Ever had the situation where your boss calls and needs everything you have on the Williams account? You think you have the info but it is sitting in different Outlook folders or elsewhere on your computer. Here is an easy method for using Outlook to link and track the information. (Article includes flash tutorial.)

One item many people consider time consuming is finding information. I recall a statistic from Franklin Covey suggesting the average person spends 2 weeks looking for lost information.

Even if your data isn't lost, Outlook can speed up this process using the Link command. The link command allows you to map almost any piece of Outlook data or external files to a contact. You can then view the contact's linked items using the Activities tab.

You're probably aware that Outlook automatically creates a link for emails, but it can create links for other data types. You can link files outside Outlook to a contact. For example, if you're working on a sales proposal you might link relevant information to the client. Using the link feature, you could have the following items display on a contact's Activities tab:

• emails
• phone call notes
• contract terms
• directions to office
• admin's contact info
• meeting notes from presentation
• PowerPoint presentation

As you can see from the list above, some items are outside Outlook. In these situations, Outlook places a shortcut icon to the Journal folder on the Activities tab. When you click the list item, a Journal entry displays the shortcut link. If you look at the screen print below, the highlighted item is a link to a Microsoft Word document.

You can access the Link command through two methods,

1. Use the shortcut menu when you right-click on a contact. This Link menu allows you to link Outlook items and external files.

2.Open an Outlook item such as a Contact, Task, or Appointment. In the lower left corner, you'll see a Contacts button. Clicking the button opens the Select Contacts dialog where you can select which contacts to associate to the item.

To view a contact's linked items, click the Activities tab. After a brief delay, all linked items display. You can also filter the list to show items of a specific type such as Appointments.

Note: This feature works for Microsoft Outlook 2000 and later.

Additional Resources

• 2-Minute Flash Tutorial