Businesses of all types cannot avoid creating different documents and files because it is one of the most vital aspects to run business operations smoothly. Documents in a shipping business are created for variety of purposes such as to keep track of orders, remind customers about payment, communicate with the government compliances and most importantly to measure the profit or loss generated by the business during a specific period of time. In the past, filing cabinets are lined in every office to keep business documents and files in an organized manner. As technology has grown in recent decades, a lot of quick and convenient document management tactics are available that every business can make use of to improve document management processes.
As document management is a systematic process of creating, managing and organizing business documents and files in a way that improves business productivity and overall operational efficiency, it is one of the integral business processes that cannot be avoided at any cost. If you are running a shipping business and have been a prey of lost documents and files in the office, here are some document management practices that you should take on to make document management process efficient and fast.
Store Data in a Single Location
Whether you are creating printed documents or digital files, make sure you are storing all your documents in one dedicated location of the store or PC. It will make easier for you and other employees to find the required files conveniently without spending hours on checking the different places. Create dedicated folders to keep relevant files at a place. For instance, if these are the documents related to business accounts, keep them in the folder named as ‘business accounts’.
Digitalize the Document Management
Due to the tech evolvement, documents can easily be scanned and stored in digital document management solutions to store them in an organized and efficient manner for easy and quick retrieval. Investing in a reliable document management software could be a great idea to keep all your business document on fingertips. In such software, business documents and files are scanned (if available in printed format) when they are sent or received and uploaded to the system with unique titles. In results, you or your team members will easily be able to find important documents quickly. As most of the document management solutions come with cloud integration, they make it easy to find and get the required documents in real time with help of internet connected mobile devices even while on the go.
Use Labels
Having loads of paper files around you is just like a mess. It is the place where file labeling can come in handy even if you are using multiple stacks to keep them organized. Creating unique label for each of your file will take less time than finding an important file when you are in a hurry. Make the label headings easy to read for everyone if you are not the only person to access business documents and files. You should keep all the labeled files in dedicated stacks with headings like “business expenses”, “daily sales” and employee record” etc. Also use the similar headings and file names when organizing business documents and files in an electronic document management system.
Get Rid of Unnecessary Documents
An office desk surrounded with the files and documents that you don’t need anymore can increase workplace stress and can cause inefficiency at work. Moreover, they can also have an impact on document management process of your business. that is the reason, get rid of each and everything which is useless. It will not only make space for new important files but will make the document management better than ever before. Whether these are digital files or paper documents, eliminate them from your important business document database to make things easier and efficient. Also make sure to shred useless but confidential business documents instead of throwing them into the bin.
Back your Files Up Regularly
Whether you are keeping business documents in the PC or using a document management solution, remember to back up all your business documents regularly to make sure they don’t get lost in case of an unforeseen incident like hard drive failure or a cyber threat from the malicious persons. Most of the document management solutions come with regular cloud backup features to back up business data on regular basis.
