken the habit, and she has become to be very proficient in Microsoft Word - creating her own flyers, calendar, forms, and all sorts of things.

The moral of the story (and the article) is that learning the proper way to use Microsoft Word will lead to better document design and will open the door to accomplish more with your documents. There's a lot you miss out on if you don't know how to use what you have, which applies to just about anything.

Enjoy the article (I hope it's helpful!)

I can't stand Times New Roman! There, I said it. I hate Times New Roman ... habitually. I'm a habitual Times New Roman hater!

Don't get me wrong, I respect Times New Roman as a good basic font that's been around a long time; but the truth is that it's time to move on to something else. So why haven't we? Maybe because it's easier to stay with what worked in the past. The problem is ... if we stick with the past, we can never embrace the future. This article I wrote years ago attempts to address this problem:

Picking the Right Font Face for your Document

One font that has grown in popularity since I wrote this article in both documents and websites is the Georgia font. In fact, I predict that it will become the new default font. Until then, it is my new recommendation for anyone who wants there documents to stand out amongst the others.

But if you decide not to use the Georgia font to replace Times New Roman, please ... replace Times New Roman with something.

One of the best ways that I learn how to do something is by observing what not to do.  Years ago, I attended a programmers' conference in Arizona where I went to several one hour classes. The conference was good, but what bothered me were the presenters in most of the classes.  Most of them had no clue how to use a Powerpoint presentation. That experience resulted into this article I wrote as soon as I returned:

The Bad Side of a Slide Presentation

The main point I make in the article is that Powerpoint presentations are not supposed to be your actual presentation. The purpose of them are to enhance your ability to present by providing visual aids and/or an outline. So if you have poor oral communication skills (which is natural for a presenter who's a programmer) or you are unprepared for your class, reading your entire presentation from the screen is not an acceptable substitution.

In the last two days of that conference, I ended up walking out of any class of a presenter that was unprepared or was reading their presentation off the screen. There were only 4 out of dozens of presenters that I thought were good enough for me to stick around for and actually learn something from. Needless to say, it was a great lesson for the rest of my life on how to present anything to anyone ... and of course, how not to.

As I was digging through my web archives, I found a link to an article I found years ago that explains how to create a tri-fold brochure using Microsoft Word. However, the article is no longer found on ZDNet's website. Luckily, my web archive still had the text for it, and is now available here:

Creating A Tri-Fold Brochure In Word

There are other desktop publishing applications (like Microsoft Publisher or Adobe Pagemaker) that makes these type of publications easier to make. But if you don't have any of them, create a tri-fold brochure is now well within your reach. Furthermore, the principles taught in this article can also help you to create other types of publications and business forms in Microsoft Word.  In fact, it could end up being easier using Microsoft Word than learning how to use another desktop publishing application.

Microsoft Word can certainly do a lot more than most people think.

Another article that has been viewed quite a bit on BetterDocuments is about a Microsoft Word feature that I believe is still declining in popularity. Perhaps the fact that this article is viewed a lot is an indictor that we all need to be reminded to use it:

Thesaurus: One of the Greatest Tools Rarely Used

Two reasons come to mind that may explain the decline in use. First of all, what would you use to look up synonyms when you're not using Microsoft Word (or any word processing application?) My kids always use Thesaurus.com, or other websites with a thesaurus. Why? Because the Internet is first place we look to find anything - so why would we bother with Microsoft Word for a synonym?

The second reason has to do with not needing a thesaurus (even online) as much. You don't usually worry about how you sound in a personal e-mail message or text message, or when you're using instant messengers, chat rooms, etc. I believe this proclivity is prickling into the way we write all the time(see, doesn't that just roll off the tongue?)

I don't think it matters what thesaurus you use, even if you do it the old fashion way ... a book (yes, Roget's Thesaurus back in the day was just a book.) The point here is that there are still very appropriate and useful opportunities to take advantage of them to make our documents even better.

Luxuriate in the article!

For those of you that are job searching, you’re probably running into a high level of competition for every job you apply for.  This means that you can’t afford for your resume to be lost in the shuffle because it doesn’t grab a recruiter’s attention … it has to stand out from the crowd.  To help your resume rise above the stack, read this article I received in my inbox today:

Is Your Resume Recruiter Friendly?

Deborah Walker is a nationally known Certified Career Management Coach (CCMC), resume writer, and has experience as a corporate recruiter.  She also has resumes and an employment proposal sample that definitely worth taking a look at.  The samples are all very clean, easy to ready, and have great text examples to help improve any resume. Good luck!

Over the next few weeks, I will be submitting entries regarding the articles that I've written in the past that are included on this website (see the Articles link at the top.) I begin with the article that is by far the most viewed on this website and that has been reprinted the most on other websites: 

Characteristics of a Good Company Report

Most of the advice I give in this article is as true today than it was 5 years ago. The one exception would be the last paragraph that talks about making the report look good.  Don't get me wrong, the pointers I give in that paragraph will definitely make your report look good; I'm just not sure anymore that it's necessary to create a good report. 

The older I get, the more I realize that what they say is true: "Content is King!" And though this is commonly spoken of when it comes to creating websites, it most certainly applies to creating documents.  With the right software (like Microsoft Word), you'd have to put forth a lot of effort to make a document look ugly; and as long as you don't do that, the main thing to focus on is providing good information that your collegues can use (and actually providing it.)  Fortunately, the rest of the article will give you good suggestions on accomplishing that.

I'd love to hear any other suggestions or comments you might have on creating a good company report.  Don't be shy - you might save someone's job!