Everyone hates presentation, yet everyone wants an organized office, right?
It’s true that I’m not typical because I really don’t hate filing. In fact, when it makes my searches shorter and easier, I like it. You will too once you get organized and start your home or business office the right way. The correct form helps most of us not get lost in paperwork when it comes time to find that important document that we know we keep. A few simple tips on how to store, configure, share and maintain your new filling system can make the job easier than scary.
Shop
First, you must determine where you will store your files. Will they be on an easily accessible desk or credenza drawer? If you don’t have drawers available, should you use a file box on a shelf or a mobile file cart? If there are many files, are they better suited to one filing cabinet? If you use a cabinet, should the files be located in your office for quick access or stored elsewhere? Once you make this decision and have configured the storage location, you will move on to file system development.
Setting
When setting up a filing system, keep it simple so you and others don’t fear maintenance. Use selected hanging files or drawers for the main categories. Then put the folders in the hanging file or in the drawer for the subcategories. When developing a filesystem, determine how many major categories you will need for files. For most file systems, this can be limited to the main categories between six and ten. Then create subcategories within the main categories, if necessary. Main or main categories file in order of use plus or minus usage of hanging files with marked tabs. Make the subcategories within the main one alphabetic, date, or numeric to make folder searching easier. For example, presenting financial data makes the most sense by date, since you file taxes by year and pay bills by month. The customer information on file would be alphabetically by customer name. Research files and periodic clippings by subject category rather than source name for quick retrieval. Regardless of the filing system you use, always present the most recent documents at the top of the folder, as you are usually looking for the most recent version of the information.
Share
If you are using a shared file system, include a typewritten information sheet or index card on the outside of the file location so that others can understand the file system. For files that are used by multiple people or contain multiple folders, create bookmarks for the location of the file when it is deleted. These bookmarks can be empty folders labeled “Out”. Using a bookmark makes it easy to see where a folder is missing and where to put it to reduce filing time. If you want to further protect files and make sure they get returned, you may also want to have an in / out record of who took what file and when it was returned.
Keep
Regular maintenance includes both regular archiving and keeping archives compact and up-to-date by scheduling regular schedules to purge old or no longer relevant data files. Try to submit a document as soon as you are done. If files are not conveniently located for instant archiving, try archiving at the same time every day, whenever possible. If there isn’t much to file, choose a particular day of the week to do all the paperwork. For the daily or weekly presentation, have a storage place for your archival items until the time of the presentation. Ongoing file maintenance includes every time a file folder is opened, and if it contains multiple sheets, quickly review it to see if you can dump any obsolete material into a thin file. If there is no document control or configuration management requirement to keep old versions, be sure to keep only the latest version when submitting reviews or reports.
Hopefully, these simple tips will make it easier for you to set up and maintain a controllable file system. Remember, keep it simple so that everyone who uses the system can quickly and easily find what they need or save documents. Perhaps now you too will discover that presentation is a simple necessity and not something to fear.