DOC SMART: TOP TIPS TO ORGANIZE YOUR DIGITAL FILES WITH A DOCUMENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
A successful digital document management system will enable you to have more time to do the work that actually matters. Workers globally waste a significant amount of time searching for files or seeking access from colleagues, clients or customers. With digital tricks and a filing system that makes sense for your personal situation, this can easily be avoided.
Here, let’s look into tips you can utilize to successfully organize your digital files with a document management system.
DEDICATE TIME TO ORGANIZING FILES OR INSTALLING A DIGITAL DOCUMENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
Opting for the free alternative of enabling an efficient document management system may take you longer than you think. However, if the thought of this overwhelms you, this time can be spread over a period of time. Instead of spending one day focusing on renaming files and moving them into specific folders, spend 15 minutes each day dedicated to this process. Either way, you will still need to invest time into it. On a positive note, it will be worth it in the long run when you save this same amount of time, plus some, when you no longer need to spend time finding information or documents.
Investing in digital document management software such as M Files will avoid the admin of organizing the files from scratch. Often this form of software streamlines the organization process by automatically filing it for you in a way that you desire. You may still need to search through and double check the technology has filed them exactly in the way you expected. You’ll be happy to know
HAVE THE SAME NAMING SYSTEM AND USE KEYWORDS IN THE TITLE
If you are reorganizing your files from scratch, ensure that you have the same naming protocol across all documents. For instance, let’s say you have written an article for a client and you’ve written a similar article for another client. Ensure you name the document “client name” – “article title”. In addition, it includes keywords within the title. When you need to access the file and send it, this allows you to easily search the keywords from the top of your head as well as the client name. Consistency is key with labeling, because any differences in could again result in what we are trying to avoid, time searching for the desired file.
INCORPORATE THE ‘STATUS’ INTO THE DOCUMENT
Whether you deal with large quantities of documents or multiple people will be viewing your files, placing the ‘status’ within either the title or body of the document can help to avoid confusion on your part or back and forth clarification between parties. The status could vary depending on your scenario and industry – “draft”, “finished”, “published”, “repurpose” and more. Regardless of where you place it, incorporate this system consistently and either memorise it for yourself, take note somewhere digitally or communicate to parties that need to be across it. With paid digital document document management systems, there is often a tool which allows you to enable this seamlessly across all documents without the same level of hassle as manually altering files.
Now that you have tips to effectively implement a digital document management system, implement these and see the difference in your productivity when it comes to accessing files!
