Businesses rely heavily on their data and document management to make strategic decisions when it comes to further growth. Whether it is data or physical documents, every business implements security measures to ensure that its assets are safe. However, with technological advancements come greater risks because now hackers have more advanced tools to steal data from companies. Data breaches can cause any company to lose a lot of money, customers, and its reputation in the process.  Properly managing your data and documents will boost productivity throughout the company. Here are some tips that will help your business efficiently manage data and documents.

Create a Standard

Managing data and documents starts from the moment a document or a file is created. If you work with invoices or financial reports, you should create a template for each important document. These documents should be accessible for employees and stakeholders. You should train your employees on how to create, share, and store these documents, especially if these documents will use by different employees or if they work remotely. Furthermore, you should train employees on the latest security measures; cyberattacks usually target employees with low-security awareness. If you manage your data and documents right from the beginning, it will be easier to manage them in the long term.

Use A Cloud Storage Platform

Cloud-based platforms became extremely popular in the last couple of years. They offer a variety of features to increase productivity while keeping the data and documents secure. Sharing files and editing them has never been easier as employees can access the cloud platform from anywhere with the right authorization. The features of the cloud-based platforms facilitate access to sensitive information in a timely manner. According to the data management specialists at Brightflag, this improves productivity significantly as your employees will easily find what they are looking for. It is essential that the employees use the same platform as it can be difficult to integrate different cloud platforms into one place. Before using the first platform you find online, do your research and find the best one for your business.

Nest Your Folders

In every business, there is a clear hierarchy in the organization. This allows you to make strategic decisions easily and to know how the company works from within. The same concept should apply to managing and storing data and documents. Nesting your folders will allow you to have a clear structure and an easy system to follow. To find the information you need, you will only need to follow a certain path in your nested folders. As with organizational structure, you should with the main folders, then create sub-folders for different teams, departments, projects, or topics.

Convert Paper Documents To Digital Ones

Though a large number of businesses have converted their filing systems to digital, some businesses still use the legacy system of paper documents and integrating digital solutions. Having two types of documents, legacy and digital will make the task of organizing the data and documents twice as hard. Depending on the type of your business, converting documents to digital format can be either an easy or a challenging task. If you are running a small store, it will be easier to convert receipts and such to digital files. On the other hand, if you own a law firm, you will need to convert all the past and current cases to a digital format which can be challenging. However, there are solutions for this. For example, you can hire a professional document scanning service or buy software specialized in scanning documents and converting them to a digital format.

Organizing Emails Regularly

Emails are a big part of every employee’s day. Since each employee sends and receives a large number of emails each day, a huge amount of information is shared through emails. This information should be organized efficiently to find relevant information and documents quickly. An email management software can make a huge difference when your business deals with a lot of emails. Email management software can keep the attachments and messages in the document management system and allow you to easily find any kind of information. It also works as a recovery tool when emails are lost or damaged. Email management software offers other various features that can increase productivity throughout the company.

Managing your data and documents is essential to ensure that you can access them easily. With a good management system, you don’t have to worry about losing data or documents. This is because, one way or another, when the filing system is organized, employees will find what they want quickly. This will allow them to finish their tasks faster. Investing in your data and document management is a good step towards improving productivity and keeping your sensitive data secure.