How can I learn Office 2007 basics in a reasonable amount of time.

[Chad]

If it takes say 5 weeks to learn to do basic things in Office 2007, then it
has to improve my productivity by more than 10% to pay for itself in a 50
week year. And if it doesn't pay off in a year, time's up because it will
probably be obsolete. So I need a way to learn the basics in much less than
5 weeks. Like about a few days. But having just spent five hours exploring
some obscure features I happened across, I do not feel much closer to
mastering it than before I started. I suppose having a human being who knows
it sitting at my elbow for a few hours would be effective. Any other
suggestions? (Dont suggest the Microsoft web site. I looked and it cannot
be done from there.)

 

[Don MI]

If it takes say 5 weeks to learn to do basic things in Office 2007, then
it
has to improve my productivity by more than 10% to pay for itself in a 50
week year. And if it doesn't pay off in a year, time's up because it will
probably be obsolete. So I need a way to learn the basics in much less
than
5 weeks. Like about a few days. But having just spent five hours
exploring
some obscure features I happened across, I do not feel much closer to
mastering it than before I started. I suppose having a human being who
knows
it sitting at my elbow for a few hours would be effective. Any other
suggestions? (Dont suggest the Microsoft web site. I looked and it
cannot
be done from there.)

It does not require 5 weeks to learn to do basic things in any Office 2007
application, even Access. What features you need to use in an Office
application depends on what you want to accomplish. Most users never use
all of the features included in a Office application.

Now if you have no idea what a spread sheet or a database are, I can
understand why you are confused with Excel or Access.

Suggest you start by using Office for your normal work. If you have a task
that you want to do and Help is not sufficient ask in one of the newsgroups.
Every Office application has a newsgroup. Some have a specific newsgroup for
newusers {such as Word and Excel}. Access has a getting started newsgroup.

If your intent is to learn Office in the abstract {not related to your
specific job} and you live in US, suggest you check for courses at your
local community college.

Don

 

[Echo S]

I don't know where on the Microsoft site you looked, but I think Office
Online has some good "getting started" training courses.

Specifically, the ones labeled "Training: Get to know <application>" on this
page are good:
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/getstarted/FX101055081033.aspx

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