Key Takeaways:
- Establish specific objectives for your document management system (DMS) and conduct thorough research to select the best-fit solution for your organization’s needs and budget.
- Prioritize categorization and tagging of files before storing them digitally to ensure easy retrieval and migration.
- Utilize automation to simplify tasks, improve efficiency, and reduce errors. Prioritize security measures like electronic signatures, access controls, and encryption to safeguard sensitive data and ensure compliance with regulations.
If a document management system (DMS) is implemented improperly, employees can face challenges like inconsistent work processes and trouble monitoring documents.
The success of the document management process requires an all-encompassing strategy that includes standardization, process optimization, security, and compliance.
Setting priorities and laying out specific goals is crucial when thinking about enhancing or implementing a digital business document management system.
With our list of document management system best practices, you can create a strong basis for effective document management in your company. Let’s take a look.
Regularly review and update your document management strategy to adapt to evolving business needs and technological advancements. Solicit feedback to identify pain points and areas for improvement. Continuous refinement ensures that your document management practices remain effective.
Document Management Best Practices
We’ll discuss some of the best practices of document management. If you already have a system in place, you can incorporate a few of these fundamental changes and improve the structure of your documents.
1. Set Goals And Choose A Good Document Management System
Setting goals is among the primary document management principles. Without a defined goal for implementation, assessing a document management system’s efficiency can be challenging.
Before integrating a document management system, identify the specific metrics and key performance indicators (KPIs) required for monitoring your goals’ progress.
Conduct thorough market research to choose the best digital document management system for your needs. Explore all of the options available online and compare their functions before making a decision. Choose a document management system that can do the following:
Consider user reviews and the standout features of each platform to determine which best suits your requirements. In addition, examine the document storage costs to see if your company will cover the expenses on an ongoing or annual basis.
2. Index Files And Folders
Document-intensive businesses must keep their documents in digital form. It is essential to organize and tag the files before storing them in file repositories.
Categorization is among the file management best practices, as it facilitates data migration when implementing a new DMS and ensures fast and easy document retrieval.
Before implementing a new document management system, it’s crucial to consider how your teams will use it and the implications of naming folders, document types, and indexing rules.
Establish specific rules and regulations for the storage and classification of information.
Mislabeling or misplacing important or legal documents puts them in danger of disappearing and can have a major negative impact on productivity and finances.
Making easily navigable file structures with sensible folder configurations, clear file names, and informative naming rules are preventive approaches.
Whether you use paper-based or digital file systems, taking the time to create user-friendly structures and naming patterns guarantees that teams will understand them quickly.
You May Also Read: What is Document Lifecycle Management: The Complete Guide
3. Automate Frequently Used Business Processes
Automating processes is among the document management best practices. It simplifies work for employees, saving them time and effort and, ultimately, money for the company. It’s essential to focus automation efforts on business operations that support your objectives.
Examples of worthwhile priorities include streamlining order processing, improving customer service flexibility, and integrating with accounting systems to take advantage of early payment incentives.
Automation works especially well for simple or repetitive operations since it makes it easier to define and optimize workflow phases and makes it simple to calculate time savings.
4. Improve Paper-Based Processes
Many companies make the common mistake of merely converting their paper-based processes into digital formats, missing out on opportunities to optimize and eliminate pointless stages. Before implementing digital workflows, it is essential to assess existing process rationales and their applicability in the new digital environment.
One of the best examples of this phenomenon is a state government agency. The agency’s first attempt to digitize its purchasing approval process was a replication of the paper-based methodology, with an assistant in control of permission gathering and routing.
On the other hand, the agency managed to automate the routing of invoices for approval without requiring an administrator at each level by incorporating business rules into its document management system.
You May Also Read: Top 13 Features of a Document Management System
5. Audit Document Use And Access
Efficient digital document audits, especially in the case of using a management solution, might reveal instances of incorrect permissions and employee access to sensitive material by mistake.
Examining how documents are used might help organizations identify unusual user actions. For example, it makes sense for employees involved in contract negotiations to interact with relevant papers.
Still, it raises red flags when a member of the logistics team tries to view executive payroll information. Regular audits are essential to protect records by spotting usage and access abnormalities.
A number of document management services include auditing functionalities in their content management systems to provide better insight into user behavior. These features allow users to trace their interactions with documents, including editing, downloading, and sharing actions.
6. Capture Content In Proximity To The Source
Effective document capture that keeps you close to the source improves data accuracy while saving time. It is one of the document control best practices. Documents can be directly stored in the management system using tools like virtual printers, eliminating the need for printing and scanning.
Electronic forms minimize staff manual input by streamlining data extraction from documents. The process of gathering data is made easier, better, and faster with the help of these electronic forms.
Seamless connectivity with other business software, like CRM or ERP, is also essential. When document management systems and other platforms are compatible, data sharing guarantees consistency across company information, making smooth operations possible.
7. Use Electronic Signature For Tight Security And Easy Compliance
Businesses must use electronic signatures to guard against unauthorized signing, document tampering, and signature absence. A genuine electronic signature that complies with modern security standards is legally binding.
It is crucial to select a document management system with electronic signature functionality. Digital signatures used with automated workflows, protect your company from legal, customer service, or compliance issues.
Security is one of the document lifecycle management best practices. Confidential data leaks can seriously damage the reputation of your company. It is advisable to use software with encryption features to combat this. You can lock files, folders, or specific file contents with encryption choices. Some even come with extra features like password protection.
You May Also Read: Benefits of Using Electronic Signatures to Sign Contracts
8. Give Permission & Access Controls
Until recently, most document management was done in physical locations. Confidential documents were safely kept in locked file cabinets, safes, and other secure containers to avoid unwanted access and alteration.
When it comes to digital documents, document managers have more control because they may grant people specific rights, which restricts their access to or modification of crucial documents. User roles and permissions must be carefully configured when using an electronic document management system.
Implementing this process greatly reduces the likelihood of data breaches and the unintentional release of private information. If these steps are not taken, employees can have unrestricted access to content beyond their assigned tasks, which can lead to unintentional information disclosure.
9. Avoid Duplication
Duplicate files or folders can appear if two distinct organizations manage your documents or if you have transitioned over time from separate software programs to unify into a single document management system. Confusion and errors in the following transactions may result from this.
To address this issue of document creation, it is essential to use software that can identify and eliminate duplicate entries. These programs identify files and folders with similar names or content to keep the ones that are needed and get rid of unnecessary copies. Receipt OCR may also further ensure accuracy and streamline document management processes, making them more efficient for individuals managing financial data.
You May Also Read: Top 14 Free and Open Source Document Management System
10. Set A Free Trial
First-hand experimentation with a document management platform is more valuable than abstract explanations of its features. A practical trial is a great place to start to fully understand any document management software.
Improve your understanding of document management through practical application. Make use of your documents in addition to the vendor’s extensive knowledge base documentation and tutorial.
With preset digital file cabinets, document storage capabilities, sharing settings, and a host of other features, any good document management software can easily access a cloud-based document management solution.
Conclusion
We are confident that you can quickly and easily arrange your document directory using the best practices for document management. Advanced document management systems go beyond simple file indexing.
A well-designed DMS can optimize the lifetime of documents by managing them from creation to disposal. Establishing a strong document management process can unleash unprecedented levels of productivity within your company.
Remember that document management is a continuous process. Even with modern hardware and software, ongoing observation is necessary.
A document management system (DMS) is software designed to store, organize, track, and manage electronic documents and images, facilitating efficient document retrieval and collaboration within an organization.
Document management best practices are crucial for organizations to ensure efficiency, compliance, security, and collaboration. They ultimately lead to improved productivity, reduced risks, and streamlined workflows.
Organizations can improve document organization and classification by implementing clear naming conventions, effectively using metadata, employing hierarchical folder structures, and utilizing document management systems.
Tools like Microsoft SharePoint, Google Workspace (formerly G Suite), Adobe Acrobat, and workflow automation platforms such as Zapier or Microsoft Power Automate streamline document workflows and collaboration efficiently.
Organizations can measure document management effectiveness through metrics like retrieval time, version control accuracy, compliance rates, user satisfaction surveys, and reduction in paper usage and storage costs.
Priya is a seasoned writer with expertise in the SaaS industry. With over five years of experience in the field, she deeply understands the requirement of this specific industry, its techniques, and tools. Her articles, whitepapers, and blog posts are known for their clarity, practicality, and actionable insights. Priya also possesses in-depth knowledge of SEO and content marketing, which enables her to develop effective strategies to increase website traffic and improve brand visibility.
