By Jaishree Pratap
for the 2024 Risky Women Writing Competition, presented in partnership with Bovill Newgate
Discover how a custom Outlook widget can simplify the process of registering gifts and hospitality in the workplace. This innovative Office Add-in streamlines compliance, reduces manual effort, and ensures accurate records—all within the familiar Outlook interface. Transform cumbersome tasks into seamless operations and enhance compliance effortlessly!
“Complete the gifts and hospitality form.” “You must record any gift or hospitality you are given or receive.” These phrases are familiar to most of us working in medium to large organizations. While essential for compliance and transparency, registering gifts and hospitality often feels like an additional burden on an already full plate. Navigating separate systems and finding the right forms
can make this process seem like a mountain of tasks.
What if we could make it easier to complete these forms?
My proposal is simple: create a custom widget for Microsoft Outlook to streamline the process of registering gifts and hospitality through the development of an Office Add-in. This solution will not only simplify the form completion process but also ensure that all records are securely stored, and compliance requirements are met.
The Current Challenge
In many organizations, employees are required to document any gifts or hospitality they receive. This can be cumbersome due to several challenges, such as:
- Separate Systems: Often, employees must log into a different system or platform to complete the gifts and hospitality forms. This fragmentation adds unnecessary complexity to the process.
- Additional Steps: Completing these forms requires extra steps, which can deter employees from logging gifts and hospitality in a timely manner. This additional workload is often seen as a nuisance rather than a part of the regular job.
- Complex Navigation: Finding the right form and knowing how to complete it can be challenging, especially for employees who do not frequently deal with these forms. The complexity of navigating different systems and filling out forms correctly can lead to delays or errors.
This process can cause frustration and potentially lead to non-compliance, as employees may skip or delay completing the forms.
A Seamless Solution
Imagine this scenario: Tom from the Development team receives an email from a long-time supplier inviting him to a networking event with lunch. With the proposed Outlook widget, Tom can easily register the hospitality offer. Here’s how it would work:
- Integration: the widget integrates directly into Outlook, appearing as an additional pane or button within the familiar Outlook interface. This seamless integration ensures that employees can access the widget without leaving their email environment.
- Ease of Use: when Tom receives an email that includes a gift or hospitality offer, he can click on the widget to open the registration form. This form will be pre-populated with information extracted from the email.
- Submission: Tom can review and complete any remaining details on the form. Once filled out, the form is securely submitted to a central compliance system without Tom leaving Outlook. This central system could be a SharePoint site or a dedicated compliance database, ensuring that all records are stored in a single, accessible location.
- Approval Workflow: to align with company policies, the widget includes an approval workflow. For example, if the value of the gift or hospitality offer exceeds £200, the form will trigger a review process. The request is sent to Tom’s line manager for review and approval. Tom and the line manager receive notifications about the approval status. The approval process is tracked and documented, ensuring that all necessary reviews are completed.
Benefits
- Efficiency: by integrating the form directly into Outlook, the widget reduces the number of steps involved in registering gifts and hospitality. This streamlined process makes it quicker and easier for employees to complete the forms, increasing the likelihood that they will be done promptly and accurately.
- Accuracy: the widget’s ability to extract and prepopulate information from the email reduces manual data entry. This minimizes errors and ensures that the data recorded is both accurate and comprehensive.
- Compliance: the widget ensures that all gifts and hospitality are logged correctly and in a timely manner. By integrating the process into Outlook and automating workflows, compliance becomes a natural part of the daily routine rather than an additional task.
- User-Friendly: the widget’s design aims to reduce the perceived burden of the form submission process. By making the process straightforward and integrated, it encourages employees to complete the forms as required.
Conclusion
By developing a custom widget for Microsoft Outlook, organizations can transform the process of logging gifts and hospitality from a burdensome task into a simple and integrated part of daily operations. This approach not only enhances compliance but also alleviates staff frustration, turning a complex mountain of a task into a manageable molehill.
Let’s embrace technology to streamline and make compliance an effortless aspect of our daily work routines.