Document Plans
The necessities of the business community have been transformed drastically over the course of time and it has been imperatively observed that the element of responsiveness is essential for sustainability of a business. Another formidable concern that has emerged in the domain of business is globalization in which the issues of uniformity in communication are observed profoundly. The communication capabilities of an organization from an internal as well as external perspective could be affected profoundly by the distinct approaches followed in different international business units of an organization. The case organization considered for this report is LMN Limited which has been involved in the acquisition of a smaller company and requires the creation of a new corporate image. As a project manager, it is my responsibility to design the company templates and provide appropriate guidance for employees in using the documents.
The necessity of documents in accordance with the standards of the modern business world could be facilitated only with the recognition of appropriate software and tools to prepare them. The requirement of business templates is perceived explicitly for the realization of time effectiveness and information consistency. Time effectiveness could be derived from the flexibility for employees to input the data whenever required in the template without the requirement of designing a new document which could be inconsistent with the organization’s precedents for documentation.
The templates are also characterized with features such as reminders for input of information in the template which increases the prospects for consistency of data. The templates could also facilitate the options for flexibility and easy access owing to the easy features for duplication such as macros and copy styles. The final stage of setting up the template involves the privilege of the user to edit and save the template that can ensure precise and timely reporting of information.
This stage involves the design of three company templates which have to be utilized within LMN. The templates would be characterized by certain features which have been described alongside presenting viable illustration of the planning and design of the templates. The company templates which have to be documented in this case refer to Online Form, Invoice and Agenda templates.
The document plans that could be presented for the invoice, online forms and agenda or minutes template has to include the name and purpose of the template, the software program required for creating the template and the number of staff hours involved in creation of the template.
Online Form
Online form:
The name of the document is online form and is used for market research and human resource management functions such as recruitment in an organization. The template is designed using MS Word and the average time required for creation of the template would be approximately one hour and can vary depending on the complexity of the requirements.
Invoice:
The invoice is designed using the spreadsheet software MS Excel. The primary purpose of the invoice template in an organization is for financial purposes and the basis for accounting records of the company. The staff hours required to create the template could be estimated within the range of 15 minutes to half an hour depending in the understanding of the instructions for creating the template.
The Agenda templates are designed using MS Word and the objective of the template is perceived in project management. The use of agenda or minutes templates is also implemented in case of major presentations and seminars in the organization wherein the primary subjects of discussion, stakeholders, deadlines and necessary action items for every project or event are outlined. The staff hours required for creation of the agenda template would be minimally estimated around 10 to 15 minutes by following the instructions carefully. The staff hours required for creation of templates could be reduced by frequent practice of the template design instructions.
The template for an online form could be created in Microsoft Word or using other online platforms that could be complemented with the content controls such as dropdown lists, check boxes, restricted editing and text fields. The form can be created with the help of Word and described in six easy steps for guidance to users.
Step 1:
Displaying the Developer Tab is the first step of designing an online form template.
Open the ‘File’ tab
Click on ‘Options’ and then on ‘Customize Ribbon’
After clicking on ‘Customize the Ribbon’, the ‘Main Tabs’ option has to be selected
The selection of ‘Main Tabs’ opens a drop-down list with checkboxes from which ‘Developer’ check box has to be selected by clicking on ‘OK’
Step 2:
The second step is associated with creation of a form template through the following measures.
The form template is initiated with clicking on the ‘File’ tab
The second step involves clicking on ‘New’
Then it is necessary to find the option for ‘Forms’ in the search box for ‘Templates’
Invoice
Then the form which suits the requirements intended for the online form template is selected.
The option for ‘Create’ has to be clicked in the case of Word 2013 and 2016 while the option of ‘Download’ could be described in Word 2010.
Then it would be mandatory to click on the ‘File’ tab and save the form in a suitable location through using the ‘Save As’ option.
Clicking on the ‘Save As’ option would create a dialog box wherein the name of the new template i.e. online form has to be entered and saved by clicking on the ‘Save’ option
Step 3
The options for including content in the online form could be obtained from the ‘Developer’ tab. The option of ‘Design Mode’ from ‘Controls’ group can be selected in order to include the necessary controls needed for the online form. The controls which can be added in this stage include insertion of picture control, checkboxes, legacy form controls or restricted filling forms, picture control, textboxes controls and date pickers.
Textboxes are important aspects of company documents since they are associated with the significant aspect of document management i.e. information collection. The rich text content control implies that users are able to format their text according to their will which may sometimes lead to multiple paragraphs in a single textbox. Therefore, the textbox control option for plain text control has to be selected for LMN Limited. The step is followed by clicking on the specific textboxes which have to be controlled. These options can be accessed through the ‘Developer’ Tab and clicking on the ‘Controls’ group. The specifications for selecting an appropriate input field are imperative concerns for validating an appropriate content form that is applicable to every field.
This factor allows the definition of accepted format and characters in context of every field and is considered significant for form validation. Furthermore, automated software could also lead to automatic pre-selection of criteria for allowed content is specific textboxes. Then the specification of the field is established on the grounds of whether it is optional or not which would ensure that mandatory information is not skipped from the document planning and management apparatus. Some of the data types that can be considered as crucial entities for the design of company templates could be identified in the form of letters, E-mail, Country, URL, Number, Positive integer, Date and Any Text.
Checkboxes could be inserted through clicking on the ‘Check Box Content Control’ found in the ‘Controls’ group under the ‘Developer’ tab. The restriction form filling priorities could be established through clicking on the ‘Developer’ tab followed by clicking on the dropdown ‘Legacy Forms’. The two different types of options such as Active X Control and Legacy Form control are available to users which can be selected according to preferential requirements.
Agenda or Minutes
Drop down menus are considered as another significant aspect of an online form in a company template since it enables multiple selection and involves the option for redirecting to essential data fields in the online form. Drop down lists can be added in an online form instead of textboxes to decrease the redundancy of entering the information physically in case of specific information such as country name or managerial designation.
Invoice formats are also considered as crucial templates for an organization that are included in the scope of document management and should be included as a precedent for management of new projects. The following steps can be followed to design an appropriate invoice template through using Microsoft Excel. Select the ‘Blank Workbook’ option in the Microsoft Excel homepage which can be found on the upper-left hand side. A blank spreadsheet would be opened by selecting the ‘Blank Workbook’ option. Then the invoice heading has to be specified with the particular elements of company name, descriptor, date and number. The company name ‘LMN Limited’ would be included in the heading alongside the descriptor which indicates the type of the invoice e.g. employee salary would have to be mandatorily included in the invoice heading.
The date and number of the invoice also facilitate prominent implications for describing the invoice characteristics. The invoice number could follow individual numbering schemes for different employees according to the business requirement for which the invoice would be implemented. The invoice should also include mandatory references to the addresses of the sender and the recipient which should be illustrated at the beginning of the invoice. The information related to LMN Limited should be highlighted with explicit references to the contact information, company address, e-mail address and phone number followed by mention of the recipient information.
The information of the recipient should comprise of the name of the accounts payable person, name of the institution and the address of the recipient as well as their e-mail address and phone number. These inputs should be included in locked/protected cells that cannot be subject to editing. Then the invoice would comprise of references to the billing information which can be realized through input of distinct columns that depict information related to description of the service, job or product of the company, quantity, unit rate or price of the job or product and total amount for the quantity of that product purchased or job completed. The total bill amounting is also done in the form of a distinct column which is developed with the use of the SUM function of MS Excel. The formulas which are used in the invoice template would be based on the SUM function and can be implemented in the form of examples such as in case of estimating total salary for a month through addition of the inputs in column that contains data of income of individual day. The final aspects that are involved in the invoice template refer to the terms of payment which have to be specified in proximity of the billing information.
Designing an Online Form Template
The invoice template should also contain a memo which depicts the general information and accepted methods for payment and a thank you note to the recipient. The invoice could be saved with a distinct filename that is unique within the organizational framework through clicking on ‘File’ in the upper left side of the Excel homepage and clicking on ‘Save As’, selecting a location and name of the invoice for saving.
Word also offers the opportunities for framing an agenda or minutes template that can be implemented for conducting different meetings of the organization. The application can be used to open a new template for ‘Meeting Minutes’ by searching for it after opening the ‘New’ options through selecting the ‘File’ tab.
A minute meeting template is considered as a formal addition to the organizational documentation management that is reflective of particular insights into the specific elements such as deadlines, conclusions, discussion, action items and responsible authorities for every event (Nicholas & Steyn, 2017). This agenda template could be utilized by LMN flexibly for planning of new organizational projects and events alongside providing adequate opportunities for realizing effectiveness in assignment of tasks and their completion within assigned deadlines.
This task would be associated with the definition of a PowerPoint template to be followed by LMN Limited. The measures which would be implemented for planning and design of a presentation file would involve inserting the company logo and the text ‘LMN Publications’ in the centre of footer in the Master Slide. The final template is saved using the options of ‘Save As’ with an appropriate filename that should be reflective of the department and specific business function for which the presentation slide format can be used.
A business letter is a crucial document in context of an organization that is liable for facilitating professional communication and other activities pertaining to a job. The business letters include examples of cover letters, legal correspondence, company communications, professional communication and other formal modes of communication.
The requirement of styling guidelines for business letters in the case of LMN Limited is perceived in the formal nature of the business letters and the particular references to requirement of precise formatting. The appropriate styling guidelines that can be implemented for the sample business letter template would involve the information required for individual business activities, appropriate font selection, spacing and the closing as well as signature statement for business correspondence. A sample business letter for the case of LMN Limited can be presented as follows:
Adding Content to the Online Form
Greeting Salutation (e.g. Dear Mr. Conway),
Body of the Letter: It is essential for LMN Limited to understand that the letter should be precise in terms of focus and purpose as well as simplicity in content. The spacing of the letter is also an imperative concern in the styling guidelines of the company template design. The selection of an appropriate font design could be observed in the form of different options such as Times New Roman, Verdana or Arial with a preferred font size of 10 or 12 points. The body of the letter must be specifically demarcated into three distinct sections among which the first section refers to the introduction for writing the letter that must be reflective of the reason for which the letter is written. The second paragraph of the business letter must include references to the details and specific information regarding the request highlighted in the letter. The final section of the letter should re-emphasize on the context of the request highlighted in the letter.
The footer of the business letter should comprise of closing salutation and signature which can be either handwritten or typed signature. The closing salutation in business letter should be formal in nature such as ‘Best Regards’. The procedures for locating the business letter templates and downloading them electronically involve a departmental login and access to the ICT infrastructure. The business letter would be characterized with a page count of almost 2 to 3 pages.
The styling of an external e-mail signature is also included in the document management plan that can be illustrated through the distinct components such as company logo, social media links and legal disclaimer for the organization. The external email signature acts as a resource for promotion which implies that the recipients of the external emails could respond effectively and precisely to the sender i.e. LMN Limited. The header and footer design of the external email signature is characterized by the mention of company information and relevant departmental personnel information. There are no particular salutations or closing statement for the external email signature identified in the styling guidelines. The font selected for the email signature should be simple and could be selected from Times New Roman and Arial and the spacing should be a minimum of 1.25”.
The body of the external email signature comprises of the First name and Last name of the individual, details of their post in LMN Limited and the title of authority in the specific department followed by the name of the organization. The location and downloading of the electronic versions of the external email signature could be obtained through the intranet of LMN Limited and could be accessed from the database that stores data regarding email signatures of all employees in the organization. It is also imperative to consider the integration of any form of documentation required for assistance since the guidance for individual documents could facilitate employees with a distinct precedent for input and processing of information. While the help documentation could be facilitated by organizations through intra department manuals and organizational brochures for documentation management and style guidelines for individual documents such as business letters, templates, invoice, external email signature etc.
Style guidelines:
The style guidelines for three different documents such as the business letter, external email signature and the LMN PowerPoint would include illustration of the procedures for locating and downloading the electronic versions of the required files, saving protocols and instructions such as margin sizes, headers and footers, salutations and closing lines, page numbers and font style and font size and line spacing. Other style guidelines include availability of support documentation and other applicable legislations for the documents.
Business letter:
The business letter could be accessed through logging into the organization’s intranet and locating the latest version of the business letter template according to the month of update and relevant coding of filename. The business letter format could then be downloaded through a single click. The saving protocols for a business letter template are similar to that of a word document and the new format of saving the filename is based on the project name and department name for which the letter is used. The business letter does not have any support documentation and the specific legislation applicable in the case of the document are copyright and privacy of the company LMN Limited.
The external email signatures could also be access through logging in the intranet of the organization followed by downloading the organization’s template of external e-mail signature. The saving protocols for the email signature are inclusive of the saving of signatures with filenames including the name of the employee and their department. The standard text instructions have been provided above. It is imperative to observe that the external email signatures are also accompanied by support documentation which is used for explaining employees to create their own signature according to the template. The applicable legislations in this case include references to the aspects of copyright, privacy and license details.
The PPT format template could be accessed through clicking on the folder for presentation templates in the organization’s intranet. The saving protocols for the PowerPoint presentations are similar to that of the business letters with specific emphasis on the name of the department and project for which the presentation is used. The standard text instructions for the presentation template could be identified as Times New Roman with font size 12 pts. The header would contain the logo of LMN Limited while the footer would reflect the name of the organization. There would be no support documentation available for the presentation template. The applicable legislations in the case of the template include references to license details, privacy and copyright.
Another prominent aspect that should be addressed in case of formulating business documents for LMN Limited i.e. business letters, invoices and external email signatures is to address the legal concerns of privacy and copyright. The communication in business letters could be subject to the dimension of privacy while the aspect of copyright can be perceived in the case of external email signatures that are assigned to specific personnel within LMN Limited.
References
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