The biggest challenges in document management in 2020

I don’t think it is possible to write many words about challenges in 2020 without mentioning Covid-19. But here I go. I will instead focus on the challenges that may arise when managing documents in the modern era. 

I speak to business leaders from all over the world every single day about how they can become more efficient with regards to document management. If you have ever heard the story of Henry Ford doing market research you may have heard that when he asked people what they wanted in terms of future transportation they would say "Faster horses". And that is how I feel in many cases when speaking to these business leaders about document management. 

When speaking of document management I am mainly thinking of two things. 

What do you do with the documents you already have?

Most organizations are document hoarders. What I mean by this is that they are so concerned with archiving and storing the documents they have, that they have unknowingly created a black hole where in reality the file-sharing solution that is supposed to make collaboration smoother throughout the organization, has now turned into a content graveyard. 

It is important to be selective with the documents stored in a shared area in order to maintain control and retain the value in the information that is put out. 

The process surrounding the creation and management of new documents

This takes me to the document creation process. What if your organization would be able to utilize a cloud-based solution for document co-authoring and automation? A place where people that write, review and approve can have access to the same document at the same time. This way everybody knows what's going on. And as a project manager, you can easily look at a progress report to see where you are lagging in order to adjust and recover. 

Even when working from home, you can reuse content from a previous project in order to minimize the amount of duplicate work. And once it's all approved, It’s automatically formatted into a beautiful PDF or word file in accordance with your corporate branding guidelines, and placed in the file-sharing solution for all to see. This way you will maintain control of the documents you already have. And you get to maintain a transparent and efficient document creation process. 

Am I a hoarder?

In order for you to tackle some of the challenges described above, I have compiled a few points that may be worth reflecting on:

1. Do we have many versions of the same document available in a file-sharing solution?
2. Have I ever recreated a document I know for sure I had stored here somewhere?
3. Have I ever spent more than 30 minutes looking for a document?
4. Do I store important documents in my mailbox to avoid losing them?
5. Have I ever reused old content and found out all the information is outdated, after the fact?
6. Have I ever found a sensitive document on a shared company-wide platform?
   
   

I think you all know where I am going with this. Where there is order there is prosperity. If your answer to any or all of these questions is ‘yes’, then you should consider moving to a solution that ensures a secure, streamlined and transparent document creation process.