onlinedataroom.org/data-room-solutions-and-the-art-of-document-management

Document management and business strategies go hand-inhand to ensure that companies are organized, compliant and able to provide excellent customer service. A well-crafted document management strategy can save businesses a tremendous amount of money through reduced storage, printing and retrieval charges and also more efficient processes and increased security.

Documents are vital to the operation of any company, whether they are electronic or physical. They must be easily retrieved and understood to increase productivity, enable faster responses to customers, and enhance information governance and security. The creation of a document management plan and setting up a new system to help manage digital or physical documents helps businesses to achieve these goals.

A solid document management strategy includes clearly defined steps for establishing an unifying workflow, organizing file naming, labeling and categorizing, as well as managing the life cycle of every 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 identify who is responsible for the management of each document as well as the roles and responsibilities of those responsible. It should also make sure that documents are easily searched and have a clear history of versioning.

Having an established document management strategy and implementing the required technology tools is only half of the fight. A business must also make sure that it is using the tools correctly and frequently. This means conducting regular user surveys and reviewing how the system is used. It is crucial to develop an action plan to educate staff on how to use a document management system, as well as to promote adoption and familiarity.