Four of my staff members and I just completed a grant application where the funding agency required use of 10 separate word processing and spreadsheet documents to write the application. By the time we each gave input, we were at a loss as to how to merge multiple versions of all these files into a coherent set of files for the final application. Adding dates to file names didn't help. Neither did using folders for each version. What could we have done differently?
I've mentioned Web-based applications such as Google Docs & Spreadsheets or Zoho in previous columns, but this question provides the perfect opportunity to remind readers about the collaboration feature of these tools. Here's what you can do in the future to gather input and avoid the file management headaches you describe here.
Submitted by: Susan Brooks-Young
Next Tip: TBA
