Deploying MS Offfice 2007 in a Corporate Environment: - Training

[Aluminum_Butt]

Well, as I frequently do, I turn to this group for insight on something that's way outside motorcycling.

 

For those of you familiar with MS Office, you're probably aware that the applications underwent some significant changes - especially cosmetically - for version 2007. Gone is the familiar File-Edit-View menu bar. It's been replaced with the "Ribbon". All of the same functions are there, but they're laid out in a completely new way. I've been using it daily for a year, and I'm still faster with the older versions in Word and Excel.

 

I've been reluctant to roll it out to my corporate community. But, now our customers are using it, and my users are getting more and more files in the new version. We've rolled out Microsoft's free converter so they can at least open the files, but we're getting more and more files that lose stuff in the translation.

 

So, much like our rollout from Office 95 to Office 97, we're going to have to rollout Office 2007 because of changes in the file format...not because there's some cool functionality that my users will actually use. If I sound a little bitter, I am.

 

My main concern with rolling out Office 2007 is training. The real point of my post is to ask this:

 

If you are in a corporate environment, and you've had Office 2007 put on your desktop, what, if anything, did your employer do for training on the new interface?

 

 

[Mister Tee]

Every man for himself. Office 2007 (Word in particular) has a really nasty learning curve. I'm starting to figure it out but I see no added functionality over 2003.

[ShovelStrokeEd]

I got a free 30 day trial of Office 2007 when I bought my latest laptop. I got so pissed off that not only did I dump it, I didn't install the perfectly functioning Office 2003 stuff I had at home.

 

Straight to OpenOffice and never looked back. Just updated to 3.0 and it is pretty darn good. Handles all the functionality I need.

I don't do presentations or much graphing in the spreadsheets.

[Selden]

I'm another who loathed Office 2007 from the get go (although, surprisingly, the Mac OS version doesn't suck nearly so badly).

I managed to use some of the preference settings to get rid of most of the eye candy, and make Word look somewhat like the older version, but overall, I avoided it whenever possible.

 

I've just started using OpenOffice 2.3 on my new Linux netbook, and it's almost no adjustment at all from Office 2003/2004 XP/Mac (other than loading faster, and having more consistency between apps). I'll probably upgrade to OpenOffice 3 when it becomes available from the Acer site.

[Woodie]

Corporate here. Not being forced to 2K7 yet, still on 2K3. Happy with that. (No Vista here either...even happier about THAT!)

[Couchrocket]

My wife works for an international company that went Offal 2007 about 6 months ago. No training. She and I are both VERY experienced with Word. I'm still on 2003.

 

After 6 months I still have to help her hunt for things from time to time, and judging by the cursing that I hear coming from her side of the office, it isn't pretty.

 

I think experienced users will make it work, you'll lose productivity for a while until they "find everything" in its new and ever so unfriendly format / location.

 

I'm holding off until I absolutely have no choice in the matter. I have the converter, so those of my clients who are on 07 can still interact.

 

There are DVD based training programs like this one that may be of help. I have no familiarity with this product, just surfed a bit to see what was out there and this one referenced the 2003 to 2007 dilemma in particular. A large enough employee base may make the purchase worth while. Again, you'll lose a lot of productivity while the folk work through the DVDs and pass them around, etc., but it may be worth it in the long run.

 

Best of luck.

 

 

 

[bakerzdosen]

Rolling out Office 2008 was no big deal at our company.

[Bob_Minor]

I just received a new computer box with Office 2007 last week. No training provided nor would it probably help. It's just a matter of figuring out where the buttons are to do the things you've done for years. I'm still at the yelling and swearing stage when I can't find what I need. I don't see any advantage over the old version.

[ghaverkamp]

Rolling out Office 2008 was no big deal at our company.

 

I'm sure it's no sweat, esp. if there are no Macs. (Plus, they left the UI the same.)

[russell_bynum]

I've been using it since one of the late betas. Other than Outlook 2007, I really don't like any of the changes. I dig the new Outlook, though.

 

I got no training since my upgrade wasn't official. We're now in the process of rolling it out officially and everyone is being offered a half-day training class that shows you how to navigate through the changes. I took it just to see what the class was like. It was definitely helpful (or...it would have been if this had been my first time seeing Office 2007 and I wasn't a technical person) and I think our user community will benefit from it quite a bit.

 

It didn't really go over any of the new features (since most people haven't used any of the new features in any of the last 4 versions of Office anyway) but it focused on the new UI conventions and how to do all the usual stuff you're used to doing.

[bakerzdosen]

Rolling out Office 2008 was no big deal at our company.

 

I'm sure it's no sweat, esp. if there are no Macs. (Plus, they left the UI the same.)

FWIW, when I started here in 1999, there wasn't a PC in the place. That has unfortunately changed, but we're probably still 60/40.

 

And yes, it was a very novel idea to just go ahead and not change something that worked quite well...