To enhance your career development you need to have an edge on the others. Microsoft Office training provides you with a way of achieving this. Through training you are given the skills and knowledge to enable you to manage information more effectively, work more efficiently and improve your job performance. Following attendance at a Microsoft Office training course you will become aware of, and be able to take full advantage of the functions available in the various applications. This article aims to provide some examples of where such improvements in efficiency, effectiveness and performance can be found.

The planning stage of any project is critical in determining it's success. Microsoft Project is a powerful tool which can be used in this planning process. Training will provide easy to implement techniques to better plan, schedule and allocate resources. This enables you as the project manager to increase your productivity, allowing more time to stay on top of critical project management tasks.

A vast number of e-mails are sent and received each day. Keeping track of the information and requirements contained within them is vital. Training in Microsoft Outlook will provide you with the skills to be able to manage your time more efficiently, define tasks more accurately and process incoming information more efficiently.

An important aspect of improving your efficiency is to be able to reduce the time spent in completing time consuming, repetitive tasks. For example, by creating templates for regularly repeated documents such as letters, invoices or reports, a considerable amount of time can be saved by not having to repeat the formatting or re-typing standard text. Such documents are also likely to contain fewer errors and have a much more professional appearance because of their continuity in style. Considerable time can also be saved by learning how to automate basic, repetitive tasks, for example by creating macros in programs such as Word or Excel. Macros provide shortcuts to tasks you do repeatedly by recording a series of commands that can then be performed again at the touch of one button.

It is important to be able to gather, organize and report on information vital to your business. Microsoft Access is a powerful database tool which, when used properly, enables you to do this. Training will provide you with the knowledge to create a solid business structure, pull in outside data and create flexible, user-friendly reports.

The knowledge gained through attending a Microsoft Excel training course can be used to allow you to design customised databases and spreadsheets to fulfill functions specific to your job. Developing the skills to manipulate data in Microsoft Excel and use the various chart options available to interpret and report such data can greatly improve the ease with which you can interpret such information, as well as improve how you report your findings to others.

Microsoft PowerPoint slides can do far more than just contain the speaker's notes. Training in PowerPoint can greatly improve the quality and effectiveness of your presentation. You will then be able to produce interesting, engaging and meaningful presentations which keep the audience's attention and make sure you get your message across.

The above are just a few examples of the numerous ways the Microsoft Office suite of applications can be used to improve efficiency and accuracy. Undertaking training in these applications will result in improved productivity and performance giving you an edge over the competition in your career development.