With the business conditions changing dynamically every day, you as a business owner need to be on your toes all the time! Thankfully, there are a plethora of advanced software and tools to keep you agile and ahead of the game. So, when it comes investing in solutions that will help you take a faster decision, access information on the go, and stay in contact effectively, SharePoint demands your attention!
The best thing about SharePoint is that it doesn’t do just one thing. In fact, different businesses use it for various purposes. While some may use it to build their website, extranet or intranet site, other might use it as a tool to manage records. In this article, we will mostly focus on SharePoint records management best practices.
SharePoint is not something you install on your desktop, but it works as a powerful back-end system that connects all the employee computers and their mobile devices enabling them to communicate and share information with ease.
SharePoint can be easily integrated with some records management software, and that make the use of it even more efficient. But, the question is how does it help in records management?
SharePoint provides organizations with a platform that they can use to store, organize, access and share important documents and files so that they are not locked away in someone’s computer or lost in the vast sea of data.
The documents that are stored on SharePoint can be easily accessed by almost anyone within the organization. So, this saves a lot of time and speeds up a process as you don’t have to send multiple emails to various authorities seeking permission to access a document or file.
Another amazing feature of the SharePoint tool is that you and your coworkers in an organization can work on a single document, track the updates and save the older versions with ease. So, you are spared from creating numerous versions of the file and sending it to multiple people to get their inputs.
SharePoint Records Management Best Practices:
You need to follow these SharePoint records management best practices to get the maximum benefit out of using SharePoint with your records management program:
- Develop just one RIM policy that can govern all the different formats, physical as well as electronic information.
- You must set a specific timeline for the implementation of RIM policy goals with deadlines and stick to it
- Assess as well as merge the various physical and digital records. Evaluate and prioritize the information
- Create schedules for retaining or disposing of the documents. If you strictly follow the regulatory and operational guidelines, you will be able to develop a records management strategy and keep it as long as you want. Properly dispose of the unwanted information.
- Make sure there’s proper indexing of records, and they are tagged by date, author, type, storage location and other labels. This will help you identify and locate data quickly.
When looking for a records management system for your organization, opt for the one that allows you to integrate it with SharePoint, and follow the SharePoint records management best practices to get the most out of this powerful combo.
