Microsoft PowerPoint presentations have become a stable of “The office meeting”. It used to be strictly reserved for more formal meetings, however with its increasing popularity there are really no restrictions on what types of meetings it is used for today. However, while it is a fantastic tool and very versatile, there are situations where it is overkill to use a PowerPoint presentation. It sounds crazy, but it’s true. Sometimes the benefits of creating a PowerPoint presentation just don’t outweigh the costs.

The following are the situations I’m talking about:

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This is a passionate plea from not only me, but millions of other people who have to deal with Excel spreadsheets on a daily basis: Please refrain from using 8000 colors if you’re creating a spreadsheet. I received a spreadsheet the other day and there was at least 15 different colors used to differentiate the data. The result was that it took me twice as long as it should have to review it. This is a disturbing trend that seems to be getting worse, and I really want it to end.

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I thought I’d mention this site, as it’s a great resource for Microsoft Office articles. Basically, it aggregates these articles from multiple sources (with the author’s permission) and provides a little synopsis for each one and a link to the original article. I like this site because it’s quick loading and it provides an easy to use interface. Another good feature is that it’s not littered with ads like a lot of the other aggregation sites out there.

It’s definitely worth perusing if you have a chance, as there articles on a ton of different Microsoft Office related topics. Here’s the link:

Microsoft Office Reporter.