Too many companies suffer because they’re disorganized and unproductive. Taking care of your files is a small step that gets big results. When you let your documents pile up, it’s hard to focus and you’re ultimately creating more work for yourself.
Document management is a $6 billion business that can make your company more productive and profitable. Anyone can become a skilled documents organizer when they develop a system and learn the tricks of the trade.
Keep reading so that you learn how to file documents in a way that keeps your company moving forward.
Table of Contents
Understand Which Documents Are Most Important
When learning how to file documents, you have to get to know which are the most important. For instance, a medical practice will need to keep detailed patient charts, insurance coding and billing documents, and payment receipts. A law firm will keep everything from court transcripts and client bills to signed affidavits from witnesses.
Assess how your company works, which files you need to keep, and which you can dispose of or cycle out.
Set Up a System
Take time to set up a document organization system that works for you. Figure out which categories of organization make the most sense for your company and the easiest way to retrieve files.
Here are a few different attributes that you might consider:
- Organizing by date from newest to oldest, or vice versa
- Ranking based on alphabetical order
- Categorizing files based on the types of cases or services
Keep these systems that you create consistent whether you’re organizing digital or hard copy files. You’ll love that there are legal dividers of all shapes, sizes, and colors that you can use for your physical hard copies. You can also purchase heavy-duty filing cabinets and tab dividers to file documents.
Use a Software Platform
Managing your digital files is the most important document organizer attribute to handle. This lets you access the files anywhere and store an infinite amount of data in the cloud. Search for a document storage system that has the best features and an easy-to-understand graphical user interface (GUI).
Learn whether the document storage system is cloud-based or if it will take up hard drive space on your devices. Research the security protocols so that you don’t fall prey to cyber breaches.
Create Multiple Backups
Always take measures to protect all of the data your company creates. Back your documents up in multiple locations, including both physical and digital files.
In addition to your backups, you can contract with a company that provides professional backup services. Saving your data in multiple locations will protect you from hard drive crashes, power outages, or other problems.
Become a Professional Documents Organizer
Everyone can become a documents organizer when they use the right tools and processes. The tips above transcend the type of company you run and the industry and can help you stay productive. Once you’ve created an organizational process, the rest starts to take care of itself.
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