Document management and business strategies go hand-in-hand to ensure that businesses stay organized, compliant and able to serve customers effectively. A well-designed document management plan can aid businesses in saving money by reducing printing, storage and retrieval costs, as well as increasing efficiency and security.
No matter if they’re electronic or physical, document is essential for their operations. They should be easily accessible and understood to improve productivity, speed up response times to customers and improve security and information governance. A document management strategy, and the introduction of a new system to facilitate the management of documents in digital or physical form can help a business achieve its objectives.
A well-organized document management plan has clearly defined steps to establish an unifying workflow, organizing document naming, labeling and categorizing, and managing the lifecycle of each document. It should also include a clearly defined set of procedures, commonly referred to as Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) that cover document creation storage, organization and retrieval. A plan should define who is responsible for the management of each document and the roles and responsibilities of those accountable. It should also make sure that documents are easily searched and have a clear history of versions.
The existence of a document management plan and implementing the appropriate technology tools is only half the task. It is also important for the business to ensure that these tools are utilized correctly and frequently. This means conducting regular user surveys and assessing how the system is being used. It is also essential to plan a strategy for instructing staff on how to use the document management system and encouraging adoption and familiarity with it.