The importance of record-keeping and filing systems cannot be too highly stressed. A well-planned system contributes significantly to efficiency of operation as well as to a company's image. Whether records are filed in a computer or in a steel cabinet, they have to be readily accessible.
Make a study of your system. Conducting such a study is no more than taking an inventory of the records in your files.
Some of the questions you should ask are:
Also check if your filing system shows any of the following symptoms:
Your analysis is now complete - your records inventory reveals the strengths and weaknesses of your record-keeping system.
Once you have analysed your records inventory, you should determine:
Basic Filing Procedure
Heather
Heather, Arnold
Heather, Products Limited
Heather, British Species
Advantages:
Its advantages include the fact that it gives direct reference and also groups common and/or family names together. It enables files to be read and accessed quickly and is also readily expandable.
Disadvantages:
By the same token, common names do not occur evenly throughout the alphabet. There are, for instance, more names beginning with S than with Q. As an alpha file grows - say to hundreds or thousands of names - identification and locations become more cumbersome. Items within a named file require some additional system of classification - letters to an account client may need to be numbered or filed chronologically, making cross-referencing laborious.
Numerical Filing
Numerical filing refers to all systems in which documents are prenumbered to distinguish them from each other or from alpha documents. Numerical systems can be as simple as numbering and filing from the lowest number to the highest. Files may be numbered from 1 to 1000 and major sections may occur at regular intervals (100, 200, 300). Sub -sections within a file may be introduced by the addition of a decimal point: 100.1, 235.64 etc
Advantages:
The greatest benefit of a numeric system is speed of filing and finding. It is twice as fast to file and find by number than by name. Even though a numeric file requires a cross index, it can increase production time by 40 to 50%.
Numeric systems provide both a positive identification of the record and a degree of confidentiality.This system is capable of infinite expansions and can cope with a very large number of sub-sections, sub-divisions and diverging branches of data.
Disadvantages:
In order for the numbers to convey readily what they mean, it is necessary for an index to be created, eg:
600 Technology
650 Business Practices
658 Management etc
This system is therefore more time-consuming to use than one in which each file is given an instantly identifiable name.
Geographic
Geographic filing systems operate generally by county or country and then alphabetically or numerically by account name or number. Reasons for this type of filing can be several. Since countries have differing laws and licenses, a commercial enterprise may have to consider these constraints as of primary importance.
Advantages:
Such a system enables statistics to be held in manageable and comparable units and also permits a large or 'macro' figure or total to be evaluated in terms of its 'micro' or component parts.
Subject Filing
This is the arranging of material by given subject. It is filing by descriptive feature instead of by name or number. Such filing involves choosing a word or phrase to stand for each subject or to point out one phase of it.
A subject folder may contain any combination of correspondence, bulletins, clippings, pictures, statistics, trade journals and other printed information relating to the subject.
Subject filing is considered the most difficult of all methods of filing. It is a system which demands that the person installing such a system has a complete knowledge of the business. The greatest problem is knowing under which subject an item will be filed. Because a subject file is expensive to maintain, subject filing should be used only where necessary.
Chronologic Filing
Chronologic filing is filing by date. This system is necessary to file items according to the day/date received - such as applications for permits or licences or the dates when vehicles in a company fleet were services.
Advantages:
Particularly useful when actions need to be taken on a cyclical basis - like relicensing cars annually, good for cross-referencing - file on vehicle and relicensing date records can be quickly matched.
Disadvantages:
This systems requires an index and explanatory back-up system. It is time-consuming to access data held in a manual filing system.
TIPS
Space:
A file drawer or shelf should be filled to no more than 90% of its capacity. Tightly packed files slow filing and finding to a crawl.
Index Guide
All active files should have a guide every 10 to 15 folders. Anything less means you are wasting time pushing and pulling folders back and forth, looking for the required record.
Folder Tabs
Folder tabs should be visible immediately upon opening the file. A well-run file must have folders of uniform size and tab styles. Mixing folder heights and tab positions can reduce the efficiency of a filing system.
Folder Tab Identification
Identification on the tabs should be typewritten. Handwritten labels or labels with the names crossed out and re-typed should never be permitted.
File Overload
Don't overload your files to hold more than its capacity. If more files are placed in a folder than it can hold, the tab will slump down and out of sight.
Cross Indexing
Make a reference in one file of related or helpful/additional data held in another file.
Noting Files In Use
A file borrowed without a record of who has it, when it was removed from the filing system etc, is a file lost! Make sure you have a 'file in use' set of slips to be filled out showing: user, date out, date due back etc.
Maintaining Security
Some files will certainly contain highly confidential data; make sure you control who may access what and keep a secure system for sensitive files.