Creating a Document Management System for Your Small Business
A document management system will track, manage, and store all of your documents in an effort to streamline your business processes and reduce the amount of paper in your office. Creating and implementing a document management system is essential to efficiency in the modern small business. Let’s take a look at how to best go about adopting a document management system that will fit the needs of your company and seamlessly integrating it into your workflows.
Start with a plan
Your first step should be taking a close look at the type of documents that your business handles regularly. Organize the various document templates and map out the rules associated with each type of document. For example, some documents need to be time-stamped during a particular review process that passes through several employees. Create rules designating where particular documents should be located and how they should be saved. Establishing solid filing practices will make it easy to file and retrieve documents going forward.
Be sure to consider security as well for the types of documents that are being shared. Through rules and permissions allow only authorized users to have access to certain confidential information. Creating these access controls will help ensure the security of your data and facilitate regulatory compliance.
Implement your plan
Once you’ve carefully worked out the details of your document management plan, it’s time to implement it. Provide thorough training to your staff and explain the tangible benefits they’ll experience from your document management solution to help ensure buy-in from your employees. Document management works best when your staff fully understands how to create, store, and receive documents, as well as how doing so will make their lives easier.
Always follow up
Once your document management system is up and running, don’t just go about business as usual assuming that everything is automatically working smoothly without any kinks. Do some regular spot checks to look for misfiles and to make sure your workflows are moving along as intended. Continue to educate and remind your employees about the inner workings of the system. The better your employees understand how and why things work, the more successful the system will be.
Would your business benefit from a document management solution? Contact the experts at Infomax Office Systems to help you find and implement the right solution for your workplace.
