Address Standardization

[johnshaw]

I wish my stake clerk organized occasional sharing sessions where the ward clerks could get together, roll up their sleeves, and discuss how they were understanding/magnifying their callings with the stake providing direction as needed in the discussion. That would be cool!

Believe me, it comes from a long stint as a Ward Clerk in a very similar circumstance. I forget a bit about the change in Local Unit Support, as a Ward Clerk I called them all the time.... that is different now, but I think it is the right practice.

In our stake we do Clerk training during the same period the Stake Presidency does quarterly Bishopric Training. Quarterly Training I feel is not too overbearing, but enough to get together. Sometimes it is formal, this is a procedure, review latest policies, etc.. Sometimes it's a Q&A and if there are no Questions from the group, I start throwing out scenarios that I know happen regularly but might be hard to figure out on your own. It's been pretty fun, I've had good feedback on it. I don't necessarily get the results I'd like to see... For instance for 3 years I've been trying to eliminate:

100 North Willminton Circle
100 North Willminton Cir.
100 North Willminton Cir
100 North Willminton CIR
100 N Willminton Circle
100 N Willminton Cir.
100 N Willminton Cir
100 N Willminton CIR
100 N. Willminton Circle
100 N. Willminton Cir.
100 N. Willminton Cir
100 N. Willminton CIR

Well, I'm a bit of a crazy person, but seriously could we at least pick one way to do it?

[russellhltn]

For instance for 3 years I've been trying to eliminate:

100 North Willminton Circle
100 North Willminton Cir.
100 North Willminton Cir
100 North Willminton CIR
100 N Willminton Circle
100 N Willminton Cir.
100 N Willminton Cir
100 N Willminton CIR
100 N. Willminton Circle
100 N. Willminton Cir.
100 N. Willminton Cir
100 N. Willminton CIR

Well, I'm a bit of a crazy person, but seriously could we at least pick one way to do it?

If you go to USPS, you'll find the standardized way of doing it. (But you probably know that.)

[Mikerowaved]

If you go to USPS, you'll find the standardized way of doing it. (But you probably know that.)

I'm sure JohnShaw is well aware of that, but convincing others to consistently follow suit is like trying to push water uphill. I feel his pain.

[jeromer7]

Well, I'm a bit of a crazy person, but seriously could we at least pick one way to do it?

I also suffer from unit clerks that are somewhat lackadaisical in entering addresses consistently.

I recently brought up the Abbreviated Directory in my Stake MLS and scanned it for consistency issues. Although it only provides the street address and city, it is a good place to start. I found numerous entries with the state abbreviation in the city field and, like JohnShaw, various representations of street addresses not in sync with USPS guidelines. I even found a couple of PO Box’s listed showing the clerk was using the “Residential Address” fields rather than the “Mailing Address” fields.

I took the time to make note of a representative sample of issues from each unit and emailed samples to the ward/branch clerk asking them to make corrections.

I do clerk training during breakout sessions at Stake Priesthood Leadership and this topic is on my list almost every time. However, progress is very, very slow.

[mfmohlma]

I also suffer from unit clerks that are somewhat lackadaisical in entering addresses consistently.

Don't forget that many of the addresses are "pushed" to us by other clerks moving records out of their units that may have no idea what the correct address format is. It is always a challenge to keep up with them.

[jeromer7]

Good point.

[johnshaw]

Don't forget that many of the addresses are "pushed" to us by other clerks moving records out of their units that may have no idea what the correct address format is. It is always a challenge to keep up with them.

As a ward clerk, I regularly reviewed the new move-in report, made sure that all new move-in conformed to USPS addressing. Once you take the time to fix everything (which isn't that significant in a ward) the maintenance is pretty simple, even when other clerks push me all sorts of stuff.

[johnshaw]

I found numerous entries with the state abbreviation in the city field

This happens a whole bunch when the MLS system flags and address and wants to modify it (Many times it's the ALL CAPS that triggers it). It's the Let MLS choose a format for you? dialogue... it often puts in the City, City {State abbreviation} like Kansas City MO or Liberty MO and then the state still says Missouri... this is something I try and train my clerks to watch for.

[aebrown]

Moderator note: I split this discussion regarding address standardization from its original place in the thread Finance Statement Suggestion. What is now the original post of this thread took the discussion in an entirely different direction from how the Other category is accounted for on finance statements.