Initially, I put this post on LinkedIn, and when I put it up, the intention was to give some advice about what to do if your business is setting up a professional business filing system that is used by more than one person. The point is so that if you are starting from scratch, there are some things that you may want to consider doing Back in the day, keeping your business’ files in order was a simpler process. All the papers were in one room (mostly), and there may or may not have been someone there to help you find what you need. Nowadays it’s a bit more complex. Information is rapidly becoming one of your company’s most valuable resources.
With so many different programs, systems and options available it can seem like a daunting task to create a filing system for your business. It’s essential to decide on a couple of different things which will make running your system a lot easier;
1) Pick a system, and dig into it! – Unfortunately “dipping one’s toe into the water” isn’t a great way of finding the best system. I recommend doing as much research as possible, doing a couple of free trials if possible for a basic ” look and feel” for a system and then pick one. Once you choose one, purchase an upgraded account and REALLY run with it. If you only dip your toe, then it’s possible that you will miss some features that you would very much need.
2) Anoint a Czar – Filing has never been a job someone can do on the side, or given to part-timers on the weekends. Now that these systems are getting more and more complex, it is imperative to your business to have a dedicated resource who either is or will be the expert, kung fu grandmaster of your filing system. The reason is simple. You hire an accountant to manage the books; you hire an office manager to keep an eye on the physical assets in your office, why would you not hire an information manager to oversee your data? Pick a person to do the full job time. If they are trained on how to work your system, fantastic! They will probably have some good ideas. If not any suitable information storage system worth it’s salt will have many different training programs available.
3) Have clear policy and procedure, and stick to it – No one can keep information properly if there is no clear definition of where the data needs to go. Make sure that you clearly define for your information Manager, how you want your data to be kept. PRO TIP; if other employees have upload capabilities they should also know how to load and where to load. This can be another opportunity to give your information manager authority, by getting them to instruct your employees (they are the expert after all….)
4) Give them the backing and authority – Your information manager isn’t a puppet. They are there to do a job, so it’s important to give them the authority and validation that they need to control the filing system. If your other employees think that they can circumvent the policies or procedures that your Information Manager is trying to put into place, then the system will not work right.
With the value of a company’s data increasing (and with the amount of data increasing exponentially), it is important to have a dedicated resource with the knowledge of how you want to keep your data and the authority to do so. Making sure that you have someone in place whose job it is to oversee the information you use to run your business is now just common sense.
Are you in charge of a filing system that others use?
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