I’m surprised how many church staffers are still using Outlook Express for their email program. It’s the barebones version of Outlook. and Outlook is SOOOO much better, especially the latest version of Outlook (2007). 

Some even use Express when they have the full version installed. Why? Because somehow their computer is set up to use Express version as the default email program. Check to see if you have OUTLOOK on your computer. If you don’t have it, you can get it as part of the Microsoft Office Suite.

I’m also surprised (why… I don’t know) how many church staffers don’t fully utilize OUTLOOK to organize themselves.  In my software business, I use Outlook as my MAIN PROGRAM to keep myself organized and in touch with people.

Outlook has three features I can’t live without, and church staff shouldn’t live without:

1. The Calendar Reminders.

I create pop-reminders for everything. That office nag have saved my butt more than once. During school days, I have it nag me at 2:45 every day to remember to pick up my daughter. 

I use the Calendar as a PROJECT MANAGER. I set “reminders” in the calendar to work on certain projects on certain days. This week, for example, I have it set to remind me every day at 2 pm to work on the new catalog.

I just open the calendar, click a day and “create a new event reminder.”  I can even select how OFTEN I want it to nag me. “15 minutes before” for picking up my daughter. “2 hours before” for projects.

[I also use the Calendar as a calendar…scheduling vacations, parties, special events, travel, and all the other important stuff in my life. Each of those has a reminder too. when I schedule a seminar for example, I schedule a date 3 weeks in advance to “buy a plane ticket.”  I leave nothing to my memory or post-it notes! Calendar has gotten more sophisticated in Outlook 2007.]

2. The Email Follow Up reminders.

You email me asking me “where is that thing?” And I tell you, “I’ll need to get back to you on Monday.” So Monday comes along, and rather than looking for a post-it note, my “Outlook Nag” pops up on Monday morning saying “read this email again you dope.”  

RIGHT click any email in your inbox and select SET REMINDER. Pick a day and TIME, and click OK.

The rest of my life should work so easily.

3. The RULES Feature

A third thing I really use in OUTLOOK is the “RULES” feature for triaging my email inbox.

Example: All emails with the word “ORDER” in the subject line or message body get put in a special FOLDER within my inbox. That way I know to act on them quickly. They don’t get lost in my general email.

Example 2: All emails I get from Deni my programmer go into a folder marked “Deni”.   These folders collect their emails so I don’t lose them in the general population of emails (which is easy to do).

Maybe you don’t have that much email? Count yourself lucky. But if you get a lot of SPAM, you need to get a spam filter, but you can ALSO use the RULES feature to save all your “important” email in their own specially labeled folders, instead of missing it amongst all the adds for “enlargement products.”

The easiest way to create a rule is to RIGHT CLICK those special emails, and then walk through Outlooks options for that email to always “route” them to a special folder when they come in. Routing options can be based on who the send is, or what the subject is, or key words in the message, or all three. It’s E-Z. 

These RULE features really help when you are discussing a subject through a SERIES OF EMAILS, and you want all those emails to stay together in one place.

For Example –staff discussions: Right click emails from your fellow staff members, and follow the rule process to put all emails from that sender into a special “Staff” folder. 

Explore Outlook’s options!! You’ll be amazed how smart and attentive it can make you look.

And on that score… I for one need all the help I can get.