Hello EA pros! A quick post to show the steps for using and inserting a Quick Part into an email. Using Chat GPT and other AI tools is fine when it’s appropriate but there are simple automation tools that require a small amount of time to set up that will save hours of time in the long-run.
In the enterprise Office suite, this feature is called Quick Parts. In the free Office Online Outlook, it’s called My Templates. For this post, I’ll call this feature Quick Parts.
Why use a Quick Part? As EAs, we get the same questions over and over: where do I find the list of team email distros? How to I request office supplies? How to I get my desk tech updated? No matter what questions you regularly get, here’s my rule: when you answer a question 3 times, make a Quick Part.
Open a new email and write your response. This text can be formatted and include links.
When you’ve fine tuned this message, select the entire block of text. On the Ribbon, select Insert and then select Quick Parts. The pop-up will offer you the chance to save the highlighted text. Choose this and then create a very simple name for this Quick Part. Send the message you created
The next time you get this question, Reply and put your cursor in the body of the email, select Insert on the Ribbon and select Quick Parts. Then find the message you created by name and insert. Send. Done.
Below is a screenshot of an email I made using My Templates.
As EAs, we are very busy. Finding effective automation tools is an easy way to save time that can be spent on higher priority projects for our leaders.  
It may seem like a small amount time in the moment, but think about how many times you answer certain questions over and over. Five minutes here and there adds up to many hours in the course of a year.
Develop a habit to think about how much time you spend on ‘simple’ tasks. This time adds up over the course of a year. Should they spend that time on low-priority tasks they can delegate? 
Doing this builds critical thinking skills that you can apply to your leader and start acting as a strategic partner with your executive.