Useful programs for PC that make our work easier: 7 of our colleagues recommend these

Author: Zuzana Kocáková

Digitization

8 reading minutes

Some will make our work easier, others will make it more difficult. However, the broad market offers a multitude of tools and many times it can be difficult to navigate them at all. To prevent you from having to research and test programs for a long time, we’ve listed the apps we can’t imagine a working day without. We looked for proven “helps” in the ranks of analysts, testers, consultants and office managers.

Outlook and MS Teams – Pato, Test Manager

Pato has been working for us for more than three years as a test manager and test leader. No wonder that the classic paper diary was not enough for him already in the early days and he replaced it with more modern tools.. “I can’t do without Outlook and Microsoft Teams while I’m working because, as they say among managers, making phone calls is work too,” says Pato.

Thanks to these programs, he can not only instantly connect with international colleagues, but he can schedule online meetings and resolve acute issues quickly and efficiently, which pays off not only when working from home. Despite the fact that these are quite well-known tools, many people have not come into contact with them yet and thus have not discovered all of their advantages and simplicity. “I think both Outlook and Teams are pretty intuitive tools, so no one should have a problem using them,” he says.

Power BI – Arnold, Excel/PW Analyst

Arnold has been working at msg life for over a month as a Power Query Analyst and cannot imagine his working day without Power BI. How does it make his job easier? “Power BI allows me to easily combine different data sources into data models for further analysis and reporting,” says Arnold.

Although, unlike Outlook or Teams, you need knowledge of SQL, MDX, M or DAX to use this tool, the application is full of features and there is always something new to discover. “I’ve been using the program for more than three years and I’m still learning,” says Arnold. If you’re interested in this program, you’ll be happy to know that PBI is free for the desktop version, but you’ll have to pay extra to back up your data to the cloud or use PQ and PP.

Excel – Laura, Student, Analyst

Laura is one of the youngest and newest members of our team, she has only been working at msg life for two months, but she quickly found out which program makes her work the easiest. Since she is an analyst, Excel has become a very good program for her. “I use it every day, it always helps me to be organized,” says Laura.

Although she is only using the program at a basic level for now, she says it can be learnt immediately. “Excel works with its own formulas. The basic ones that almost everyone uses are very intuitive and easy to learn, but if you want to get the most out of Excel, it takes some time to understand the more complex formulas and functions,” adds Laura. Although the tool is chargeable, it is very useful for the analyst’s work and worth investing in. Alternatively, there is also a very similar, freely available online application called Google Sheets.

Canva, Loomly, Mindmap – Zuzka, Office Manager

Zuzka has been working for msg life Slovakia for almost eleven years. She currently holds the position of Business Office Manager and her long tenure with the company, as well as her varied job position, is matched by a list of favorite programs. “At work, I use Outlook calendar, Canva, Loomly, Mindmap, Gimp, Greenshot and I wouldn’t believe I’m typing this, but I also use Excel,” laughs Zuzka. “Canva, Pickmonkey, Gimp and Greenshot help me prepare graphics for copywriters and graphic designers, which I then upload to Loomly. This is a program designed for social media. Mindmap is an amazing thing for creating mind maps and storing ideas digitally,” adds Zuzka.

Despite the long list of applications, she admits that her most faithful help is still just a pen and paper. Among the basic programs for her is a task manager, where she allocates her time and schedules tasks. All of these applications are simple, she says, so anyone can try them out. Although no special knowledge is required to use them, according to the office manager, knowledge of graphic editors is definitely useful.

In addition, the programs are freely available, but the paid versions greatly expand their possibilities. There are several alternatives in this area, such as Adobe programs, but according to Zuzka, it depends on who is comfortable with what and what they have learned to work with.

Snagit – Tomas, Data Analyst

Tomas has been part of our team since September 2O2O and one of his favourite tools is the Snagit app. What is it for? “The program helps to create printscreens, record the screen but most importantly it offers a panoramic view that can be used to capture an enormously large area on a web page, for example. It’s possible to scroll in all possible directions and the program can process a large image,” explains Tomas.

Data analyst, but also other employees will use this program, for example, when storing data and information from web pages. “The program also has its own editor, where I can quickly and easily colour-code important parts, cut them out or write notes,” adds Tomas. If you didn’t know about this useful program for PC, you should give it a try. According to Tomas, it is a very intuitive, so it is not difficult to learn how to use it. Although it is a fee-based tool, the analyst says the price is adequate for its capabilities. A freely available alternative is Greenshot, but according to Tomas, it doesn’t offer as many features as Snagit.

Outlook, OneNote, Jenkins – Zuzka, Business Consultant

Zuzka has been working in our company for ten years as a Business Consultant. This demanding position can be made easier by various useful programs including Outlook Calendar, Jira, StarLeaf, Teams, as well as programs such as OneNote and Jenkins/Bitbucket. “Thanks to the calendar, I keep track of my activities and deadlines. I mainly use Jira when working on a project. StarLeaf or Teams make it easier for me to communicate, because you can’t deal with everything by email, and that goes for the non-pandemic period as well,” explains Zuzka.

OneNote helps the business consultant as a notepad, which has the advantage of being shareable. Zuzka uses Jenkins/BitBucket when working on a project. “I check commits here or what state the builds are in, what is being tested, etc.” Although some of the applications sound complicated, Zuzka says they are very simple and anyone can use them. Moreover, the programs are freely available, so test them right away!

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Useful programs for PC that make our work easier: 7 of our colleagues recommend these

Zuzana Kocáková

At msg life Slovakia I take care of the company culture, events and I am part of the marketing team. I like a job where I can be creative and contribute to making my colleagues at msg feel good. I regularly prepare for you not only news and interesting things from the world of information technology and insurance, but also from behind the scenes events at msg life Slovakia.