TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
I had a similar situation at my last job. I created one custom document
template, and then took the standard Word templates and put the company
logo/disclaimers in them. You don't have to create a new custom template
for each type that is requested. Just open your standard template, type up
the sample text formatted as you describe below and save as a "new"
template. Keep them all in a central location where everyone can get to
them. We had links to them on our intranet as everyone had access to that.
Another idea is query the people who have created documents in the format
people are requesting fax, itinerary, etc.). Collect some "sample"
documents and put them in a central location for people to use as a base for
their own documents.
What's easy for us as technical writers, is not easy for everyone. Giving
people a leg up improves productivity overall which improves the company's
bottom line--something to keep in mind--especially in these odd economic
times.
You will never find a company where everyone can/will/wants to use Word
properly.
I think it's good that they want a template. That implies they are willing
to accept process and style--a major hurdle in itself. And here's something
else I've seen: the ones that do know how to use Word will often start
creating their own styles because they don't like yours. <grin>
I agree with the others who have responded, that you have to prioritize
templates (and all the other things people will request of you) and they
aren't usually at the same level as your documents.
Good luck. Keep cashing those paychecks.
Carly
-----Original Message-----
From: bounce-techwr-l-121213 -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com
[mailto:bounce-techwr-l-121213 -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com]On Behalf Of Brian Das
Sent: Tuesday, June 10, 2003 8:32 AM
To: TECHWR-L
Subject: templates [hellfire & brimstone]
I don't even know where to begin, so I'm just going to start venting.
I work at a fairly new, 80-employee software company.
Nobody here knows how to use MS Word properly. Fine. My predecessor designed
a handful of templates, which were all buggy and unstable, loaded with
"WordArtt" and text boxes and garbage styles. She wrote 100 pages of
training material and gave every single employee a half day of training on
how to use the templates.
Everybody hated the templates; few people used them. The only people who
used them were the executives, who also hated them but tried anyway.
Eventually, they gave up and stopped using the templates. They asked me to
fix the templates, which I did. They're now simple and refined and elegant
and blah blah blah...whatever.
I get almost daily phone calls asking people to create a new template. "I
need an itineray template! I need a fax template! I need a meeting minutes
template!" (IMHO, they just don't understand how to use a hierarchy of
headings -- e.g. an itenerary is nothing but a document with dates and
destinations for headings...)
In order to reduce the volume of requests, my boss has started fielding
these calls. She hacks away for a few minutes, and then calls me.
She's suggesting more training for people. She's thinking, "Teach a man to
fish" etc. etc. She's also trying to think of ways to enforce the use of
templates on internal and external documents -- writing to all managers,
etc.
Frankly, my own problem-solving skills haven't helped me with this one -- I
get all riled up and irritated. I didn't get in to this career path to be
Tommy Template. Anyone have similar problems? Solutions?
---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as:
archive -at- raycomm -dot- com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-obscured -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com
Send administrative questions to ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com -dot- Visit http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.
