AN EFFICIENCY problem sometimes can nag at you for years. Then, when you discover a solution, it seems so obvious that you can't figure out how you missed it for so long. We had such a problem for which we recently discovered a solution at a users group convention. Perhaps the most important insight we gained from the experience is that by participating in such meetings, we can learn more than how to better use our agency management system. We found out that most users attending these meetings have encountered workflow log jams. But with effort and ingenuity, they often find a solution within the system or a way to work around the problem. And they're willing to share their discoveries with others.

Our original agency management system vendor used to brag that its DOS-based product could produce an address label with fewer keystrokes -just three-than any other system. But like a number of other systems of the era, it underwent changes in ownership and design. The current Windows-based incarnation of the system cannot create labels one at a time. Rather, it creates labels using three-wide label sheets, but that leads to a great deal of waste. However, the system does integrate with Microsoft Word. With the system in the integrated mode, we discovered it could address a standard-sized envelope quickly, using Word's “Label” function. (Click on “Tools,” then “Envelopes and Labels.”) That resolved the issue of creating individual labels for conventional envelopes but left us still looking for a way to label large envelopes we use to mail policies to clients.

After several unsuccessful attempts to solve the problem, we gave up and typed labels for the large envelopes. This was our sole reason for keeping a lone typewriter, which we discreetly hid in the mailroom.