2015 – How was it for you?

Here at The IT Training Surgery it has been a busy old year. We have worked with a selection of fabulous clients and picked up some lovely new ones.

What kind of things did we do?

We worked with an event management company to empower staff to use Excel more effectively. A range of courses from absolute beginner to fairly advanced. It was lots of fun too!

We worked with one property management company to enable their staff to get more done in less time. A whole range of course around all of Microsoft Office, from Word, to Excel and Outlook.

Another property company ran a few IT Training Surgeries giving their staff the opportunity to pop in for a pre-booked session and learn exactly what they needed to get the job done more effectively in less time and with more confidence. A win all round.

Yet a third property company joined our client list this year. We are helping them with their general Excel skills and with their own document management system. We have a brand new Induction training in production as I write.

Our transport client continued to work with us. We started working with them in 2014 helping them speed up with Outlook and then teaching them about OneDrive for Business and SharePoint as they had moved to Office 365. We ran a variety of short courses for them – sharp 2 hour sessions which got directly to the crux of what they need. We now continue to run a bi-monthly IT Training Surgery for them as and when required.

We also continued to provide monthly Excel and PowerPoint training for a digital marketing agency with courses booked through to March next year.

On the Mac front – I have been working with a National Museum teaching their graduates how to use Office on the Mac. They have been clients for a very long time and we provide all their IT Training on the use of Office for Mac.

As we end the year we have just taken on a brand new client in the Luxury goods sphere. We will be helping them get to grips with Office 365 as they roll this out to their London office.  We will also be delivering this training for them in Germany!

Public Speaking …

I delivered a session at Office 2015* in October on Office 365 – What can it do for me?

I also ran an afternoon workshop at PA Life Magazine’s November training day. We learned about Excellent Spreadsheets and How to End Outlook Overwhelm.

Book Writing …

I have signed up with a Publisher to get some new books out there. Information as a story. Learn how Matt runs his chain of coffee shops using Microsoft Office. My first book will be about Excel.

Very exciting!

On the Personal Front

For me it has been a very busy year on the home front. My daughter moved to New York, and proceeded to get engaged in January and married in June! The wedding was in New York and it was great fun.

Sadly, my mother in law passed away at the ripe old age of 92. She went to join her beloved husband who died just 10 months previously.

So engagements, weddings and bereavements – A very full year.

Looking to 2016

So what am I looking forward to in 2016?

Workwise

Working with some lovely new clients early in the year. One to get to grips with Outlook overwhelm and another on a roll out of Office 365 including Skype for Business, OneDrive for Business, SharePoint and Office 2013.

I will be speaking at Office 2016* in May the topic is to be confirmed – likely around Excel or PowerPoint.

Book Launch

I will be launching my book on Excel – Koffee Island a thoroughly modern business at Office 2016* in May. I am very excited about this. You can reserve a copy HERE and I will keep you up to date with progress too!

On the Personal Front

I am looking forward to our fourth grandchild arriving sometime in March and to a slightly less frenetic year!

I look forward to travelling to the USA to visit my daughter and Son-in-law in the summer and generally to a happy and healthy year.

In conclusion

This has been a busy year – on the professional front my most successful year yet, on the personal front a full on roller-coaster.

The blog will be having a short break before coming back strongly next year. There will be no blog on Friday – 25 December. The next one will appear on Wednesday 30 December 2015.

May I take this opportunity to wish you all a very Happy, Healthy, Peaceful and Knowledgeable New Year!

See you in 2016!