The high-rise office buildings of the world may have open plan offices with more space than ever, but look at every corner of the room. You’re bound to find one or two files that are still being used. Filing is mostly done online now so don’t mistake the lack of filing cabinets to mean no one cares about this sort of thing anymore. But why do we need to file, in this day and age? Filing is essentially, keeping a record of everything your business does. It’s a historical book which you can access at anytime, to help you in future or present situations. The age old saying of ‘he who does not learn from history, is sure to repeat it’ might sound cliche but it’s the cold hard truth. This is why business owners young and old, need to keep up this practice so they are never caught out from challenges that are unforeseen.
A catalog of practices
Procedures, practices, standards and processes are all the things that make your business unique. These internal methods are the life and soul of what makes your business the way it functions. If you had a marketing campaign that was not as successful as you wanted it to be, you will have noted what the future improvements should be. If you have implemented a different and new technology for task management and inventory management, then you will need to check mark the updates practices you currently have. The list could go on and on, but it’s all about updating everything you’re doing. Bringing up standards and learning from mistakes, filing all your experiences and codes of practice will give the function of your internals meaning. It also gives new employees a set of standards to follow when acclimating to their roles.
Updating contractual agreements
During the course of a business partnership, contracts can change or be updated. If there has been smooth sailing over the years, towards the end of a contract it can be renewed. However, this can also mean that it is updated by both parties. For example, your business has supplied 20,000 products to a company for 3 years but since then the company has wanted to increase that amount to 30,000 for the next 3 years, you need a new contract. Well, not necessarily. Using Document Management Software you can open up any existing contract and change it in real time while in a negotiation. You might choose to keep some things the same but update others. Rather than taking notes back to your office, these changes can be done via cloud DMS service
Culture and improvement
Don’t overlook the simple act of moulding and maturing your culture by taking lessons from your history. Note the mistakes you made in your projects, identify the reasons and use this hard-learned knowledge to improve practices in the future.
Filing is not boring by any means. It’s something that has to be done in order to grow your business internally, become more professional and learn more about what you’re doing right and wrong.
No comments yet.