BSB50415: Diploma of Business Administration - Design & Develop Templates & Standard Text Assessment Answers

Assessment description

In response to a simulated business case study and a scenario, you will design and develop templates and standard text for two types of business documentation in accordance with business requirements and style guidelines. You will submit templates to others for feedback, then you will improve and resubmit your final templates. You will also prepare a written reflection in which you will demonstrate knowledge of the document production process.

Procedure

1. Read the scenario below.
2. In response to the scenario, and referring as required to the Adept Owl simulated business documentation provided, evaluate the purpose, audience and information requirements for a letter template and an expense report.
3. Develop a draft letter template, including standard text, that:

   1. meets scenario requirements including information and audience requirements for standard text, style and tone
   2. follows the Adept Owl style guide
   3. includes at least one suitable editing macro (remember, to save a macro in a template, you need to Save As a Macro-Enabled Template)
   4. includes fields for use with mail-merge.

4. Develop a draft expense report template (see example in Appendix 1) that:

   1. meets organisational requirements set out in the scenario
   2. includes at least one suitable macro to improve the usability of the expense report template
   3. includes one other feature such as drop-down lists or form fields to further automate or standardise document production.

5. Conduct peer usability testing with fellow learners and collect written feedback on templates. Specifically request feedback on readability, appearance and usability. Submit draft templates to assessor, who, in the role of a senior manager will provide feedback for improving template design from the standpoint of the organisation.
6. Make improvements to the two templates to incorporate feedback.
7. Print a hard copy of the final expense report according to organisational requirements.
8. Write a reflection in which you describe the process you undertook to design and develop standard text for the letter template and expense report template. Ensure you include a description of how you:

   1. incorporated organisational and audience needs into your templates
   2. reviewed, evaluated and selected technology and complex technical functions for use in automating document production, matching document requirements with software functions
   3. reviewed and selected document designs and layout in accordance with organisational house style requirements
   4. tested templates and gathered feedback on usability. Describe user feedback. Describe testing process: testing of macros; testing of mail merge.

9. Submit documents to your assessor within an agreed timeframe. Ensure your documents reflect specifications as outlined below. Keep copies of all submitted materials for your records.

Adept Owl scenario: Design and develop standard text

As a new member of the administration team, with a responsibility for team leadership and document design and development, you will need to lead and manage template development.

One of the most common tasks undertaken by the administration team is writing letters to both internal and external customers. To conform to business requirements, such letters need to adhere to Adept Owl house styles and use Microsoft Word. The team and organisation require easy-to-use templates to facilitate letter writing and editing for a range of purposes and associated information content, for example marketing mail-outs and internal communication. Macros may be useful for a range of editing functions such as:

• replacing multiple spaces with a single space
• replacing soft returns with paragraph breaks
• removing spaces that occur directly before or after paragraph breaks
• removing spaces that occur directly before or after tabs
• replacing multiple tabs with a single tab.

Currently, letters are created from scratch. Mass mail-outs present a problem for efficiency as letters are created individually. This practice presents a problem with respect to consistency and wastage of resources.

In particular, a letter template for production delays is sorely needed to standardise the organisation’s communications with affected customers. See Appendix 1 for content requirements and audience needs.

Another type of document the organisation currently lacks standard templates or processes for is expense reporting. Staff use a range of methods to report expenses. There are several problems associated with this arrangement. Staff filling out reports complain about the time needed to input expenses. Administration staff complain about the lack of consistency, including incorrect or incomplete coding of expenses.

There are several business needs associated with expense reporting. For example, allowable expenses codes are:

• Food
• Transportation
• Communication
• Training

See Appendix 1 for details on information and formatting needs for both the letter and spreadsheet templates.

Finally, according to recent staff feedback, an expense report template that takes advantage of time-saving macros is required. For example, macros could save time by clearing fields or calculating totals.

Specifications

You must provide:

• draft and final templates for a letter and an expense report
• copies of the written feedback on templates, for example mark-ups, emails, notes
• written reflection on process of document production undertaken.

Your assessor will be looking for templates and a written reflection that demonstrate:

• literacy skills to:

  • read and interpret policies and procedures
  • review and select technological designs
  • consider aspects of context, purpose and audience when designing and formatting texts

• technological skills to manage design requirements and layouts
• knowledge of document production processes
• knowledge of the functions of a range of software applications, including desktop publishing (formatting), word processing and spreadsheets
• knowledge of organisational policies and procedures relating to document design and formatting.

Adjustment for distance-based learners

• No changes are required to the assessment procedures or specifications.
• Templates can be provided to testers (fellow learners and assessor) electronically (via email, social media, etc.) and feedback received electronically (via email, social media, etc.).
• Submitted documents may be in electronic (or paper-based format where relevant).

Appendix 1: Information and formatting requirements

Production delay letter template

Content:

• Opening paragraph: thanking the customer for their purchase and informing there is a delay
• Body content: apologising for delay; stating the reasons for the delay, and expected date of delivery
• Closing paragraph apology for inconvenience and an invitation for contact if required.

Style:

• Professional
• Formal language

Tone:

• Friendly
• Apologetic

Expense reporting spreadsheet template

Presentation:

• Spreadsheet must be able to be printed on a single A4 page; landscape or portrait.

Dates:

• Data entry must be constrained to: date format only.
• Data entry must be formatted to: short date form.

Department:

• Must be chosen from list: Sales & Marketing, Administration, Executive, Operations, Dispatch, Logistics.

Expense types:

• Must be chosen from list: Food; Transportation; Communication; Training; Other.

Item description:

• Data entry must be constrained to: text only.
• Data entry must be formatted to:

Client ID number:

• Must be chosen from list: NA, AO-2006-0046, AO-2006-0050, AO-2008-0049, AO-2009-0047, AO-2009-0051, AO-2009-0052, AO-2009-0053, AO-2010-0045, AO-2010-0054.

Purchase or estimated amount, value or cost:

• Data entry must be formatted to:

Receipt attached?

• Must be chosen from list: Yes, No.