New Spreadsheet To Track Spreadsheets Requires Separate Tracking Spreadsheet

SATIRE / FICTION

This is an original fictional story. The characters, organizations, events and dialogue are invented.

A roofing company’s new spreadsheet directory requires a tracking spreadsheet after employees created competing copies of the workbook intended to establish which workbooks everyone should use.

The directory listed each file’s location, purpose, owner, and last update. Within a day, one copy had more accurate owners while another contained the correct locations. A third was the version attached to the announcement.

The operations team created a comparison sheet to identify the authoritative directory. Its owner added a source tab.

That tab acquired an owner column after two people updated it simultaneously.

“We’re nearly down to one index,” the project lead wrote in an update copied into all three indexes.

The next review identified six workbooks titled Master. Two were active, one was a backup, and three were active backups. Staff agreed to add a status field once someone defined active.

A service coordinator asked where to find the schedule. The directory identified its owner, who referred the coordinator to the newer directory, which listed a shared folder containing both schedules.

Management approved an index of indexes, with a named owner responsible for maintaining links to the current copies.

The owner is on vacation next week. A temporary coverage spreadsheet has been circulated so staff can record who is maintaining the index of indexes while the owner is away.