Every business requires an efficient filing system to keep track of their documents. An organised system contributes to the seamless operation of your business and can reduce oversights that might lead to serious problems. To help you with your document filing system, we have listed the things you have to consider:
1. Accessibility of Documents
Your priority when it comes to designing and creating an effective filing system should be your documents’ ease of access. If you are filing documents without thinking about accessibility, processes might take a longer time to finish and this could eventually hurt your business. To avoid this, you have to file documents depending on which is more likely to be needed, for example prioritising management on the more recent documents. You can assign a person to manage the documents based on the daily business operations, whether recently made documents should be readily available or old documents that are used for references should be stored. This way, you are placing the documents in their most ideal positions.
However, there are documents that are used in conjunction with each other, e.g. documents related to the employees’ salary or documents related to ex-customers. These should be stored together so that you save time and energy when retrieving them.
2. Documents Should be Filed Based on Retention Schedules
Documents that have reached their retention deadline should not be filed together with documents that are still active. Once the documents are deemed inactive destroy them and dispose of them properly. By doing so, you create more space for more important documents. Knowing the retention schedules will help you create an efficient document filing system. Before eliminating these documents, be reminded of the procedure in keeping records for legal, accountability or reference purposes.
3. Systematise your system
A good document filing system is organised, uniform and comprehensive. Your employees should be able to understand how it works and learn the correct processes to use it. Without constant management, people will get confused and in the long run, they might disregard the procedure. It is adamant that you make instructions clear and answer any question that may arise. You may call a general meeting to make sure that concerns are addressed.
Remember to use a systematic approach, either by number or colour coding per topic or per department. Aside from being organised, systematising your filing system will help you increase the ease in which your documents can be found.
4. Remember to keep your workspace neat and tidy
Keeping your workspace clean will contribute to having a healthy working environment. Aside from that, leaving documents out in the open is risky and may pose a potential danger to the company, such as information leakage. By having an effective filing system, documents are not stacked on desks but are stored in a secured area when they are no longer needed.
These are just some of the tips when it comes to filing your documents. However, if you want to reduce the problem of storing documents in house and by yourself, try a remote document storage system. Here at Archive This, we offer not only storage but also management, saving you time and energy which you can use towards other office tasks.
Archive This offers secure and efficient document storage. Our facility is accessible from 7 am to 7 pm, seven days a week. We maintain strict onsite security regulations, which include CCTV of the premises and physical security presence throughout the night. You can visit our website for more information. Don’t hesitate to contact our friendly team on 01179 516325 to see how we may help you.