Proof of the existence of your company and of all the activities it carries out is based on the presentation of documents. This includes several aspects involving the document management, from the admission of employees to the electronic signature of contracts signed with new customers or suppliers.
The way you conduct document management can lead the business to total disarray or success that you expect him to get. so that you have the knowledge necessary to conquer this second possibility, continue reading this article!
What is document management?
Document management is an essential pillar in the organizational structure of any company, regardless of its size or segment of activity.. This comprehensive process ranges from the creation or receipt of a document to its organization, storage, retrieval and, eventually, disposal, ensuring security and prompt access to information.
In addition to ensuring the order and efficiency of workflows, effective document management protects the company against financial losses, possible litigation and problems with the tax authorities related to the inadequacy or lack of documents, such as tax guides and contracts.
Information security, a growing concern on corporate agendas, is reinforced by document management, which prevents unauthorized access and preserves data integrity against internal and external threats.
In this context, document management transcends the mere organization of files, becoming a vital strategy for legal compliance, information security and business agility.
What are the stages of document management?
It is made up of four Phases that we present below.
Production
This first stage marks the “birth of the document” and also the objective behind its emergence. For example: a service provision contract requires the necessary care so that the contractor and contractor are well agreed. The same goes for employment contract documents, with the difference that it deals with the relationship between employee and employer.
That's why the legal and operational departments use this management phase a lot, as they need to prepare documents that are in accordance with the company and constitutional laws.
Having them done is essential so that the work involving the use of documents can begin.
Conduct
While the first phase is intended for the production of the draft, this processing step has a different function than simply composing the model of documents that must be followed as a standard by the company.
Here, every time a document is issued, it is not necessary to create it from scratch, but rather follow the formats that were previously approved internally for each type of file.
For example: if one of your collaborators closes a deal with a client, he will need to send the contract and fill in the fields that correspond to the contracting party only, while the rest of the contractual content must remain the same.
This phase can be time consuming if the contract needs to be sent to the customer to sign manually. However, when relying on an electronic signature, this process is done in less than 1 minute by the computer or cell.
Use
This third phase refers to compliance with existing clauses in contracts created by the company.
Therefore, we leave a very important recommendation: check all the points of the document before sending it for signature. After all, if there is any point to be corrected or that differs from the agreed, there is still time to correct it during this check.
For this reason, this step is also known as the “assessment phase” as it corresponds to analyzing the actions that will be performed.
archiving
After the previous three phases have been performed, the last one involves archiving the document. Those who still work with physical document management move files from one drawer or closet to another. If they are already in the cloud, just move them to another folder intended for this function.
Some managers and business owners choose to delete files when they are no longer needed or have expired, but we suggest that this is not done with everyone.
Every document you issue represents the corporate memory of the business. So if they were important in the future, keep them on file on your system.
How important is document management?
The main importance of document management refers to the good execution of administrative activities, which also helps in business decision-making..
Shall we see an example? THE ZapSign is an electronic signature tool where you can only ask for name, phone number and e-mail to sign a document, but you can also include other advanced options if you feel they are necessary, such as: face photo, copy of ID document and hand-signed digitally.
However, if these larger steps are causing some people to give up on hiring, making it simpler is the best way, in addition to a decision made after analyzing the document management.
In this way, when done properly, it makes the management of the company as a whole faster and safer. After all, the organization of documents makes work more agile, in addition to increasing productivity and preventing company members from making mistakes while performing their duties.
This also contributes to how the company is seen by its audience. When the issuance of documents is carried out effectively, it becomes seen as a modern way that provides its services well. To prove how true this is, just ask yourself: do you feel more comfortable doing business with a modern organization or one that still follows management models old and slow?
Finally, document management is important to optimize internal communication. If the team or person in charge of the treatment, for example, need to access the document signed by a customer, instead of looking for the responsible seller to find out how to locate this file, just access the system to find it.
What are the challenges of document management?
In the context of document management, several challenges arise, directly impacting the efficiency and security of corporate information. Let's see the most present ones below.
Limited physical space
Many companies still keep a large part of their documentation in physical format, which requires considerable storage space. With the constant generation of new documents, the need for more space becomes a growing challenge.
The solution may involve expanding physical space or outsourcing the storage of less used documents, but these are measures that imply additional costs and logistical complexity.
Document security
Protecting sensitive company data is a significant challenge, especially in a context where security breaches can have serious implications, such as fines related to the General Data Protection Law (LGPD).
The use of safes, keyed archives and strict access control are essential measures, but require constant supervision to prevent unauthorized access.
Risk of misplacement or loss
The absence of well-defined processes and standards in document management can lead to the misplacement or loss of important documents.
Without an efficient system, the risk of documents being removed and not returned correctly, or even lost, increases significantly. This gets worse when there is no single, organized place to store files.
Categorization and organization
Defining an effective system for categorizing and organizing documents is complex and requires in-depth knowledge of the company's routines. It is vital to consider the nature, frequency of use and level of confidentiality of each document to create categories that facilitate access and guarantee the necessary security.
Challenges of the digital age
With digitization, the volume of documents generated has increased exponentially. Companies need to be able to efficiently manage a large number of documents, often distributed across multiple departments and locations.
The diversity and complexity of digital documents represent an additional challenge, requiring systems capable of ensuring accuracy and constant updating.
Legal compliance
Companies must maintain compliance with laws and regulations by preserving documents for specific periods. This requires a system that ensures adequate retention of documents for legal and administrative purposes.
Security in virtual environments
With the increase in cyber attacks, ensuring document security in digital environments has become a pre-eminent concern. It is essential to implement robust data protection measures to prevent unauthorized access and information leaks.
Time management
Implementing and maintaining an efficient document management system can be a time-consuming process, especially during the implementation phase. Although it may initially seem like an obstacle, in the long run, a well-structured system saves time and increases productivity.
What are the benefits of document management?
Now that you know what document management is and why it's important, let's see the advantages you have of adopting it in running your business.
More agile processes
Unlike the bad document management, a proper management has as main point to store the company's files taking into account their types and functions. As easy as it may seem to organize documents when the company is starting its activities, it must be taken into account that this work will become more complex as it gets bigger.
If today you and your collaborators know precisely which folder the contracts signed with clients are in, for example, will the same happen when new employees are hired and also need access to these documents?
To prevent this type of situation from happening in the future, the ideal is to start organizing documents from the beginning.
Information Security
Your company documents contain information about the management of your business that is very valuable, both for you and for your competitors.
For you to have an idea, did you know that some organizations have their trash searched by people looking for information present in papers that may have been discarded? This example reinforces the need to keep your documents secure.
When they are managed effectively, sensitive files are kept in safe places. In the cloud, they must have an encrypted system to reduce the danger of data intrusion and theft.
As for documents used periodically by different members of the company, try to release access only to those who really need to use them, as this is also a good practice for securing your information.
Cost reduction
When we talk about business management, a maxim must always be remembered: planning and organization failures generate errors and this brings, as a consequence, more costs to the business. So, so that you don't see negative differences in your cash, manage documents as we teach you in this article.
If you're wondering how this administrative practice helps you save money, the answer is very simple: when documents are well organized, it makes employees use them faster, which increases their productivity time.
Example: if you have a person or team in charge of the commercial part, the faster the issuance of contracts for new customers, the more time there will be to prospect more sales.
legal security
Documents prove that the terms determined therein are in accordance with the law and that the parties involved will respect their due respects.
Employment contracts, for example, specify which days and how many hours employees must work. The timesheet confirms this control and, if there are overtime hours, it must be entered in the payroll.
In the case of customers, there are obligations to be fulfilled by the contracting party and the contracted party after both sign the contractual document.
Regardless of whether the signature is manual or electronic, both are legally valid. In fact, even verbal agreements are valid for the Brazilian civil code, so the same applies to documents issued by your company.
⚠️ Also check out these related articles 👇
➡️ Understand what electronic document management (EDM) is and the reasons to adopt it
➡️ Learn about the stages of document management and why they are important
➡️ Learn about the consequences of poor document management
Document management tool: discover the top 9
Now you understand the importance of taking the management of your company documents, and wants to adopt a good tool to apply these practices correctly to your business.
However, it is precisely because this is a topic of such importance that, at first, this decision may seem difficult to make – moreover, if we take into account the complexity of the documentary routine of a business and the risks and consequences it brings. for one document management misconduct of a company.
Therefore, first of all, it is necessary to understand that, the more your company grows, the greater the circulation of documents - and, therefore, the greater the dedication to controlling your files:
- bills;
- registrations;
- tax guides;
- emails;
- budgets;
- reports;
- invoices;
- invoices;
- contracts;
- anyway, the list is extensive.
No matter how organized you and your team are, you will need to exercise caution when dealing with all this paperwork.
To this end, it is essential that the chosen tools offer resources capable of modernizing their bureaucratic tasks and positively enhancing their results.
Below, we list some of the most suitable document management tools on the market, each with its own purpose.
1. ZapSign
As it couldn't be different, we started our list with the exclusive tool from ZapSign. It is a solution widely adopted by several prominent organizations in the market, being ideal for simplifying and optimizing the process of signing electronic documents of a company - thus eliminating a series of costs and completely unnecessary bureaucracy.
Available in both a free trial and paid versions, the ZapSign solution stands out for offering a high level of integration, making it possible to send the contract through various virtual communication channels, such as WhatsApp, email, SMS, Telegram and others. .
Another differential is its extremely simple and intuitive interface, a factor that greatly facilitates its use: to sign a document through ZapSign, just upload the file in .PDF format, share the link to the signatories through the channel of your choice and wait for the signature.
When the signature is carried out, the ZapSign platform itself sends you an email notifying you that the process has been completed.
2.Zoho Docs
Next, we have the Zoho Docs, a platform of electronic document management that lets you work efficiently no matter where you are.
Available in both a trial and a premium version, Zoho is a central repository for all a company's documents, and it offers a good photo and file sharing system.
3. Microsoft SharePoint Online
The giant created by Bill Gates also has a strong presence in the market of digital solutions for document management, through the SharePoint. It is a platform that allows users to develop small internal networks, through integrated collaborative websites, greatly facilitating the sharing of files and folders.
Another advantage is that SharePoint can be integrated with a series of free apps that can improve the management experience. This vast array of features, however, can, just initially, make your usage and configuration processes a little confusing.
4. LogicalDoc
O LogicalDoc is a software specially designed for companies that want to have full control over their electronic document management processes.
It presents good levels of general information management and process automation, allowing the creation, editing and monitoring of all company documents. Logical Doc is also integrated with Office and Outlook.
The support, although satisfactory, has one drawback: it does not include telephone service – only by e-mail.
5. M-Files DMS
O M Files is one of the most prominent and effective document management tools among the many available. Offering a highly automated management system, it allows your time to be better used and favors your company's productivity.
By using M-Files, you can follow, in real time, all the changes made to your documents, being useful in all document management phases.
However, although it is available for any type of device (including smartphones and tablets), to use it, you need to download its application. This detail generates a small inconvenience in relation to online systems that can be accessed through the Internet browser.
6. Dropbox
O dropbox is a well-known cloud file storage tool. When scanning your documents, it becomes much easier to organize and access them from anywhere.
Through Dropbox, it is also possible to set security levels, choosing who can or cannot access certain files stored on it.
7 Google Drive
O Google Drive needs no further introduction: it is, quite simply, one of the most popular and widely used file-sharing tools, documentation and online collaboration resources. It is perfectly integrated with all Google tools, which makes it very practical and accessible.
8. Ascensio System OnlyOffice
More than just a digital document management tool, the Ascensio System OnlyOffice is a true project manager.
Its interface is similar to that of Google Drive, but it has more features: from the integration between emails, calendars and various cloud services, to the customization of URLs.
9. Evernote Business
Finally, we end our list with the Evernote Business. Although it is most commonly used as a simple notepad, the truth is that, recently, Evernote has been improved, having its functions expanded so that the tool could offer good features for sharing documents and collaborative work.
As such, Evernote has stood out for allowing your brainstorming sessions to be easily captured – and in many different ways, since today you can attach documents, images and even audio to notes.
The app is available for both desktop, Android and iOS, and there are no limitations on the number of users who can use it simultaneously, which greatly favors remote cooperation. Editing documents, however, is only possible through the desktop app.
What are the best practices for managing documents?
Next, we'll look at the essential ways to put document management into practice.
Organize your documents well
Some people tend to think that having documents in the cloud is the same as having them organized, but this is not true. It is preferable to continue working with physical documents and have them very well cataloged in closets than simply thrown into Google Drive without the correct nomenclatures and divided by folders, for example.
Therefore, regardless of whether your management is carried out with physical or digital documents, correctly name each file and leave them properly ordered by folders so that you or anyone in the company can locate the file when necessary.
After all, as much as you know that “1234.doc” is the employment contract, your employees will hardly know. Then, name it “contract-of-work.doc” and everyone will be able to find it.
Know which documents to keep and which to discard
A few paragraphs above, we said that it is important to keep company files, as they are part of the history of the business. However, of course, some documents you do not need to keep if the term has already expired.
Employment contracts must be kept indefinitely, even for an employee who, for example, only worked at your company for one month two years ago. On the other hand, invoices for purchases made more than one year ago and which have already been declared can be discarded.
Even though cloud storage is large, document disposal is not just about freeing up space, but keeping corporate documents organized.
Scan your physical documents
As much as your company is already in the phase of digital contracts, it probably had to issue physical documents related to its administration. Our third tip here is: scan them all.
Even if the care you take with physical documents is great, papers wear out over time. Its natural decomposition time is approximately 100 years, but external factors can anticipate this such as humidity or even an accident involving the loss or destruction of all papers.
So, try to digitize your printed documents using a scanner or taking pictures with your cell phone so that they are safely stored for longer. You might need them one day.
Involve your teams in document management
Managing documents is not just about keeping them stored and well organized in one place, but also about emphasizing good work practices.
When a company does not have a well-defined document process, it is common for employees to develop their own in their routines. For example, if the firm doesn't have a template contract that employees can use to show new customers, they may use a template already populated with information from another customer, which is inappropriate.
If your customer service doesn't have a documented script, agents may create their own scripts that can cause problems if they don't follow the company's quality standards.
Have a document use policy
If you're wondering what kind of problems using documents that have not been previously evaluated by the company can cause, we'll show you a very simple example.
Let's assume that a person contacts your company via chat and the attendant uses a template made by him that should look like this:
"Hi! How are you? My name is John. How can I help you?"
But instead it ended up looking like this:
“hello my name is joao how can i help?”
As much as Portuguese mistakes are common in informal WhatsApp conversations, they are unacceptable in customer service, as they convey a bad image of your company.
To avoid situations like this, establish rules for the use of documents in the company. Try to prepare all the necessary files for the work and, if any employee creates one of his own and wants to use it, make it a rule to check its quality and if it matches the firm's standards.
Restrict access to documents
If you have a supervisor or HR team, they need access to employee employment contracts. But the other collaborators do not need this access, as they do not correspond to their work.
People who serve clients need access to their contracts to know what services have been contracted, but they may not know if they are up to date with payments, as this corresponds to the financial sector.
So, for everyone to work only with the necessary documents, restrict access only to those that correspond to their functions.
Back up your documents
Google was once down for hours and users were unable to access Google Drive documents. Have you ever thought if this had happened at the time you needed them?
Files seem to be safe on the computer until the moment it breaks down and the technician says it is necessary to format and say goodbye to the files that are on the HD.
If in both cases these were the only accesses to your documents, you will not be able to access them again. For that reason, it's critical to have all of them backed up.
Backup formats are diverse. You can keep copies of the files in the cloud, on physical media (such as a CD or USB stick) and even in printed form. The more backups you have, the better. Make sure they are safely stored.
Choose the correct names for the files
We reinforce this point here in the tips because it is really important and many people don't pay attention to it when creating a file. Even those who try to name them properly can fall into the trap of assigning names that confuse rather than help.
Let's take, for example, someone who made the service contract document, but changed it over time and kept all the files in the same folder with the following names:
- service contract;
- service contract (new);
- 2021 service agreement;
- service contract (use this one);
- service contract (don't use the other one, use this one);
- updated service agreement;
- revised service agreement;
- service contract (now yes).
Among so many options, how do you know which one is right? If an employee with little time at the company accesses the folder and comes across these files, the chance of choosing the wrong file and sending it to the customer is high. If there is a clause in it that the deal no longer complies, prepare for a problem. Or get ahead, name the files correctly and avoid this kind of situation.
Update your documents
It is common to see large and traditional companies following the same guidelines for years so the documents remain the same. But, Small business or startups undergo constant updates and therefore need to update their files.
This is true both internally and externally, as employees need to know what the contractual terms are currently being worked on and customers also need to know what your company does.
As we said here throughout this article, if you enter into a contractual commitment, you will have to fulfill it. Even if your company, by chance, is no longer able to do so, you will still have to pay for this compliance, even if it brings you losses.
In order not to go through this, whenever you change any rule, immediately modify the corresponding document.
Use technology to manage documents
As much as a company keeps its documents physically, it is common for them to use a spreadsheet to point out which cabinets and drawers each file is in. This reinforces the need to use technology in this type of management.
On the market, you can find a variety of document management software and the choice of the ideal one will depend on the needs of your business. Of course, you'll also need one dedicated to electronic signature.
ZapSign has three business plans for those who already have a high demand for issuing documents, as well as those just starting out. Enough click here and choose the most suitable for you.
By following these practices, you will be able to efficiently manage document management in your company so that all work processes are based on it.
Speaking of processes, how have you been coordinating yours? Check out in this article that we wrote how to make your deployment.
