In recognition of Electronic Records Day on October 10th 2016, we would like to share this list of 10 electronic records management tips to help you successfully manage your electronic records in 2016.
The Council of State Archivists has declared October 10 the day to raise awareness about electronic records management. Please see a direct quote from them below.
“Electronic Records Day is designed to raise awareness among state government agencies, the general public, related professional organizations, and other stakeholders about the crucial role electronic records play in their world.”
There is a wealth of benefits to going digital and electronic, including improved business processes, and increased productivity.
10 Electronic Records Management Tips
- Implement Software to Improve Business Agility – Today, technology exists to help manage and improve your business. These are scalable records management solutions that enable any small to enterprise businesses to effectively gain control over their records. The right technology exists. You just have to find it (and you may already have).
- Don’t Forget About Security – In this day and age many records include sensitive and confidential data. If your business deals with healthcare, and HR records for example, it’s critical to Make sure all federal data security and compliance requirement needs are met.
- Training is key – On their own records management systems are useless, but in combination with properly trained employees who understand how to use them effectively they are extremely powerful. Look for ERM software providers that also provide superior training and support.
- Archive Records When Appropriate – Many records may be valuable to you or your organization in the future. It’s important that you know what records those are and how to archive them. Research and create a list of the document outlining how they should be handled.
- Make Sure Your Records Are Easy to Find –Understand and use metadata. Proper labeling of your records will help them to be retrieved in a text search much more efficiently. This information will let you manage, search, access, retrieve, and preserve your records. Without proper naming and metadata your records can become impossible to find.
- Automate Records Policies and Procedures – Wherever quality standards and compliance can be an issue records management software can help automate records policies and procedures to insure compliance. It allows you to define and build procedures that bring consistent business practices, secure information, and capture an audit-traceable log of activity.
- Stay Organized & Consistent – Knowing who’s in charge of the shared file, or if people are using email as a filing cabinet rather than a communication tool? Which copy is the record copy?
- Establish policies and procedures – Policies and procedures on how to maintain your records are essential so records are managed and maintained in a consistent manner.
- Think First & Scan Second – There are many things that should be considered before scanning a document into your ERM system; worthiness, standards, storage and retrieval, naming conventions, and other things should be considered. Insure your business & employees are aware of, and have any information needed to help them during the document scanning process.
- Develop and Implement a Records Retention Program – This is crucial for controlling records and staying compliant. Start with researching the relevant legal and regulatory requirements, determine how long you should keep records and your internal retention needs. Then create a records retention schedule with the information you’ve collected.
The importance of having a holistic view of your electronic records, scalable records management software and resources is critical for success.
For more information on records management software, records policy management, and records compliance please follow the links, or request a detailed one on one demo of Document Locator to see how it can help your company. We hope you enjoyed our records management tips to celebrate Electronic Records Day this 10/10 2016.
