This is the love story of a crazy biker chick, who fell in love with people, technology and motorcycles…
The Challenge
Office 365
On the 29th of February 2016 I had this crazy idea: to write 365 blogs on Office 365 in a year, one a day. Just to prove that I could share something awesome about this product, every single day.
This was also a journey of discovery for me. As new features get added on a regular basis, and changes are made to existing platforms, I had to research everything before I wrote about it. That meant 3 to 4 hours of research and blogging a day and believe me it was the best investment I could ever have made in myself. I think I was most surprised when I finished the challenge on the 28th of February 2017.
Microsoft 365
Of course, Microsoft launched Microsoft 365 on the 10th of July and I just knew I had to do it again. On the 25th of July 2017 I started the challenge again. This time round I said that I’ll still write 365 in 365 days, but it doesn’t have to be one every single day. I could then catch up occasionally if I missed a blog. This was a huge mistake and before I knew it, I was 122 blogs ‘behind’. Towards the last month I was publishing 4 blogs a day to catch up and still make my 24th of July deadline. Proud to say that I still made it and kept the promise to myself.
Why would I do this to myself?
The Product
I came to realise that most companies did not know the gems Office 365 had to offer. They think that it includes SharePoint and Exchange Online and some other ‘stuff’.
Empathy
As I trainer I understand that most people still must learn what I’ve forgotten already. The industry does not comprehend the ROI on training. I’m very passionate about this as I believe we are not investing in our greatest assets – our users. So many users out there are being issued with Office 365 licenses and expected to become super users, without the necessary training.
Which is why I decided to make “training” available for free, to all those users out there struggling with day to day tasks and the new Office 365 Apps and Services.
What I learnt from this
It gets easier:
Raised Afrikaans, English is my second language. With every blog I wrote it got easier, the ability to express myself improved daily. Even though I wasn’t comfortable making videos at first, more than 200 later I found myself recording in my Superman Onesie while drinking champagne – that’s how comfortable I became doing it.
Microsoft Office:
Don’t just focus on the “technical stuff”. Many people have no idea how powerful Microsoft Office is. For me, this (and Windows) is the foundation that everything is built on.
Setting goals allows us to look back and admit that we’ve achieved something. It doesn’t have to be a blog a day. Be careful though of lowering your standards / expectations. Take note of my comment under Microsoft 365 about falling behind and nearly not making it.
Help and promote others:
Never stop promoting and putting focus on others. We have so much to learn from each other.
Ikigai:
This is a Japanese concept meaning “Purpose of being”. It’s a Venn Diagram consisting of 4 circles: Doing what you love, doing what the world needs, getting paid for it and being good at it. If you don’t give yourself credit that you’re good at something, you’ll spend your whole life feeling inadequate. The feedback I got from my followers helped me realise that I was adding value.
(That’s #Braam in the photo, my travel companion and Microsoft InternSheep 😊).
Community:
Is everything. I’ve learnt so much from those around me and I’m incredibly thankful for that. Don’t ever forget that you are a part of something bigger and that all those parts (of others) make you who you are. Ubuntu is a Nguni Bantu word meaning “I am who I am, because of who we all are.”
Now seeing as I’ve done this twice, many people reckoned I would just do it again, and believe me, the thought has crossed my mind. I did however decide to “take this show on the road”. I need to live a little, et out my office, see the world, meet amazing people and see the sun shine. And ride ‘my bike’.
How will this work?
Every couple of months I’m going to travel to a new country, rent a motorcycle, and travel to as many communities as possible, for 15,2 days. Purpose would be to create awareness around Digital Literacy and give users an overview of Office 365 Apps and Services and how it can transform their lives. I’ll do video and written blogs to capture and share my journey and experiences. Feedback would be crucial, and I’ll be using Microsoft Forms & Flow to gather valuable feedback for myself and Microsoft.
I will be inviting other community members to join me on my journey when I’m in their respective areas.
Reach out if you’re interested on getting involved in any way, here’s a link to a Microsoft Form that can be completed: https://bit.ly/2LaQBRQ
Resources:
- My Blog: https://tracyvanderschyff.com
- Microsoft 365 Challenge Index: https://tracyvanderschyff.com/microsoft-365/
- Office 365 Challenge Index: https://tracyvanderschyff.com/ato365days/
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaUZt9wFoDhcqkal2e4Yb5A
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/tracyvds
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TracyVanDerSchyff
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tracy-van-der-schyff-6470a543/
- My Website: http://tracyvanderschyff.co.za/
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