For many people, remembering large numbers of phone numbers is an impossible task. When someone calls your office, you need to have the right number on hand right now, and the best way to do that is to keep an office phone directory. While large offices may have complex phone systems with electronic directories, most offices don't need anything this elaborate. With very little effort, you can create a simple office directory to put all the information you need at your fingertips.

Things You Will Need

  • Computer

  • Spreadsheet software or Google Docs account

Create a new spreadsheet and name it "Office Directory". Using a spreadsheet is an easy way to set up a telephone directory for an office that isn't large enough to have a central phone directory system.

Add three column headers to your spreadsheet: Name, Office # and Telephone. If you want, add more columns to the spreadsheet and you can easily track, for example, email addresses and fax numbers.

Send the directory (or the link to it if you are using an online spreadsheet) to your coworkers and ask that they fill in their own correct information and send it back to you. There may be an office administrative assistant with some of this information who you can ask to fill the information for you immediately.

Collate the results into a single spreadsheet with all changes on it. You now have a working phone directory for your office.

Print the phone directory, or email it to the rest of your office for general use. See Tips below for an easy way to distribute the phone directory with less hassle.

Tip

Since office phone numbers change relatively frequently, using an online spreadsheet like Google Docs can save you time and effort. Share the phone directory spreadsheet with everyone in your office and let them make changes as necessary, and because the directory is online, you won't have to worry about emailing new copies when the directory is updated.