Effective File Management

Formulating File Management Plan

The most important task in file management is to formulate a File Management Plan, by
adding details about the records in your office, as well as information about how they are
managed.

At a minimum, the file plan should include the following information for each folder or
document:
Who?  Person and organization responsible for maintaining the
records (i.e., custodian)
What  File code
 Title of the records
 Medium (e.g., paper, electronic, video)
 Access restrictions
 Vital records status
Where?  Location of the records
(e.g., room number, cabinet number, rack number)
When?  Date range of the records
 Dates when the records are created, closed,
transferred or destroyed
 Nature of records (e.g., active, inactive, hold)
Other information  Description of the records
 Arrangement of the records (e.g., alphabetically by
site, chronologically)
 Person responsible for maintaining the file
 Last revision date of the file
 Next revision date of the file

Note: It is important to include all stakeholders when making these decisions and to
obtain management approval regarding file plan.

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Steps to Organize Documents

Step- 1: Make the List of Folders

1. Make a list of your folders according to your required category such as Educational
Documents, Utility Bills, Legal Documents, etc.
2. Once the list is prepared, make arrangements of files, folders, staplers, markers,
paperclips, paper punch machine, sticky notes, labels, lamination sheets and any
other items required.

Step- 2: Bring all the papers at one place

1. Choose a spacious place to work and gather all papers, documents etc.

Step- 3: Sort all the papers and categories each pile

1. Take some sticky notes/adhesive notes and categorize the piles.
2. Pull all the important documents in current piles and don’t hesitate to declare
trashes.
3. Use paperclips/gems clips to bind the similar papers/documents.

Step- 4: Scan all the documents

1. In case of highly important/classified paper, making a scan copy is a must. To do so
use a professional scanner.
2. In case of other papers/documents, you can use different android/iPhone scanner
apps.

Step- 5: Filing
1. Now let’s file the sorted piles of papers/documents. Inside each file, you can sort
the papers/documents date-wise/importance-wise. You can also use a separator to
separate multiple months/year in the same file.

Step- 6: Make a Dedicated Collection Box

1. Make a dedicated collection box and put it somewhere where you have easy
access. Keep your grocery bills and other daily bills in that box.

Step- 7: Make a space to put them all

1. Arrange a dedicated space at office to put all these files and folders.

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 Here is the example of different categories
Sl File/Folder Name Container Type What to Contain
1. Utility Bills Folder Bills of Electricity, Gas, Water,
Internet, Satellite, Mobile phone,
telephone, society maintenance,
laundry bills, any sort of
subscriptions etc.)
2. Warranties Small Accordion Folder All current warranties, warranty
card, manual books

3. Medical Papers Medical File Type Doctors’ report, medicine and

hospital bills

4. Visiting Cards Visiting Card Album Visiting cards of clients, vendors,

acquaintances, business partners etc.
(Can be stored using separator)

5. Educational and Display File Educational certificates, professional

Professional certificates, training certification,
Certificates etc.)

6. Other Important Display File Birth Certificate, death certificate,

Certificate marriage certificate etc.)

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Sl File/Folder Name Container Type What to Contain
7. Bank Loan Files Pouch Folder All bank loan related papers.

8. Cheque Books Plastic Pouch Bag

9. Investment Papers Pouch Folder

10. ATM Cards Visiting Card Holder Debit Card, Credit Card, National
Photo ID

11. Income Tax Return Pouch Folder Keep papers of at least last three
years.

12. Travel Kit Pouch Folder Visa, Passport, travel related

imported papers and photocopies

13. Mini Photo Gallery Plastic Pouch Bag Passport size and/or stamp size
photo

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Effective File Management Tips
Particulars
1. Labeling and Indexing
2. Saving necessary documents
3. Follow a method for naming
your files and folders
4. Store related documents
together, whatever their type
5. Make Archives
6. Make digital copies of paper
documents with a scanner
7. Organize documents by dates
Some Final Thoughts
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Description
Label each file with proper name and use an
index numbering method in your computer for
smoother location tracking.
Save a file only if it's relevant to your work
activity.
Divide a main folder into subfolders for
customers, vendors, and co-workers. Give
shortened names for easy identification.
Store reports, letters, presentation notes,
spreadsheets, and graphics related to a
particular project in a single folder – rather
than having one folder for presentations for all
projects, another folder for spreadsheets for all
projects, and so forth.
Make archives and move irregularly required
files into archives.
This is useful if you don't have much space to
store paper documents, or if you want to
archive documents without destroying them
completely.
Write a date on the document. This will help
you organize your documents into date-order,
without having to open the folder and read
through all documents.
Remember that files are "living" document that should reflect changes to your office (e.g.,
departing employees, office moves, changes in business). It may need to be updated
monthly or when the records schedule changes are issued. It must also be reviewed at
least annually to ensure it still covers all of your office functions. A file management plan
can be a very effective tool when it is carefully planned, documented, and kept up-to-
date.

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