It would come as no surprise to hear that Microsoft programs are some of the most widely used throughout the world. This is particularly true in business, where the standard software in most offices is Microsoft. From the Windows operating system, you use every day to the individual tools within Microsoft Office, most people have had some exposure to Microsoft products.
However, exposure doesn’t necessarily make you an expert, and in many workplaces across the country, there needs to be a few Microsoft experts. In fact, many businesses even want their whole workforce to be Microsoft-literate.
This article is an overview of Microsoft training courses, with a specific focus on how they can help your business.
Who uses Microsoft training courses?
The great thing about Microsoft training is that it’s accessible for everybody. By linking up with a quality training provider, you can access a huge range of courses from Excel for beginners through to a comprehensive Office 365 course. You can also find training for more specific programs such as Visio and Access.
So, anybody can benefit from Microsoft courses, whether you just need to get a basic overview of how Office 365 works, or whether your role involves using specific programs within the Office suite. As mentioned before, Microsoft Office is one of the most widely used business tools in the country, so having at least a basic understanding of the tools you’ll encounter during your working life is extremely beneficial.
The benefits of Microsoft training courses
From a business point of view, there are so many reasons why it makes sense to offer Microsoft training to your staff. The great thing is, there are Microsoft online courses, so employees can easily complete a course right from their desks. Some of the shorter online courses are only 90 minutes in duration, too, so it doesn’t eat up a big chunk of their day. Here are some of the key benefits of offering Microsoft training for your employees.
More skilled staff
It’s a pretty basic concept, but the more skilled your staff are, the more productive they can be. Of course, it takes a lot more than just training to build a high-performing workforce, but it’s a great starting point. If you use Microsoft applications, then it’s essential that everybody knows how to use the software correctly. That doesn’t mean everybody needs to be an expert in building Access databases, but it does mean you’ll need an understanding of Office basics across the workplace.
Brush up on forgotten skills
You may end up hiring staff who have had exposure to Office in the past, but their skills may have lapsed in recent years. With Microsoft online courses, you can address those skills gaps easily by finding the relevant courses for each staff member.
In addition, Microsoft Office changes regularly. While the core concepts are the same, the look and feel of the programs are very different. As the software advances, your staff need to keep up to date. This is perhaps most noticeable in the switch from the old Microsoft Office to the new cloud-based system, Office 365. If Office 365 is new to you, it’s definitely worth booking people in for some courses to learn about the new functionality.
Create an agile workforce
An agile workforce is one that can perform a range of duties outside of their normal role. For example, you may have a sales team that naturally focuses on sales. However, business demands may indicate you need more people to help out with marketing for a couple of weeks. In an agile workforce, you could pluck a couple of people from sales and drop them into marketing roles without too much hassle.
Microsoft training is the foundation of an agile workforce because even though employees may need to learn other job-specific skills to perform a different role, they most certainly need the basics of using Microsoft Office applications. By having everyone skilled in this way, you have more flexibility with your human resources.
Increase tech literacy
You don’t expect everybody in your workforce to be an IT wizard. That’s what you have IT, specialists, for. However, you probably do expect that they have a basic understanding of Microsoft Office. The best way to achieve that is with online courses tailored for each person’s skill level (we’ll touch on this later).
More than just helping people become proficient with Microsoft products though, this type of training increases IT literacy across the board. For example, if someone has never used cloud-based collaboration software before and they participate in an Office 365 course, they will have a greater understanding of cloud computing in general. This helps them to understand and master other types of software you may introduce into the business.
Learn specific skills
Most notably, businesses can benefit by giving employees the specific skills they need. If their role requires a level of proficiency in Microsoft Excel, for example, you can isolate Excel courses for that staff member. If you want somebody to start creating presentations and slideshows but they’ve never used PowerPoint before, you can book them in for a PowerPoint course.
Microsoft Office training is so varied and so accessible that you can upskill your staff exactly the way you want. Also, if your employees have goals to advance into more senior positions, you can start teaching them the skills they’ll need to reach those goals.
What types of courses are available?
In short, if it’s to do with Microsoft Office and you want to learn it, there’s a course out there. Obviously, it depends on the training provider you choose, but most legitimate providers will offer a wealth of Microsoft Office training courses.
Whether you prefer classroom-based training, online eLearning or facilitated virtual classrooms, there are plenty of options out there. Importantly, there are overview courses that can help you learn all of the basics without focusing too hard on specific applications.
Alternatively, you can choose particular applications you need to upskill on. For example, some of the common Microsoft Office applications you can receive training for include Word, Outlook, Excel, PowerPoint, Access, Visio, Publisher and more.
Alternatively, there are now specific courses dedicated to Office 365, which is the newest version of the software. Being cloud-based, the look and feel is a little different to the standalone software you may have used in the past. However, the connectivity and collaboration that’s possible with Office 365 make it extremely popular with businesses. So, if you’re upgrading, make sure your staff are well-prepared.
Levels of competency
The other great thing about Microsoft training courses is the ability to choose a level of competency. Generally, the training options are broken up into 4 distinct levels:
Overview: This gives users an overview of how to navigate and use basic Office functions, without going into anything too complex.
Beginner: A great option for people who know what Office looks like and not much else. Participants learn how to perform basic tasks and understand a little more about what Office can do for them.
Intermediate: People who have used a particular program for quite a while, but perhaps never really drilled down into any of the more complex functions.
Advanced: This is where users can learn to fully master a program, such as being able to perform complex formula functions on Excel.
This means there’s a training program suited to everybody, and people can progress through the levels as they feel confident to do so.
Microsoft learning is for everybody
Ultimately, Microsoft training is for everybody. If you need to use a computer in your job, it’s likely you’ll run into a Microsoft program sooner or later. So, even if you have staff members who rarely use computers, it’s a great idea to at least teach them the basics of Microsoft Office. This will make them more confident, and also more able to deal with new roles and responsibilities.
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