20.1 Why is it Important to be Familiar with Word Processing?

Word processing has taken the art of writing to the next level.

We are now able to edit, delete, copy, paste and save documents. This was not possible earlier with typewriting. You had to re-type the entire document if there were mistakes. While there are several ways to use videos and audio to communicate in today's working world, the written word still holds its place of pride. Word processing helps manipulate text and create attractive layouts and designs for documents. You can use it to produce a variety of different documents, including marketing reports, meeting summaries, memos and company literature.

Once you have opened Word you will notice the menu, toolbar and formatting toolbar. These are automatically displayed below the blue title bar of the Word window. These can easily be turned off when not required. The menu bar gives you access to all commands, options available in Word and toolbars that provide quick access to the frequently needed commands of Word. If you wish to turn them off, right-click on the menu bar, toolbar or grey space next to them and deselect each one by clicking on the names in the pop-up list.

If you then decide to display them or want to display other Word toolbars, right-click on the grey space next to them and select the toolbars you wish to display. You have to add each one individually. If the positioning of the toolbars is not for your liking you can move them. Click the grey coloured bar on the left side of the toolbar and hold down the mouse button, then drag the bar to the desired location. Toolbars automatically dock themselves at the side of the window. You can then drag each document portion of the window to gain quicker access to commands.

20.2 Task Pane

The task pane is a Microsoft feature that was introduced to Word and some other Office components over recent years (if you use a version earlier than 2002 then they may not be accessible).

When you first open Word, the task pane appears down the right side of the window, making the default view the new document window.

Task Pane

Some experienced users will prefer to close the task pane, simply because there are better ways to execute certain tasks within the document. The pane feature includes useful benefits that cannot be accessed in other ways. At the top of the task pane, you will notice a downward pointing arrow. This  is next to the X that closes the task pane. If you click on the arrow, it will offer additional task options.

For example, you can choose to view the clipboard, it will display 24 of the last items you used, copied or cut. From here, you can insert each one into the document. If you want to open a search wizard, or set up a mail merge document or display document formatting then you can do them here. You can leverage your experience of the task pane in order to improve your productivity on Microsoft Word.

Turn the task pane off by clicking 'X' in the top right corner. If you don't wish for it to automatically appear when Word opens, uncheck the box next to 'Show' at startup at the bottom of the task pane. If you want to display the task pane at a later date, simply select it from the  'View' menu.

20.3 The Status Bar

At the bottom of the Word window is the status bar.

Again, many people overlook this feature, but it offers several useful features. It provides important information about where your cursor is positioned in the document, as well as being rather functional. The far left side of the status bar shows the page number, section, horizontal and vertical position of the cursor and other things.

The Status Bar

If you double-click anywhere on this bar it will make the Go to tab 'pop-up'. This is where one will locate the Find and Replace dialogue box. This enables you to quickly specify where you would like to position the cursor in the document. If you are making a short document like a letter, it is easy to scroll through and select the place you wish for the cursor to appear. For larger, multi-page documents, the 'Go to' feature will reduce the amount of time you would spend scrolling through pages of text.

There are several toggle buttons next to the cursor position information that can help you access other Word features. When turned off, letters will appear in a faint grey colour. Double-clicking these buttons will turn the feature on then the text will appear in black.

From left to right the buttons are:

 REC - record macro button

 TRK - track changes button

 EXT - extend selection button

 OVR - overtype button

The far right button on the status bar can activate the spelling and grammar feature. By default, Word will correct questionable grammar and spelling. Double-click on the button to see a list of spelling or grammar errors in the document.

20.4 New Word Document

When a new document is open in Word, it is possible to immediately begin typing your text.

Simply click within the document and type! Font, font size, style, colour and line spacing will be varied depending on the customizations that have been made to a normal.dot template.

If no customisations have been made, then the following defaults will apply to any text that

you type-

.  12 point

.  Black font

.  Plain font

.  Single line spacing

Margins will be 1 at the top and bottom, then 1.25 at each side unless the template has been altered previously. Text will appear at the location of the cursor and will wrap text to the next line. Press the Enter key to end the paragraph. Then you can begin typing on the next line.

Creating a new Word Document

20.5 Editing Documents

This is almost as simple as entering your text into the blank document. Just click within the body of the document and add the text. As a default setting, Overwriting will be switched off implying that text to the right of insertion point will be moved to the right.

If you highlight part of the document and start typing, the highlighted portion will be deleted and new text will appear in place of it. Whether you are using images, tables, text highlights - all of the results will be the same. If you delete part of your document you can just use the Undo option or Ctrl and Z. This can undo up to a 100 different changes in your document.

If you wish to delete portions of the document, simply highlight the part you want to delete and press delete! Word will automatically correct the spacing each time you delete something. When one needs to delete individual elements of a document, you have 2 options. Your delete key will delete objects to the right-hand side of the insertion point, the backspace key deletes objects to the left of the insertion point.

20.6 Viewing Documents

You can do this from the view menu in Microsoft Word; easily switch between different views that will change the appearance of your document in the Word window.

Each view has a specific purpose, but you can choose a view that is most suited to your specific needs, one that is comfortable and familiar to you. You can change to different views as and when required. You can use any view regardless of what you are doing.

The one catch is that the document view affects the elements that you will see when reworking; each view will not provide you with the same overall look of a document on the screen.

What to expect from each view:

Normal View

Each document appears with a dotted line that separates the page or sections of the document. Columns, drawings, footers and headers, footnotes, endnotes and comments will not appear. 

This is designed to show how the document would look as a web page, with text wrapping as it would in a web browser. All backgrounds or formatting will appear exactly as on the web browser.

Print Layout

All typed objects appear on the screen. This layout is more accurate than the other layout views. If you have problems finding or locating a specific item, use the print layout to check over your work in detail before you print.

Outline View

This view shows headings and subheadings in the Word document. It also allows you to reorganise sections of a document or delete sections. This view is usually not recommended for general editing purposes.

Side-by-side View

This allows you to view all your documents laid out side-by-side. This allows for easier switching between documents.

Full Page View

This allows a full page view of text. While this is not recommended for editing and reading text, it is very useful to spot blank pages and get an idea of chapter lengths. Full page view is also good for spotting formatting errors.

20.7 All Word Play

Word has a good amount of flair when it comes to reviewing the complexity of your writing ability.

Some people look beyond this, but as a PA, you don't have to! It uses lingual texts like the Flesch Reading Ease test that uses Word; Sentence and syllable counts to calculate your score based on a 100 point scale. The higher your number on this scale, the easier it is to understand. A score between 60 to 70 is good for standard files,. You can also run the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level test that examines how you perform at a US Grade level.

These documents should aim between 7 and 8. One can enact these tests by navigating options then go to Proofing. Check Grammar and Spelling, Show Readability Statistics boxes (both boxes should be checked). From then on whenever you check your spelling in any highlighted text, a pop-up box can show you how you scored.

Activity 1 - Sharpening your Word Processing Skills

Estimated time: 10-15 minutes

This module covers the importance of word processing and how you should harness that skill in your career as a personal assistant. As you know, you can create and edit a variety of documents and letters with word processing skills.

So, you should ensure that you have a firm grasp on your word processing skills. Begin this activity by opening a new word processing document. Once you have a new document open, click anywhere within the document and start typing. How can you change the font style, size and line spacing? Spend some time applying customisations to your document.

20.8 A Note on File Extensions in Word

Files can be saved under different document types such as .doc, .docx, .pdf, .rtf and .txt, and so on.

Among these, .rtf files retain most of the formatting, while .txt files will retain the content without the formatting. The difference between .doc and .docx is that the .doc extension is much older and was in use until Word version 2003.

The next update occurred during Word 2007 and since XML was used to code the document file extensions, .doc got converted to .docx. Most Word versions come with a 'compatibility pack' that makes any conversions easier.

20.9 How to Highlight a Square Field of Text

You can only use this feature in special cases.

Hold down the Alt key, then click and drag your mouse. You will be able to draw a box within the document that highlights all characters in the box. If you want to create a perfect square of red text in the middle of a block of text, this is how you would do it.

20.10 How to Add a Calculator to Word

There will be a time in your career when you need to calculate a few things without using the calc. that is built into your hard drive.

Separate calculators are also traditional, so here is how to add one into Word. On your PC go to File > Options > Quick Access Toolbar then switch to All Commands and click Calculate Command to add this to the Quick Access Toolbar. After saving, you will see a grey circle at the top of the Word window. Highlight an equation in the document and click the circle. This will display an answer to the calculation at the bottom of the window. The function will not be available on MacBooks.

Adding a Calculator

Fun tip!

Auto update your date and time. Sometimes there are documents that you will use again and again. You may only update a few key details. If you are doing this with a letter or other common document, then the best approach is to use this trick to automatically update your Word program. Click the Date and Time button under insert tab and a pop-up window will appear. Click the date format that you want, but be sure to click the 'update automatically' box in the bottom right corner. This will make the date automatically update every time one opens the document.

Activity 2 - Practise with the Flesch Reading Ease Test

Estimated time: 10-15 minutes

Hopefully, you spent plenty of time polishing your word processing skills, which you will need throughout your career as a personal assistant. In the last activity, you focused on the very core competencies, which included opening a new document and changing the font.

Since this skill is so critically important, this activity will focus on one of the more advanced word processing skills. Throughout these activities, you have created some sample business letters, so locate and open one. Once you have opened a sample business correspondence, practise using the Flesh Reading Ease test.

20.11 Tips to Maximise the Use of Microsoft Word

1. Heading Styles: By using the 'Heading' feature, you can make changes in one place and impact all the headings in     the document. You can try keeping content as 'NORMAL' and titles as 'HEADING'. The options are available on the         HOME page at the top of the screen.

2. Document Map: You can use the document map feature to get a quick overall idea of the structure of the                        document. This is a very useful feature to help you navigate lengthy and complex documents in seconds. You can          find document map under 'VIEW'.

3. Table of Contents: It can be a time-consuming and tedious task to have to create a Table of Contents manually.            Keep in mind that you will have to keep updating it as you add chapters to the document. Inserting an automatic       Table of Contents (found under “References') is a good option. The feature will automatically update the table of             contents by using headings and page numbers.

4. Track Changes: If you wish to edit a document while retaining the old content, then 'Track Changes' under                   'Review' is an excellent option. This allows you to track any revisions, deletions and additions and it highlights the           relevant text in red. If you don't want the redcolour, then you can consider clicking 'Final'. This allows you to see the       final edited document without the red text.

5. The 'Comments' option under 'REVIEW' is very useful when you wish to pencil in notes or ideas at the side of the         documents for future reference. This feature is also useful if you need to critique a colleague's or subordinate's work.