Why You Might Want To Consider Professional Document Organization Before Storing Papers
If you manage an office, you know how difficult it can be to go fully paperless. Some items just have to be printed out so that you have a hard copy in case your electronic system fails. But that leads to lots of paper files if your business stays around for a long time. Occasionally culling the files and shredding them helps, but items that you need to keep indefinitely often have to go into storage. Before you lock those papers away, have a professional organizer arrange them. You'll be glad the files follow a consistent system years down the road.
A Consistent System
It's very easy to throw files into a box for storage and forget about them, occasionally adding more and more boxes as the years go by. The problem with this is that as managers and employees change in the office, so do filing systems. If you put all of the files through professional organization or records management, then you'll have everything arranged according to an impartial standard.
Document storage facilities often have records management services on offer, or they have associated document organization companies to which they can refer you. Records management and professional organization companies, like Vital Records Control, still allow for some variation and customization, so you'll have to meet with the organizers to work out exactly what you want.
A Time-Saving Measure
If you stick with the same organizers for future files, or if the storage company continues to do the organization, see about leaving your company's filing preferences on file so that you don't have to explain them each time. Also keep a copy at your company, so future employees know what to expect if they have to access the files.
Having consistent filing organization will save your company a lot of time in the future. You won't have to struggle to understand what previous employees were thinking when they packed away the files. If you need to store documents off-site, talk to the storage company about getting the files professionally organized. Do this before you need to get the files offsite because the organization can take a while, even if professionals are doing the work. It will also be less stressful if no one has to rush and can instead take all the time they need. This is especially crucial if you have a lot of old files that have faded over time and that have become unreadable.
Share