An essential guide to proper knowledge management

Knowledge management is the essence of any successful organisation. The process of creating, sharing, using and managing the information of an organisation is what ensures everything runs smoothly. Great document management is the very foundation of a functional institution so getting it right is essential. That’s why we have put together an essential guide to effective document management.

Step #1 Make a plan

Because all great ideas start with a master plan, it’s essential that you lay down the framework for how you would like your workflow to function. While practicality and ease of use should be top of mind, it’s also important to make sure that your way of working fits into the process.

Step #2 Designate the responsibility

Find a person, people or specialised company to be responsible for the implementation of your vision. Outsourcing your document management is often the best way to ensure a functioning and well-implemented system.

Step #3 Pick your format

Choose between an electronic or paper format or perhaps a combination of the two. It’s a good idea to store physical documents offsite using a professional document management company. This will save you space and ensure that information is secure. The professional company can also facilitate your live file solutions, archiving and indexing. 

Step #4 Review what you have

Now, its time to collate your existing information. This step requires you to go through each piece of documentation you have and assign it to a category. Ideally, you should have three action categories; what needs to be kept, what can be digitised and what can be destroyed.

Step #5 Destroy what you don’t need, safely

Get rid of anything that is not essential to the running of your business. It’s likely that some of the documentation will contain sensitive information so it’s essential that you securely destroy internal documents. Use a shredder or outsource the job to a document management company to ensure destruction is carried out safely and securely.

Step #6 Implement your system

This is the stage where the long-term process is implemented. It’s important that the data-capturing step is done correctly because it will affect future productivity. The format and processes that you chose in the planning and selection steps are now ready to be implemented and the final outcome of this step should be a functioning knowledge management system to carry your business into the future. Remember to train your staff on the processes and procedures to ensure that the system is used and maintained properly.

It’s time to empower your business with a great document management system because as the saying goes, “knowledge is power.”