The return on investment of Office 365 should not be determined purely by the processes that are optimized, but also by how the new way of working saves employees time AND very importantly – frustration.

Office 365 of course includes incredible apps, for example Power Automate, Power Apps, Power BI, Microsoft Teams, SharePoint, and OneDrive for Business. A very important component however is Office ProPlus, and I want to look at that first.

Office ProPlus

This is the Office we’ve all be using for years but with loads of new features. Even between the Office 2019 on-premises version and Office ProPlus there are some differences.

Companies think they do not have to train their users on using Office ProPlus as they have been using Office for years. That is where they make a mistake. Sadly, we have never used Office correctly and efficiently or our computers for that matter.

I have done loads of research the last couple of years on PC literacy and more important, digital literacy. The number of users in companies who are not PC literate are astonishing. Between 50% and 75%. If you think this is wrong, then I suppose you believe most of your users are digitally literate. Well, I am not here to prove that to you (now), let us focus on how Office 365 / Office ProPlus can make you more efficient.

Here are just some of the great “new” features in ProPlus you should try out:

In your favorite Office apps, you will also see the Help Tab which has training resources, as well as a list of the latest features added:

Windows

Now remember that products do not fix problems, people fix problems with products. So, it is important that you also focus on being more efficient when using technology. And of course, I am talking about your Windows environment and saving time by using keyboard shortcuts. Here are some of my favorites:

Microsoft adds extra to ordinary which enables us all to be extraordinary

Office 365

Here are some things you can improve with the apps and services to save yourself loads of time (and money):

ROI

As mentioned Microsoft 365 can save you loads of time, research has shown that employees who are digitally literate (more technologically efficient) can be 33 minutes more productive a day, but adding Office 365 and specifically Microsoft Teams to the mix is a game changer. This great article by Forrester Consulting looks at savings of 4 hours per work week. That is 10% of your salary bill by the way!

Keep in mind that ROI is not only calculated by looking at monetary savings. Happy, enabled employees are more productive and by far the biggest gain you can ever have.

The Purpose

A very important activity in rolling out Office 365 is Change Management. Without the awareness and explaining the purpose, there will never be ‘desire’ to use the product. Make sure your employees understand the reason for using the different apps and how it can change their lives for the better.

Digital Literacy

Once your employees understand the purpose, they will clearly see how the different apps and services can help them develop and support their digital literacy skills.

Resources:

• Quantifying the value of collaboration with Microsoft Teams
• The real cost of PC Illiteracy in your company
• Microsoft | Office 365 Supports Digital Literacy Skills
• Digital Literacy and the Evolution of Finding Stuff
• Digital Literacy and the Impact on User Adoption
• PC Literacy basics everyone should know
• The true ROI on Empowering your Citizen Developers in #Microsoft365
• ROI on Training, transform your business!
• Want #Office365 Consumption? Do these 5 things
• Is there a difference between consumption and adoption?