This problem is a bit hard to explain since I don't have access to the original files so I apologise in advance. Please bear with me and ask me as many questions as you need, I'll do my best to reply.
The HR team in my company works with several Word documents which have embedded Excel data in them. The Excel files are shared among the different members of the team so they can all edit said files and add new information. All the files are located on a shared folder.
The problem is that in order to be able to work on the Excel files, they have to open them first and then they can open and close the Word documents as they please. If any user opens a Word document first, the next person trying to open the Excel file linked to it will only be able to do it on "Read Only" mode. What this means for them is that each morning they have to make sure every member of the team opens the Excels and keeps them open throughout the day so they can edit them without any issue, regardless of who opens the Word docs. This is not ideal for them, since it's a 15 persons team working with 5 different BDs and from different locations, so they came to us (the Reporting team) asking for help.
We're a little bit stucked here because without accesing the files or having the means to replicate the situation, there's only so much we can do. I don't know how the link between the files has been made, which I guess will help to understand the issue as well. And to be honest, none of us knows much about Word.
If anyone can help me understand why does this happen or what things do I need to start looking for, I'd be so very grateful. If there's a way to fix this or overcome it, I'd also appreciate some guidance on it.
If it helps, the Word docs are contracts, so they take from the Excel BDs the information of the employees to populate several lines on them. Why they haven't shared the files yet is something I'm still asking to myself. And as for the reason why we can't replicate the situation, well... my company doesn't give us access to shared folders for reasons I have yet to comprehend. Yes, I love this place! /s
Thanks in advance and again sorry for the lack of evidence/information!