Which version do I work with (Pages or Word)?

Question

Help me out here (please). I am now working with Pages, sharing documents with dozens of behind the times colleagues who are using some old program called "Word." It's my job to work with these people and I'm trying to make it as easy for everyone as possible.
Do I have this right? When I create a document (or open an old Word document into pages), in order to be able to share it with people, I save it, and check the box to save a copy in Word format. Then when I send my documents, I make sure to attach the Word version. Yes?
What happens if I open the Word version and make changes to it? Do I have to do something differently to make sure I have both versions identical? Am I better off always to open the Pages document to work on, then save and send?
More questions:
Do I always then have two versions of the same document (like I would if I did this same thing with pdf)?
How do I make sure that the Word version is always up to date since that is the one I am sending to colleagues? Do I always have to save and check the box, and then select the correct document to send?
I do see that when sending a single document I can easily send it while I am in the document itself. When I do this, selecting to send it as a Word document (or a pdf for that matter), will it send the version I most recently saved, or the version that is on my screen (if I forgot to save changes)?
FInally, I'd be open to any tips from people working regularly with others who must use Word. I want it to work as simply as possible, but want to set up some good habits from the beginning.
Finally, finally, have you had problems with compatibility. I have to say that there hasn't been a Word document yet that I've opened that I haven't gotten a message that says that Pages doesn't support some aspect of the document and formatting is removed, or spacing is different, etc. I'm a bit nervous about this--can anyone ease my mind? Perhaps I'm not doing things correctly?
Thanks a million!
EagerLearner

Answer 1

This request has been superceded by a new set of questions in a neighboring post so I'm trying to steer people there and away from this post. Thanks.