Beginning an Information (Records) Management Program for your Company

When a business enterprise begins to be inhibited or restrained from accomplishing its goals, only then will resources be committed to efficiently manage records.

Any enterprise should have goals that include:

Standards for Forms Creation
Standards for Records Creation
Procedures for storage and use of active records in the business of the company
Procedures for storage, retrieval and use of inactive records
Disposition of inactive records that may include destruction

And what does getting started involve?

Assess current situation
Determine enterprise or unit responsibility for information management
Determine current active and inactive procedures and certain specifics. Example: linear feet of active records or number and size of office records storage cartons.
Assess inadequate controls. Example: out-of-date, unacceptable or non-existence records retention schedules
Commit to writing a program of solutions
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Begin implementation

This certainly is an overly simplified view of issues faced by every enterprise. later updates will focus on much narrower topics including:

How to properly pack an office records storage carton
Developing an in-house records retention schedule
Security, including access to information
Methods of destruction
Insurance
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