| How many times has one of your new team members joined a project mid-way through then been faced with the daunting task of adding everyone to your phone / Outlook / PDA etc? |
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Most of the time your too busy to even think about it. There is an easy, no cost solution…use a MS Outlook-friendly Contact List Template which can be instantly imported into MS Outlook.
You can download the excel spreadsheet template (MS Outlook 2003) at the bottom of this article or alternatively, if you have a different version of MS Outlook, you can create your own by doing the following simple steps:
Exporting an MS Outlook-friendly Contacts List Template
- Open MS Outlook and select File > Import and Export… from the menu
- The Import and Export wizard will appear. Select “Export to a file” and click Next
- Select “Comma Separated Values (Windows)” and click Next
- Follow the rest of the instructions to export your MS Outlook contacts into a comma delineated file (*.CSV)
Creating your MS Outlook-friendly Contacts List Template
- Open the CSV file in MS Excel, delete all your current contacts (remember we’re creating a blank template here) and format the table with your project/company look and feel.
- Hide (don’t delete) unused columns (you’ll need to keep these in order to import back into MS Outlook)
- Now you need to changed the file type from .CSV to .XLS so people don’t get confused. Simply select “Save As” from the menu and change the “File Type” using the drop down box at the bottom of the “Save As” dialog box.
- Now get your Project Administrator to fill in staff information and circulate!
Importing your MS Outlook-friendly Contacts List Template
New team member arrives and needs to import contacts…
- Open file in MS Excel, unhide the columns by selecting all cells. Now right click on your mouse and select “Unhide” from the context menu.
- Now save your file as a *.CSV file to your hard drive
- Open MS Outlook and select File > Import and Export… from the menu
- The Import and Export wizard will appear. Select “Import from another program or file” and follow MS Outlook Import instructions. Too easy.
Now you have a MS Outlook friendly staff directory/ contact list template. Every time you have a new team member join they can simply use the import function in MS Outlook and sync with their various gadgets.
Did you find this helpful? Need a little more info? Leave us a comment!
Filed under: PMO, Project Hacks, Templates | Tagged: Administration, business, Contact List, Human Resources, Management, PMO, Productivity, program management, Programme Management, project, Project Hacks, Project Management, Project Management Office, Project Tools, Staff Directory, Staff Management, Templates | Leave a Comment »
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