Hello anyone who can help,


I work in an office with about 50 other people who write technical reports. Currently, not everyone uses the same Word template for producing reports that look consistent (styles, header/footer, etc.). I created a template about 2 years ago that only some people use - the purpose is mainly to get consistent styles for report headings, body text, table of contents, margins, etc. (The text content of our reports varies enough that a template for most of the content would not be needed/advisable.) Not everyone knows how to copy a template into the correct folder and create a new document based on it, and they're lazy.

We now have a new Marketing person (we had no one in this position before) whose job it is to revamp the "look" of our reports, and create a new template for the purpose of visual consistency among all of our report writers. Only she is not making a template (.dot) for everyone to save and use for future reports. She has made a document (.doc), presumably based on her own local Normal.dotm, and wants us to use this document as the "template" for future reports. (I guess by copying it or by doing a Save As??)

How can I convince her that it is necessary to create an actual template file (.dot)? We would not need to use the template to store macros, but could possibly use it for Autotext entries. I know reusing a document as a template can create problems down the line, but how exactly?

Thanks - I know this is a long post!

First a .dotm or .dotx template, not .dot unless people with Word versions earlier than 2007.

With that said, the thing that interests most people who produce templates for other to use is that when the user double-clicks on it, the template is not changed or opened. A new document is created automatically.

Templates can be stored effectively in the Workgroup Templates Folder and accessed using File > New (although that has gotten harder, see here).

Templates can hold building blocks, documents cannot. A template can hold alternate boilerplate language as building blocks, custom textboxes, custom headers and footers, and general AutoText. A document cannot be a container for these.

Basically, templates are designed to be used to create other documents. Documents are not.

Wow. This is a philosophical question actually. If the philosophy is to ensure consistent documents across multiple users, then a template (a real one) is a no-brainer.

Using a document to copy then modify for use has an inherent In-stability. As you noted, it can be affected by different Normals; it can also be affected by whatever the heck anyone wants to do with it. Using a real template increases the chance of consistent documents dramatically. So. If you want consistent documents, use template and styles.

That being said...good luck with that. This is a philosophical point that extends back decades really. I tried for years and years to get our users to use templates, and much more importantly, trying to get management to insist on it.

You have to have buy in from those who can insist on using a template. And at least some sort of training to demonstrate to users that it works in their best interest to use them.

Charles was actually more concise: templates create other documents, documents do not. So if you want to create documents, use a template.

Whew. I know just how you feel, Shansen. I work with people who think using a letterhead template means opening a document called "letterhead template," deleting all the stuff they wrote last time, typing in the new stuff, and re-saving. And they can't figure out how to get the logo and tagline not to appear on the second page. I guess they write short letters. When I found out about this, I fixed the second-page header problem and thought about creating a real letterhead template, but they're not into learning new ways to do things. So I didn't bother. Their system works for them, so I'm not gonna fix it.

I think you really want the new marketing person to understand that consistency will make things easier to edit and give a better impression. Your documents will look more professional. If everyone learned how to create documents based on a specific template (not just Normal), things would be simpler.

Suggestions:
Make a list of the pros and cons of using a template.
Among the cons, show the biggest inconsistencies/problems that come from using different templates.
Explain that some people customize their Normal template so when you send documents to their computers, docs appear different. (That's why we send things out as PDFs.)

Among the cons, acknowledge that people will have to learn something new and it may be frustrating and time-consuming until they learn it.

Add at some point that this will be a good job skill for people to learn.

Then say, "I just wanted to point this out to you so you could consider. If you want to use templates, I'm ready to help people make the transition."

And remember, the best way to convince someone is by listening. Really listening. Repeating what they've said so they know you listened and understood. Then talking.

Good luck!

P.S. Thanks for introducing me to the banghead emoticon!

Thanks everyone - At least I know I'm not alone in being frustrated with this! It looks like our new marketing person has agreed that an actual template is needed, she asked for my help creating it since she said it was obvious I knew more about Word. And some higher management people have agreed to do a training session for those report writers who don't fully understand how templates and style definitions are used. At least if more people understand these concepts, overall time & effort will be saved, even if not everyone gets a handle on it.
Thanks again!

You are welcome. Hope things go well.

Awesome! No more head banging!