Help me think this through

[Gloria Lewis]

I have a number of RFP documents, over 50 collected over the past year. Each
time a new RFP opportunity is presented I will reuse parts of the previous
documents. My dilemma is how can I organize this data so it is easily
accessible.

I thought about creating a spreadsheet with the following fields:
Type of question (i.e. IT info, company info, etc.)
Company Name
Document Name
Date

Then I can take the individual questions from the various RFP's and split
them up into different word files and assign a "Document Name" to them which
I would then hyperlink with the spreadsheet.

Can anyone else think of a better way to organize this data. My company
doesn't want to spend the money on a RFP program. I just need something
quick and simple.

TIA

 

[MyVeryOwnSelf]

I have a number of RFP documents, over 50 collected over the past

year. Each time a new RFP opportunity is presented I will reuse parts
of the previous documents. My dilemma is how can I organize this data
so it is easily accessible.

I thought about creating a spreadsheet with the following fields:
Type of question (i.e. IT info, company info, etc.)
Company Name
Document Name
Date

Then I can take the individual questions from the various RFP's and
split them up into different word files and assign a "Document Name"
to them which I would then hyperlink with the spreadsheet.

Can anyone else think of a better way to organize this data. ...

Here's a different way. Whether or not it's better is a matter of
personal preference.

I wouldn't use Excel. I'd just make one large Word file, and use Word's
"outline" view.

I'd string out the "fields" in a heading for each textual item, then put
the corresponding text under that heading. When the outline is collapsed,
only the headings are visible. Click on a heading to reveal the
corresponding text, and copy it into a new document.

If there is a lot of material, there could be two levels of heading;
maybe a top-level heading for "Type of question" and a subordinate level
for the rest.

I like this better than using multiple files. With multiple files, it'd
be a chore to make sure that the index file stays consistent with the
collection of Word files.

Many variations are possible.