Effective document management is one of the vital business operations to keep your business or company running smoothly towards success and growth. In this fast-paced and continuously changing business landscape, inaccessibility of the latest technology and solutions can make this task overwhelming. However, by investing in the latest document management solutions and making some manageable changes in the process you can make sure your business is managing its documents and files better and faster than your competitors.
As business document management is a systematic organization of business documents and files in an organized manner to make retrieval easier and quick, it can incredibly increase productivity, operational efficiency and output of your business. Missing an important business document or file at work can cost lots of dollars and efforts as well.
In this article, I have listed some proven tips on how to improve document management for your business to streamline business operations proficiently.
Establish a Standardized System for Document Filing
If you are managing business files manually, then there must be a common system for document filing and naming. Separate all your documents like invoices, bills and memos based on their types and keep them into a specific folder to make things easier for all employees. Having a filing system hierarchy is also a great idea to make the filing process convenient and fast. Breaking the files and business documents down by year also helps you store and find the business documents easily. Naming all the files accordingly can save a significant amount of time and efforts not only in making document management efficient but to streamline other business operations as well.
Systemize the Document Filing and the Workflows
Educate your employees to let them know what is required to file documents and how, when and where to save them. Let your employees know what to do when a document is received and what steps should be followed to store it in the right place. Use of document management software is an ideal choice to make sure all your business documents and organized and stored in perfect order. Also, train the concern on how to utilize the software appropriately and what they need to do in order to keep documents at a place where they are easy to find and access.
Name Each File Appropriately
Appropriate file naming is one of the keys to the successful and better document management process. Naming the documents and files properly makes it easier to find and access required documents conveniently without going through the entire documents store. For instance, if you want to keep the invoice of a client for the month of July, ‘July invoice for client XYZ’ would be the perfect title and invoices & payments is the right folder to store in. No matter you keep files in printed or digital format, remember to rename each and every document appropriately to make later retrieval easier and quicker.
Use file formats that work well across all devices and operating systems
If you are running a business that sends and receives loads of digital files on a regular basis, you should keep all your files in a format that works well on all devices and operating systems. Sending files in PDF format offers plenty of benefits and options than sending via MS word document. When you use PDF file format, document formatting is maintained on PDF irrespective of other factors like device, operating system, or screen size, etc. It will not only help in effective document management but will allow the recipients to receive and view documents easily.
Don’t Use Free File Converters
Free and web-based file converters are a good option if you need to convert a file at home. But, use of such file converters should be discouraged in corporate settings as they can cause some serious security concerns for your business documents and files. If you need to convert files in a specific format before uploading in your document management solution, then make sure you are using a reliable and trusted file converter that offers automatic encryption.
Backup Documents Regularly
If you are managing all the business data manually on your desktop, make sure you will be able to access all the data in case of a damaged hard drive, failed system or a malicious attack by hackers. Good documents management software always come with a feature of regular automatic backup to ensure that all your business documents are stored in safe hands and can easily be recovered in case of any unforeseen incident.
