Template creation with Word and VBA on behalf of FITKO

Have Word forms & Word templates created using clever meeting templates

The "FITKO" (Federal IT Cooperation) of the federal and state governments based in Frankfurt am Main commissioned eWorks, a Word agency with many years of experience, to create intelligent Word templates for meetings and congresses in 2021. They were looking for Word programming that would consolidate and standardize the countless Word documents for conferences, agenda items, proposed resolutions, etc. that had been created over time in order to consolidate layout and functionality and at the same time reduce the ever-increasing amount of work involved in maintaining and creating Word templates.

The objective was to develop a professional, time-saving and convenient Word template for meeting management that would allow the fully automated creation of a wide variety of Word documents relating to meetings and conferences in FITKO's corporate design (CD). In contrast to the creation of a classic Word letterhead template, it quickly became clear that Word VBA or macro programming would be required to map the heterogeneous requirements and still be able to manage with a single Word template in the future.

Project phase 1 was initially dedicated to the personal consultation and conception of a tailor-made Word template: relevant work steps were analyzed, time-consuming and / or problematic processes identified and technical implementation variants compared. The scope of services for the subsequent implementation phase was then defined together with the client.

Project phase 2 was dedicated to the technical implementation based on Microsoft Word 365 and VBA ("Visual Basic for Applications"). Content and layout were consistently realized in Word to allow the client to act independently in the event of future expansion or change requests - functionalities, on the other hand, were programmed and seamlessly integrated using Microsoft VBA. This seamless integration also includes a separate FITKO tab in the Word ribbon (see screenshot), so that users can find all individual Word programming in the familiar Microsoft Office "look and feel": at the click of a mouse, ready-made agenda items ("TOPs"), proposed resolutions, minutes notes or other meeting modules can be selected and inserted - quickly and error-free. The stored Word quick modules ensure that the document structure, content and corporate design are up to date and can be maintained and even expanded by the client. The time-consuming, often error-prone and unpleasant copying of improvised protocol components back and forth between the Word templates will no longer be necessary in future, nor will the subsequent revision of defective formatting.

Project phase 3 included the proverbial "icing on the cake" - the Word VBA programming of various generators and export functions for agendas, minutes, minutes of decisions and even for the Federal Gazette. The multiple use of the export function for content updates proved to be particularly practical: previously a Sisyphean task, now just a push of a button.

As a Microsoft partner, eWorks actively supported FITKO in this project from start to finish: starting with the first, non-binding consultation by certified Word developers for the technical planning of the required scope of functions, through the visual template design and macro programming to quality assurance, punctual handover and acceptance of the developed Word template. After commissioning, the eWorks Word developers support FITKO with questions about operation, program errors (warranty) and change or extension requests as part of an optional support agreement.

Since then, the client has enjoyed a new level of efficiency in terms of quality of results and process costs, while users have benefited from the now simple workflows and the savings in time and gray hair. Word documents can now be easily edited even during ongoing meetings - with a focus on content and without design stress. Completed agenda items and resolutions can simply be moved from the agenda to the "green list". Et voilà: what used to take time and nerves suddenly becomes a smooth and pleasant process.

Used technologies

Microsoft Office
VBA

Related references

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