How to Achieve Effective Document Management

Every organisation – regardless of its size – will generate valuable documents that need to be stored effectively, safely, and in such a way that they can be referenced easily. There are constantly new files to be stored, which include client files with sensitive data present and transaction details. Let’s look at some ways to achieve effective document management in your small to medium sized business.

We briefly explored the changes in document management over the years in our previous article, and we concluded that modern document management is far better and allows you to be more secure, but it is also a harder goal to achieve. The modern age is digitised, and filing cabinets and paper copies of everything lining the walls of the office have become things of the past.

Digitise documents

Advancements in technology have paved the way for a multitude of different document management systems. Your documents can now be converted into a digital format – and stored – easily. If you haven’t moved from your old paper filing system, it is time to make your document management system as good and effective as it can be by importing your records into a centralised system. Doing so will allow you – upon receiving your paper records – to quickly scan them and send them directly to the centralised system for storage.

Use efficient security means

Nowadays, data breaches are customary practice for practically every industry sector. This has jettisoned the issue of security to the top of the list to ensure that your digital storage system is protected from fraudsters. When handling document management tasks, you should be mindful of every step that you are taking.

Make use of collaboration features

Adopt collaboration tools to help you work with your team from disparate locations. Your team should be able to access the documents quickly without having to edit many different copies of the same file.

With the right technology, you should be notified when an edit is performed on one of the documents. Collaboration tools are the future of business productivity and connectivity – they are essential for teams that frequently revisit and rework documents.

Choose the best storage option

You can use either cloud storage or the device storage with an added portable external storage depending on the capacity of the files to be stored.

The option of storing your documents on your device has its positives, because you have great control over them and they all fall under the security measures that are already in place. But Cloud storage is the better option, removing the burden of managing the storage system at – usually – a much lower cost than the alternative. It is also not easy to lose documents when using a Cloud storage system – but some do struggle with allowing a third party to have so much control over the management of their data.

Organise your documents

A successful business is organised in every part of their workflow, and it is essential that your documents are the same – both for easy retrieval and security purposes. It is no different than when you were using filing cabinets – there was a system, and when documents weren’t stored according to that system you had to allow time to search for it, creating unnecessary steps to the workflow. Don’t let your digital document management system go this way.

Make use of folders to organise your documents into clearly named digital folders that are easily retrieved and navigable. Doing this will avoid you becoming overwhelmed by multiple disorganised folders. Create a system to those files and be sure that everyone knows where things need to be stored, if everyone does this correctly your experience will be much more seamless.

You can also divide your documents into different types or categories of folders depending on the purpose of each document.

Ensuring efficient document management is essential if you want to not only feel secure, but also to provide your team with an organised and structured environment.