Why Learn Office 365?

Office 365 is used worldwide by over a million businesses across industries for its ease of use, accessibility, and collaboration features. Also known as Microsoft 365, Office 365 is a cloud-based subscription service that offers a suite of workplace productivity programs along with online storage and hosting services.Have you ever explored all of the things Office 365 can do?Office 365 is used across industries, including finance, business, technology, and education. Learning Office 365 can boost your resume or salary in whatever industry you work in. The use of the program is also shown to boost work productivity and team collaboration. Here, you’ll learn more about the careers that benefit from Office 365 and how it can enhance your professional life. Regardless of your overall goals, learning Office 365 is a valuable and impressive skill to add to your resume. 

What is Office 365?

Office 365 (also known as Microsoft 365) is a cloud-based subscription service that includes Microsoft Office’s suite of programs along with other online services such as free cloud storage and web hosting. Since Office 365 functions with the cloud, users always have access to their documents so long as they have an internet connection. The service is compatible with PCs, Macs, tablets, and smartphones.

Microsoft Office is a popular suite of productivity programs that includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Publisher, and Access. These programs are used worldwide by businesses across industries for their ease of use, accessibility, and collaboration features. The programs offer a variety of functions, such as word processing, spreadsheet creation, promotional material design, and team management. Office 365 combines these valuable programs into a single service that offers the advantages of online document sharing. Microsoft Office cloud services include Teams, SharePoint, OneDrive, and Exchange.

Read more about what Office 365 is and why you should learn it.

What Can You Do with Office 365?

Office 365 gives users full access to Microsoft Office’s suite of programs. These include Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Publisher, and Access. These programs allow users to create professional documents and reports, spreadsheets and databases, presentations, emails, and promotional materials. Office 365 also provides Microsoft Office cloud services, including Teams, SharePoint, OneDrive, and Exchange. Businesses worldwide use these programs for workplace productivity, team collaboration, and management. 

Office 365’s collaboration tools allow teammates to edit documents simultaneously in real-time online. Teammates can use the Teams app to text chat with one another and ask questions without leaving their computers. Documents can also be assigned to teammates as tasks and linked in their virtual calendar or Microsoft Planner, making them easily accessible and trackable in their workflow. Documents are shared easily with a link without downloading or emailing files. Office 365 is an essential business asset for facilitating collaboration within and across departments. 

As an online service, Office 365 offers several advantages. Users can access Office 365 from any device without needing the program installed. This enables users to work anywhere they like and prevents them from being chained to any singular device. Files and documents can also be stored online without taking up computer storage. Updates are applied automatically to the software without users needing to download them manually. The online features of Office 365 go a long way toward improving accessibility and usability.

Common Professional Uses for Office 365

Office 365 (and, by extension, Microsoft Office Suite) is used across industries, including finance, business, technology, and education. Certain programs within Office 365 may be used more often by certain professions. For example, a Business or Financial Analyst will get more use out of Excel, while a Communications Specialist will spend more time with Microsoft Word. Regardless, the entirety of Office 365 Suite contains programs specifically designed to boost work productivity. Knowledge of how to take advantage of these programs is valuable for virtually any profession. Other job areas that commonly use Office 365 include Data Entry and Filing, Administrative, Accounting, Customer Service, and Management, among others. 

Office 365 takes Microsoft Office’s Suite of programs to the next level with additional productivity and collaboration tools. These tools are key for any business looking to boost collaboration within or between departments. They are also ideal for companies with remote workers, as they are becoming increasingly common in today’s digital age. With many companies using Office 365 to facilitate email, conferencing, and exchange servers, many IT positions ask for experience in Microsoft 365 deployment and troubleshooting.

Improve Your Resume

Office 365 is used by over a million companies worldwide and across various industries. Even if your specific job position doesn’t require proficiency in Office 365, you'll likely encounter at least one commonly used Office 365 program in your office and be expected to acquire a basic understanding of it. Job seekers who become professionally trained in Microsoft Office’s suite of programs stand out in a competitive market for their expert knowledge. Employers also appreciate employee self-motivation in learning new skills to advance their careers. Additionally, established professionals who become certified in Microsoft Office generally see raises and increased salaries.

Boost Your Productivity
Office 365 offers a suite of productivity software. The programs feature intuitive interfaces and ready-made templates, allowing beginners to quickly become familiar with functions and advanced users to easily launch new projects. Office 365’s online features allow users to access programs from anywhere and seamlessly switch between devices without disruption in workflow. Office 365’s collaboration tools are another productivity-boosting feature. Teams can easily work together through text chat, video calling, and real-time document editing without taking up time to physically visit each other or conduct lengthy meetings. These collaboration features are valuable tools for entrepreneurs and freelancers outside of businesses.

Learn to Work within a Team
Office 365 possesses several collaboration tools that boost teamwork, such as text chat, cloud sharing, real-time editing, task management, and digital planners. Teams can easily collaborate in real-time on a project, even when they are physically far apart. Office 365’s collaboration tools enable users to boost their teamwork skills through simple methods for working with others, offering feedback, and sharing workloads.

How to Start Learning Office 365

There are two primary ways of learning Office 365. The first is live classes, which include both online and in-person training. In-person Office 365 classes feature an instructor who can guide students and answer their questions in real time. However, in-person classes are limited to locations nearest a student. Live online Office 365 courses can be taken from anywhere with an internet connection and do their best to replicate the feel of in-person classrooms. They may also offer more options in the curriculum than an individual can find in the in-person classes nearest them. In-person courses also feature a commute, which can be time-consuming and costly.

The second method of learning Office 365 is on-demand training, also known as asynchronous or self-paced learning. This training method is best for students with busy schedules who can’t commit to full-time or part-time classes. On-demanded learning is also suited to students who learn best when they can go at their own pace. This method gives students the freedom to structure their coursework how they wish. However, students also lack an instructor to guide them, and self-motivation is required to progress through the material. Students may find themselves stuck on a problem and struggle to move forward or lose the motivation to continue. 

Noble Desktop offers a few on-demand options for learning Office 365 that are free for your use. The Noble Desktop YouTube channel features a number of Excel tutorial videos. Noble Desktop also has a free seminar for Beginners on Excel Tricks and a seminar on PowerPoint Presentation Design. For learning the remainder of Office 365, you may wish to visit the Office 365 Learn Hub, a resource of Office 365 tips, tutorials, and other learning resources. The Microsoft Office Learn Hub may also prove useful since Office 365 includes Microsoft Office programs within its service. For live Office 365 training, search for in-person and online Office 365 classes near you.

Read the full guide on how to learn Office 365.

Learn Office 365 with Hands-on Training at Noble Desktop

Noble Desktop offers in-person and live online training in Office 365. Courses include training in Microsoft Word, Excel, Powerpoint, and Outlook. You can choose between individual classes of various skill levels or bootcamps, which offer in-depth, comprehensive learning. When it comes to becoming an expert in a new skill, bootcamps are a fast and affordable alternative to college. Noble Desktop’s classes are small, taught by expert instructors, and include free retake options.

The Excel Bootcamp guides students from beginner to expert techniques. You’ll learn functions, formulas, Pivot Tables, macros, and additional expert tips and tricks. By the end of the course, you’ll be a true Excel master. The PowerPoint Bootcamp is a similar course that provides complete mastery of the program. You’ll start with the basics of customizing images, shapes, text, and animation before moving on to advanced techniques such as template creation, importing charts from Excel, and inserting multimedia. By the end of the course, you’ll be a wizard at creating professional and visually stunning presentations and slideshows.

If you like the idea of the comprehensive learning offered by bootcamps and are looking for further training in Office 365, NYIM is an affiliate school of Noble Desktop. It provides a Complete Microsoft Office Bootcamp that covers the four major programs – Word, Excel, Powerpoint, and Outlook.

Key Insights

There are several excellent reasons to learn Office 365:

• Office 365 is used worldwide by over a million businesses, and most professionals are expected to have at least some familiarity with Microsoft Office programs.
• Common job positions that use Office 365 include Business and Financial Analysts, Communications Specialists, and IT personnel, among many others. 
• Learning Office 365 can boost your resume and improve work productivity and teamwork.
• You can receive comprehensive Office 365 training through an in-person or live online course with Noble Desktop.