Tracked Changes & COmments

Tracked changes and comments are great tools available in Word ("tracked changes" are called "suggestions" in Google Docs) for collaborative document editing and reviews.
 
Why use these features?
By turning on tracked changes, all users can see edits made by colleagues and easily being able to compare the original text to the edited text, to understand the editor's suggestions and choose whether or not to accept the edit. This feature enhances transparency and clarity in the editing process, making it easier for teams to collaborate effectively.
 
Using comments allows discussion on specific parts of a document, so reviewers can explain their ideas and suggestions.
 
Tracked changes and comments are also powerful teaching tools. Senior staff can use them to review their team's work and suggest edits, which is a key part of improving writing and reporting skills. By providing specific feedback and showing exactly what changes were made, mentors and managers can help junior staff strengthen their writing and communication skills.
 
Tracked changes can be used in many aspects of humanitarian work: writing proposal narratives, preparing reports, and creating guidance notes, handbooks or policy documents are all examples of collaborative activities that allows all contributors to see each other's input and ensure that all suggestions are considered and reviewed. This collaborative approach helps produce high-quality documents that accurately reflect the collective expertise of the team.
 
Challenges of using these features
The downside of using tracked changes and comments is the risk that the volume of edits or feedback may become overwhelming and difficult to manage - the edits and feedback may even be conflicting if different reviewers have different opinions.  To manage this, it's important to establish clear guidelines and a systematic approach. For example, communicating the level of detail you expect from a reviewer (eg. do you want someone to copy edit or just provide general feedback?), the number of rounds of reviews (will the reviewers have one opportunity for feedback or will they also need to sign off on the final document), and clarifying who will have the ultimate sign off or authority on edits (eg. will one person ultimately be responsible, or do multiple people need to sign off?)
 
In some cases, it might be necessary to set up regular review meetings where contributors can discuss major edits and reach consensus to help streamline the process. This organised approach ensures that all feedback is considered without becoming overwhelming for the person responsible for processing the feedback.
 
This 4m 19s video created by @GCFLearnFree demonstrates how to use the tracked changes and comments tools in Microsoft Word (and provides a handy tip on how to see changes to a document even when it was forgotten to turn tracked changes on!)

And this 10m 56s video provides a more detailed tutorial of these features in Word created by @ErinWrightWriting.

Do you work in Google Docs? This video, also created by @GFCLearnFree, shows you how to use these features in a Doc: