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| Copyright © 2006-2007 Organized Visions. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy |
| The 411 of Records Management |
The words records management sounds likes something no one wants to touch. Who
wants to be responsible for managing the mountains of records generated by a company,
and what's records management anyway?
Let's start with the basics.
A record is basically any piece of information or content related to what a company does.
Records are the way that you document your business, and the content can be stored in a
variety of forms:
Physical: usually paper in the forms of contracts, files, collateral material, or advertising
Electronic: any electronic form of content from PDFs, website, email
databases, memory stored on servers, and of course computer files
Record management in a nutshell, is the way that a company maintains and archives its
documentation in their various forms.
The Unfortunate Reality
Few companies have formal policies and procedures in place to manage the way their
employees store and archive important records. With little or no structure in place, valuable
information is often lost when employees leave a company or if there is a disaster that
compromises data storage. So should you bother?
To answer that questions, consider how many employees have left your company in the past
year and what state their records were in. How much time was lost trying to find key
information or recreating work? Did they carefully transfer files or did they discard all their
documents with no thought to your business needs?
Without having a policy in place on how information should be stored, you're leaving your
company's Record Management system up to chance.
Where do you Start?
Think about the continuity of your business
What documents and information will you need to continue running your
business? What information do you have to refer back to in order to deliver your
orders or respond to inquiries?
What are you legally responsible to document?
Whether you are a sole proprietor or a larger corporation, there are documents
that you are legally responsible to keep. Think about the best way to store them so
that they are safely archived and available for retrieval if needed.
Enlist the help of your staff
If you put out an arbitrary policy without thought to the day to day reality,
your employees are less likely to comply. Create a task force with representatives from
each department to help draft a policy that can be integrated into the daily workload
and that doesn't leave your employees feeling like "big brother is watching." Reach
beyond your IT department or your office manager. Everyone has responsibility in
maintaining your system.
Consider Costs
Implementing a records management system will have some costs attached to it, if
only the man-hours necessary to develop the policy. Consider your options and
leverage your existing resources. Think of what it will cost you if you don't weigh your
options.
Plan for growth
Think about how your needs will change as your business grows. Don't develop
processes that aren't scalable to a larger sized company or staff. As your business
grows, the number of records and documentation needs of your company will grow
also. Leave your company room to grow.
Make it a priority
Don't pay lip service to the importance of maintaining your record management system.
Your staff will see right through you if you say one thing, but give them a hard time if
they spend time filing. Encourage them by launching the initiative with an Office
Organization Day.
Establish Measures of Success
For any plan you want to have a standard by which you measure success. The ability
to easily retrieve documents in short time frames, or for information to transfer
easily from one employee to the other are good starting points. Make everyone a part
of the end goal so they work together with you.
Developing a formal record management system is worth the time and the investment.
Established documentation, archiving and retrieval procedures put you in a position to
respond to business demands efficiently and quickly.
wants to be responsible for managing the mountains of records generated by a company,
and what's records management anyway?
Let's start with the basics.
A record is basically any piece of information or content related to what a company does.
Records are the way that you document your business, and the content can be stored in a
variety of forms:
Physical: usually paper in the forms of contracts, files, collateral material, or advertising
Electronic: any electronic form of content from PDFs, website, email
databases, memory stored on servers, and of course computer files
Record management in a nutshell, is the way that a company maintains and archives its
documentation in their various forms.
The Unfortunate Reality
Few companies have formal policies and procedures in place to manage the way their
employees store and archive important records. With little or no structure in place, valuable
information is often lost when employees leave a company or if there is a disaster that
compromises data storage. So should you bother?
To answer that questions, consider how many employees have left your company in the past
year and what state their records were in. How much time was lost trying to find key
information or recreating work? Did they carefully transfer files or did they discard all their
documents with no thought to your business needs?
Without having a policy in place on how information should be stored, you're leaving your
company's Record Management system up to chance.
Where do you Start?
Think about the continuity of your business
What documents and information will you need to continue running your
business? What information do you have to refer back to in order to deliver your
orders or respond to inquiries?
What are you legally responsible to document?
Whether you are a sole proprietor or a larger corporation, there are documents
that you are legally responsible to keep. Think about the best way to store them so
that they are safely archived and available for retrieval if needed.
Enlist the help of your staff
If you put out an arbitrary policy without thought to the day to day reality,
your employees are less likely to comply. Create a task force with representatives from
each department to help draft a policy that can be integrated into the daily workload
and that doesn't leave your employees feeling like "big brother is watching." Reach
beyond your IT department or your office manager. Everyone has responsibility in
maintaining your system.
Consider Costs
Implementing a records management system will have some costs attached to it, if
only the man-hours necessary to develop the policy. Consider your options and
leverage your existing resources. Think of what it will cost you if you don't weigh your
options.
Plan for growth
Think about how your needs will change as your business grows. Don't develop
processes that aren't scalable to a larger sized company or staff. As your business
grows, the number of records and documentation needs of your company will grow
also. Leave your company room to grow.
Make it a priority
Don't pay lip service to the importance of maintaining your record management system.
Your staff will see right through you if you say one thing, but give them a hard time if
they spend time filing. Encourage them by launching the initiative with an Office
Organization Day.
Establish Measures of Success
For any plan you want to have a standard by which you measure success. The ability
to easily retrieve documents in short time frames, or for information to transfer
easily from one employee to the other are good starting points. Make everyone a part
of the end goal so they work together with you.
Developing a formal record management system is worth the time and the investment.
Established documentation, archiving and retrieval procedures put you in a position to
respond to business demands efficiently and quickly.
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