Using Mail Merging for Work Efficiency

Bernadette A. dela Cruz

It is a known fact that public school teachers have been managing regularly their students’ records, forms and reports such as cards, transcript of records, anecdotal records and others. The data entry to all the forms becomes repetitive, tedious and prone to errors because each of the forms has similar data that teachers need to fill-in individually which makes accuracy and consistency of data difficult to achieve. When a task is repetitive then it becomes time consuming which may lead to nonproductivity. These issues can be solved with the help of technology and applications that most teachers usually use. Common applications like word processor in combination with a spreadsheet can be a convenient solution to this type of repetitive task. There are features of word processors with combined capability of spreadsheet applications which would achieve the desired results but with more accuracy, consistency and non-repetition of data entry.

Word processors have advanced feature that teachers may utilize to make their work easier and an example of this is the mail merging feature. Mail Merging is existing on word processors like MS Word that allows data from its compatible spreadsheet application, MS Excel, to integrate and merge data into forms and reports in the form of templates saved in MS Word format. Blank forms and reports are designed and saved from MS Word as templates and the details of data to be reflected on the forms and reports shall be entered into the spreadsheet only using MS Excel. The word processor will allow you to connect the spreadsheet file to your form or report template to be able to merge or integrate the desired data onto specific locations in the template. Once data are merged into the template then all data can be viewed or printed accordingly. The process is very simple but it has a very helpful and productive outcome to the users like the teachers.

Teachers or personnel who have similar repetitive tasks may explore on this mail merging feature and other advanced feature of word processors. There are a lot of available applications that may help in making their work tasks easier, and all they need to do is explore. Many office workers and teachers have been using similar applications without realizing that there exists many features that they have not used yet but can be very helpful in their work. Teachers and office workers with similar repetitive tasks are encouraged to make the best out of the applications they have been using and utilize all possible features that can help them be efficient, effective and productive.

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The author is Master Teacher I at Dolores Stand Alone Senior High School