Revisions and more revisions, where did it end? Who has the final copy and who is the keeper of the final revised copy?
Are the revisions noted and did the final copy become the official record of that document and so noted? Are you aware of the last time someone in the company edited information pertaining to a document? Was the number of the latest revision duly added in sequence and noted? Is there a document trail of all of this?
For a document to be considered reliable and authentic, one of the many considerations to be aware of is that the document is created, managed by the company, and all changes made to the document as a collaborative effort are recorded and tracked.
In recording all revisions, once the final copy is approved and no more revisions are allowed, it becomes the official copy. Any further revisions would need to be approved by the custodian of the official copy, usually the person in the department who is assigned as the keeper of that official copy as an active document. The final copy can be shared with other colleagues while restrictions can be applied. For instance, all documents in finance are available to view by the department only.
Companies who work with an automated system for their document management will most likely have control over the process of identifying each revision and access privileges. This process is easily established along with the workflow processes and is set up from the very beginning in regards to the creation of a document in a department and/or small company. All changes are monitored and identified.
If you are working with paper based documents, assign a new revision number for each edited copy. If sending the revised copy by email to be edited by other colleagues, ensure that the policies are understood in regards to monitoring and numbering the newly revised copy. When the final copy is accepted, the responsibility of safeguarding the official copy will be handed over to a custodian. This can be the department head or other designated keeper and established early in the process of creating the document.
If additional copies are made of the official copy, it is best that employees identify it as a copy and share that information with the custodian. Employees can verify with company policies in regards to the management of copies and the housing of these copies.
Sound tedious? There is nothing worse than working with the wrong edited version or not knowing if the final copy is truly the approved official document. This will also hep you with the inventory and knowing how many copies are held in your company of each official document. If someone leaves, you will be able to identify these documents as copies.
Incorporate this in your procedures for employees to be aware of and to be put into practice. I realize that many of us make copies of documents, from the electronic copy or from another format and file it away. If you have a central repository for documents, everyone can view the documents online, if permissions are in place for all to view, or borrow the hard copy from a central filing system, with control to borrowing privileges for access and retrieval.
Why all the fuss you say? What are the advantages to tracking? You will recognize and store the final revised copy as the official copy and it will be identified as such, tracked, and stored with a custodian who would also have access privileges for you and your staff, if shared online. The document will be stored in a format that is acceptable and readable, with a visible audit trail, the keeper of the document or department identified, and access privileges in place to safeguard the original final copy. This will save you time and money for storage, especially if paper based, and protect the final copy from future changes, unless authorized. This will also save time in trying to assess which, where, and whom has the final copy, and when the last changes were made to the document. If asked to present this document for whatever reason that may be, you are ready.
Francine Renaud
Records Management Consultant
http://www.timeouttoorganize.com/
Tel: 250-763-3988
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Monday, February 14, 2011
Five top reasons to organize your documents, paper based and/or electronic records.
1. Litigation risk:
Reduced litigation risk is of prime importance to specific industries, however,I think it is a concern to anyone operating a business. Evidence needed to reconstruct facts is a major reason for managing your business records.
There are guidelines in managing business documents companies can adopt to enhance their regular routines so that their documents can be found in a state that can be presented, if need be. Other concerns such as how long to keep or toss your documents is another facet of document management, which applies to good practices and goes hand in hand with litigation.
Not only will poorly managed documents reflect a relaxed approach to organizing important documents, it may cause a business to become vulnerable to serious legal issues.
2.Regulatory compliance:
Some industries are regulated and must comply with some form of recordkeeping obligations from the time the document is created to its disposal. Therefore, all records, which are maintained and accessible in case of audits, will be readily available.
3.Finding the right document:
Finding the right document for any business activity will bring forth improved efficiency. Working with clients and/ or colleagues on a project requires you to work with all related documents associated with each project efficiently, including revisions and their final copy.
Spending too much time finding any document, no matter the format, including email, will be costly overall. Statistics Canada has documented the findings of lost or misfiled documents. 7.5 % of documents are lost and 3% of the remaining documents are misfiled. The cost to reproduce a lost document is estimated at $250.00
A lost or misfiled document can have serious business consequences for ongoing activities. Being able to respond to queries from any source requesting information is a valid reason for following best practices for managing documents.
4.Increased productivity:
Working in an organized environment with workflow processes and best practices for document management will relieve stress, add security measures, and increase productivity.
For example, borrowing a document, paper based or electronic, can be set up similar to borrowing a book in a library. There is a need to know who has the document, where it is, who has access to the document and when is it due back. When working with electronic documents, the document can be blocked so that no one else can work on the document at the same time. Once the borrower has finished working with the document, revisions can be identified and access becomes available once again to those who have permission to access the document.
When you do not have a system in place, the checking in or out of documents is no longer controlled. How frustrating is it to be wasting time and energy finding those documents, be it paper based or electronic.
5.Cost savings:
Having a records management system is not only advisable, it will save you money in the long run. Lost or misfiled documents will be decreased and the cost for recovery of documents will be minimal. Storage costs will be reduced if working with practices as to how long to keep or toss documents.
Francine Renaud
Records Management Consultant
http://www.timeouttoorganize.com/
Tel: 250-763-3988
Reduced litigation risk is of prime importance to specific industries, however,I think it is a concern to anyone operating a business. Evidence needed to reconstruct facts is a major reason for managing your business records.
There are guidelines in managing business documents companies can adopt to enhance their regular routines so that their documents can be found in a state that can be presented, if need be. Other concerns such as how long to keep or toss your documents is another facet of document management, which applies to good practices and goes hand in hand with litigation.
Not only will poorly managed documents reflect a relaxed approach to organizing important documents, it may cause a business to become vulnerable to serious legal issues.
2.Regulatory compliance:
Some industries are regulated and must comply with some form of recordkeeping obligations from the time the document is created to its disposal. Therefore, all records, which are maintained and accessible in case of audits, will be readily available.
3.Finding the right document:
Finding the right document for any business activity will bring forth improved efficiency. Working with clients and/ or colleagues on a project requires you to work with all related documents associated with each project efficiently, including revisions and their final copy.
Spending too much time finding any document, no matter the format, including email, will be costly overall. Statistics Canada has documented the findings of lost or misfiled documents. 7.5 % of documents are lost and 3% of the remaining documents are misfiled. The cost to reproduce a lost document is estimated at $250.00
A lost or misfiled document can have serious business consequences for ongoing activities. Being able to respond to queries from any source requesting information is a valid reason for following best practices for managing documents.
4.Increased productivity:
Working in an organized environment with workflow processes and best practices for document management will relieve stress, add security measures, and increase productivity.
For example, borrowing a document, paper based or electronic, can be set up similar to borrowing a book in a library. There is a need to know who has the document, where it is, who has access to the document and when is it due back. When working with electronic documents, the document can be blocked so that no one else can work on the document at the same time. Once the borrower has finished working with the document, revisions can be identified and access becomes available once again to those who have permission to access the document.
When you do not have a system in place, the checking in or out of documents is no longer controlled. How frustrating is it to be wasting time and energy finding those documents, be it paper based or electronic.
5.Cost savings:
Having a records management system is not only advisable, it will save you money in the long run. Lost or misfiled documents will be decreased and the cost for recovery of documents will be minimal. Storage costs will be reduced if working with practices as to how long to keep or toss documents.
Francine Renaud
Records Management Consultant
http://www.timeouttoorganize.com/
Tel: 250-763-3988
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Inventory and safety tips for vital documents for disaster recovery
Emergency document safety.
Begin the process with the assessment and identification of those vital documents, which need to be protected from disaster, in order to resume business with the least delay and distress.
Proceed with an inventory of these documents and identify the documents. For example, include in your report the type of business function they address, why they have been selected, and where they are located including the format. Take into consideration what assets are to be protected, be it legal, financial, your obligations to employees, customers, stockholders, and of importance to marketing and your business plan. Include all work in progress of importance, review and add to the list. Distribute your report to the individual who is assigned for the recovery process and secure it in protective storage.
For the inventory, you may set up a book on Excel and divide the documents into three different categories: crucial, important and useful or use a template for vital records inventory. You will save time, money and frustration in resuming business. It will simplify the whole process and allow for a smooth return to doing business. If you are automated, this will facilitate the process as they will be indentified as such with pertinent details.
Give a description to the documents such as the business function they belong to, why they are selected, add the value of importance, and include the protection method being used.
Protective storage can be either onsite or offsite. Onsite is less recommended and is riskier. Your best bet is to choose another method of storage. Offsite is best suited and is recommended for both paper and electronic files. Dispersal of information is available with many options to consider. You can have the data duplicated or replicated with an alternative site. You can select an offsite record center, which takes into consideration many facets of storage such as the media it is stored in, the conditions it needs to maintain to save the integrity of the material being stored, and who has access to the documents. Choose a center not too far away for ease of access and retrieval. Another popular outlet for storage is to send documents to a third party service such as electronic vaulting. Overall, do some research and inquire about the service, the type of storage you choose, and ensure that all security measures are in place for your company business documents.
What ever storage solution you choose to adopt for your documents, ensure that it is suitable for ease of access and protection. The sensitivity of material protected is also of concern to your business and employees.
Francine Renaud
Records Management Consultant
http://www.timeouttoorganize.com/
Tel: 250-763-3988
Begin the process with the assessment and identification of those vital documents, which need to be protected from disaster, in order to resume business with the least delay and distress.
Proceed with an inventory of these documents and identify the documents. For example, include in your report the type of business function they address, why they have been selected, and where they are located including the format. Take into consideration what assets are to be protected, be it legal, financial, your obligations to employees, customers, stockholders, and of importance to marketing and your business plan. Include all work in progress of importance, review and add to the list. Distribute your report to the individual who is assigned for the recovery process and secure it in protective storage.
For the inventory, you may set up a book on Excel and divide the documents into three different categories: crucial, important and useful or use a template for vital records inventory. You will save time, money and frustration in resuming business. It will simplify the whole process and allow for a smooth return to doing business. If you are automated, this will facilitate the process as they will be indentified as such with pertinent details.
Give a description to the documents such as the business function they belong to, why they are selected, add the value of importance, and include the protection method being used.
Protective storage can be either onsite or offsite. Onsite is less recommended and is riskier. Your best bet is to choose another method of storage. Offsite is best suited and is recommended for both paper and electronic files. Dispersal of information is available with many options to consider. You can have the data duplicated or replicated with an alternative site. You can select an offsite record center, which takes into consideration many facets of storage such as the media it is stored in, the conditions it needs to maintain to save the integrity of the material being stored, and who has access to the documents. Choose a center not too far away for ease of access and retrieval. Another popular outlet for storage is to send documents to a third party service such as electronic vaulting. Overall, do some research and inquire about the service, the type of storage you choose, and ensure that all security measures are in place for your company business documents.
What ever storage solution you choose to adopt for your documents, ensure that it is suitable for ease of access and protection. The sensitivity of material protected is also of concern to your business and employees.
Francine Renaud
Records Management Consultant
http://www.timeouttoorganize.com/
Tel: 250-763-3988
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