Ease the Pain of Collaborating with Co-Workers to Create and Edit Documents
Author: Mary Spargo Marquez
Ever tried to create and edit a document in collaboration with your coworkers or boss? While the standard joke may be that it's like “herding cats,” it can be made considerably easier with simple, often overlooked, tools that are a standard feature of MS Word.
Collaboration can be facilitated by identifying the document as Draft 1 and emailing it from one staff member to the next, allowing each to insert comments and questions for consideration.
To insert a comment, the reviewer simply selects “Tools” from the main menu bar then clicks on “Track Changes.” This will cause the “Reviewing” toolbar to appear.
Next the reviewer selects any document content that they believe is questionable or in need of improvement, points to the “insert comment” icon on the “Reviewing” toolbar and clicks. A comment balloon will be inserted in the margin of the document and the reviewer may enter any observation they would like to make. All comments made by a reviewer will be in one color and when the next reviewer enters comments they will appear in a different color. When the document is saved and forwarded to a new reviewer, it may appear in the “Normal View.” In order to see the comments already made simply click on “Print Layout View.”
When the document reaches the final approver, that individual will click on the icon labeled “Reviewing Pane” from the toolbar and see a list of suggested changes at the bottom of the screen. It will indicate the name of the individual suggesting the change as well as the date and time of the request.
In most cases, the approver(s) will look at each comment and choose to accept or reject. To do this the cursor is placed at the top of the document and the “next” icon is clicked. MS Word will find the first comment and the reviewer can make the accept/reject decision. If a comment is rejected, simply clicking the red “X” will remove the balloon and restore the document to its original state. If it is accepted, the change is made and the balloon is removed.
This tool can also keep track of the number of drafts created and changes that occurred with each revision. It will also allow for merging changes made on a document that has separate comments.
This feature of MS Word will help alleviate countless hours of unproductive discussions and diversions that occur when an entire team is attempting to collaborate and create a document.
Now who was it that said you can't herd cats!
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/team-building-articles/ease-the-pain-of-collaborating-with-coworkers-to-create-and-edit-documents-1360641.html
About the AuthorMary Spargo Marquez was first published in 1994 and likes to write about a variety of topics. She has a degree in Computer Science and has been employed in business, state government, and for a national laboratory. Please visit her at justday2daythings.com.