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Are you worried about mismanaging your small business’s documents?

Proper document management has helped a lot of businesses prosper with efficient work. It promotes team productivity, task accuracy, and can help defend against data theft. However, poor document management and consistent error can lead to business failure.

To keep your employees’ and customers’ data safe, you need to know what not to do. A small document management mistake can cost time, money, and even a lawsuit when you’re on the wrong side. Here are some of the most common document management mistakes to avoid.

1. Keeping Files Around Too Long

The first mistake that businesses make is not disposing of old files. It doesn’t matter if it’s employee or customer data. Old files will clog up your operations and will only be a nuisance later on.

A good document management strategy should include the disposal of older documents. A good rule to follow is to remove documents that age past a certain time, like a year or two past their creation date.

2. Not Following the Management Guidelines

The best document management strategy should have guidelines that everyone should follow. However, it’s expected that some people won’t follow them, only focusing on their work. This attitude is what affects your business’s productivity and customer satisfaction.

Make sure everyone follows the guidelines within your document management strategy. Simple things like adding names for files can streamline the documenting process.

3. No Proper Schedule

Having no proper schedule can lead to a mixed record with many errors. If you’re thinking of separating your data, it can be tedious and time-consuming.

To avoid any of these mistakes, make a schedule. A schedule will get your employees in sync when passing and archiving documents. This allows you to allocate time to other aspects of your business.

4. Not Shredding Sensitive Documents

Another mistake made by most businesses is not shredding their documents. This applies to highly confidential documents that you can’t risk having leak to other people. Most think it won’t become an issue, but not getting rid of these documents always comes back to bite you.

What you need to do is shred these documents. Depending on the contents of your documents, there are appropriate security levels for shredders. Keeping a shredder handy is a great way to protect your business from potential lawsuits.

5.Not Keeping an Extra Copy

Most businesses see the value of keeping a physical copy of their data. It’s much better than having them digitized, opening them up to easy theft through hacks and such. However, there’s no guarantee that, despite being vital documents, you won’t shred them by accident as we mentioned above.

This is why it’s important that you keep an extra copy of essential documents. You only need to keep them safe to prevent data leaks. This is important if you’re thinking of keeping your documents on-site.

Document Management Mistakes to Avoid

Never ignore the power of data management. Even if your business is small, it can help it grow at fast speeds. Use data management for your business and avoid these document management mistakes today.

We hope we were able to point out some of your mistakes in document management. Looking for a secure off-site shredder to address vulnerabilities? Contact us today!