Using Technology and Automation to Augment Your Policy Process

When I was an editing student in college, an older professor asked me to proofread a nonfiction book he had authored and get it ready for publication. He emailed me his files and a letter from his publisher that outlined their style guide, and mentioned that the publisher had rejected the files in their current state because of “formatting incompatibilities.” I didn’t know just what they meant until I attempted to format the document myself and noticed a host of bizarre issues: certain passages were locked, fonts and margins were inconsistent from page to page, and some paragraphs had collapsed entirely upon themselves into a single jumbled line of incomprehensible text. The most frustrating part was the more I attempted to fix the formatting through the normal Word interface, the more issues and problems it would introduce.  

So how does this apply to what we do in policy and the vastly unique roles of our individual policy offices? Little did I know (but would quickly learn), that underneath the text we see on a digital screen is an extensive web of coded language that instructs the program how to respond to a user’s inputted action (keystroke, voice, touch, etc.). This code can act in unwanted ways when a user inadvertently introduces invisible instructions to the program (usually through formatting marks, bookmarks, styles, etc.). In the case of my professor, he had unknowingly used some formatting options that had left invisible, residual coded marks after the original text was deleted in earlier drafts. By exposing these marks through advanced formatting options in Word and then eliminating them through the outline view, I was able to fix the coding issues. This was the moment I learned that Word is so much more than a word processor; that it, and other Microsoft Office products (Excel, Publisher, OneNote, OneDrive, etc.), contain a pre-coded network of untapped potential for application, productivity, and automation solutions that most casual users never know is even there. And with a little instruction, these and other programs that we already use can be customized and applied in individualized ways to solve the unique demands of our offices.

For example, my position in my university’s Policy Office involves editing policy drafts and completing research for policy writers. These writers, while incredibly intelligent subject-matter experts in their field, come with varying levels of technological proficiency. When I first started, I would email out our university’s template files for policy drafts, summaries, comments, etc. to writers, and what I would get back would sometimes be barely recognizable as our own template. A lot of my time was spent fixing accidental formatting errors caused by inexperienced users, multiple authors/drafts, or general human error: fixing fonts, sizes, and margins; moving stray lines and logos back where they belong; and just generally enforcing our university’s style guide (e.g., fixing section numbers, alphabetizing). All manual, repetitive, and tedious—but necessary—tasks.

Through a little Googling and dabbling in some of the advanced capabilities and developer options of Word (VBA), I was able to create a template that does not allow a writer to do anything I don’t want them to and automates the stuff I don’t want to do. The design is locked down. The styles, locked. The numbering and alphabetizing is all automated and customized to our style guide. They cannot misnumber a section; my template won’t let them. They cannot move, alter, erase, or change anything other than the sections they need to. And that was just template version 1. Using that template, I am currently creating a custom UserForm app (all through Microsoft Word using its existing features as intended) that will automate all the templates that we use in our office. Upon completion, a writer will be able to simply fill in the UserForm fields and submit, and the template will be generated and auto-populate with their answers.

The above is just one example out of the countless customizable solutions that anyone can create with just a little advanced insight and know-how. By understanding and harnessing the full capabilities of these programs, advanced users easily automate repetitive tasks, eliminate user error, increase efficiency and productivity, seamlessly enforce institutional standards and styles, and create better, cleaner documents and spreadsheets that enhance their policy and research processes.

The purpose of this post then is to gauge interest for a reoccurring segment on the Policy Matters blog (alongside its other fabulous editorial content) that that will educate interested ACUPA members on different ways they can optimize their own policy process by creating simple solutions customized to the unique needs of their office. This segment would consist of short, beginner-friendly tricks and tips for utilizing the popular office programs that we already own and use to their full potential, tailored to a policy administration environment.

Now, I’d like to hear from you. Do you think this information might be helpful or applicable in you and your office’s functions and roles? What unique administrative challenges do you face that you would like to find solutions for (anything, seriously!). Is there anything else in particular you would like this segment to cover?