Why doesn't everyone use templates?

This is something I've never understood. Why don't more people use templates in their office?

Templates are a way to standardize what comes in and what goes out. Templates are a way to make sure we're all on the same sheet of music, when creating such standard documents as purchase orders, cover letters, confirmation letters, presentations about our company, and expense reports.

I've heard people say that standardization can suppress creativity. OK, fair enough. But the way I see it, this is not the kind of stuff that we want to spend our creative resources on; this is the kind of stuff where the compelling interest to project a unified front is far more important than the compelling interest to be creative.

Save creativity for new ideas about how to manage resources, how to promote and position products, how to sell and market services.

Here's a couple of ways to think about how to use templates in the various Office applications:

1. In Word, templates are a really effective way to store styles and macros. So if you create styles that reflect the company look and feel, you can check the box that says "add to template," and then the template becomes a container for those styles - the two go together. As far as macros go, if the automation provided by the aforementioned macros is specific to the template, why not?
2. In Excel, create templates, like an expense report, where the expense types are fully spelled out and known quantities. Protect the cells that have the formulas (total miles travelled; reimbursable rate times miles travelled). Use Data->Validation to establish upper and lower thresholds for values put into those cells. Use Data->Validation->List to ensure that a person has to choose their name from a drop-down that's in another set of cells.
3. In PowerPoint, create a template with your company logo and colors. Put standard company fonts into the Slide Master and/or Title Master, so that everyone begins with the same look and feel.
4. In Outlook, you can use templates to create a standard message, like a confirmation of purchase, or a request for payment.

In all four cases, create the look you want in the file. That means everything - margins, headers, footers, backgrounds, fonts, colors, the whole bit.

Also, in all four cases, File->Save As. Give the file a meaningful name ("Expense Report" or "Confirmation Message," for example.)

Make sure to go to the bottom, where it says, "Save As Type." Change the type to "template." In Word, it's "Document Template;" in Excel and Outlook, it's just "Template;" in PowerPoint, it's "Design Template."

Once you click on the option for the program in question, you will find yourself taken to a whole new folder, called just "templates." That folder, by default, is in "C:\Documents and Settings\user\Application Data\Microsoft\Templates." This is normal; don't be alarmed. Go ahead and let the program save the template there. Hit "Save," and then close the template file.

Pause. How can you modify your templates directory so that other people can share your templates? Easy. First, open Word. Go to Tools, Options, File Locations. What I generally recommend to people is to change the setting called "Workgroup Templates." In my case, I changed my "Workgroup Templates" on my own computer to a folder called "NHCLC Templates," with NHCLC standing for New Horizons Computer Learning Center, where I work.

For the first three programs mentioned, the way you access the template to use it is to go to your "File" menu, and choose "New." I'll describe Outlook's method shortly. If you use Office 2000 or previous, you'll get a window that says "Templates." Yours will be listed under the tab called "General."

If I had modified my "Workgroup Templates" setting in Word, then any templates I save in the "NHCLC Templates" folder will also show up in the tab called "General."

To get the templates that I created to show up in a separate tab, what I would do is put sub-folders under "NHCLC Templates," like "Reports," and "Personnel." If I do that, then the names of the folders show up as tabs in the "Templates" window. That would be a sound idea if you have a fairly extensive array of templates.

If you want to ensure that everyone in your office uses your templates, the best thing to do is get buy-in at the top levels. If you do, then you can get your administrator to copy the registry key that tells people where their workgroup templates are located. The key, by the way, is called "SharedTemplates," and it's under "My Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\10.0\Common\General."

Remember, the number "10" in my case refers to the fact that I run Office XP. For 2003, it's "11," and for 2000, it's going to be "9," and so forth. But, if in doubt, you can do a registry key search for "SharedTemplates," and you're good to go.

Once you've found the one you want, just double-click on it. Remember, the best part of all is that you're not overwriting the template when you use this method. You're starting a new document based on it. It's a very elegant, scalable solution.

Back to Outlook. The way you create and use an Outlook template is slightly different. Before you start composing your template message, go to Tools->Options->Mail Format, and make sure that "Use Microsoft Word to edit e-mail messages" is turned off. Personally, I think this so-called "feature" sucks, but that's another story.

Once you've hit "OK" on that change, start a new mail message. Put in that message any information that will be constant for every time you send it. I might create a message addressed to my training group, subject "Timesheets are Due," with the message text being, "Timesheets are due this Friday." That's keeping it nice and generic; it's not date-specific.

Once that's in place, in the message, go to "File," and choose "Save As." Again, as above, save the file as a template.

Close the message. When it asks "Do you want to save changes?" you can say no.

To use the template, you go to your "File" menu, and click on "Choose Form" (towards the bottom.) At the top, where it says "Look In," choose "User Templates in File System." That's where you'll find yours. Click "Open," and you're good to go.

Templates, my friends, will save you infinite amounts of doing and re-doing, and making sure everyone has the most current version of this or that. Make templates not just a policy at your office. Make them a religion. Amen!