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Event title Getting to

Paperlite.

Strategies for More Efficient Records Management

Part One: Records Management Best Practices

We’re going to give

you a plan that will get

you to a paperlite environment.

Everyone wants to

work with less paper,

but very few people

know how to make that

happen. Today, we’re

going to change that…

You’re likely painfully aware that managing

records is more complex than ever before.

Records volumes and formats continue to grow

exponentially. Information must be accessible,

any time, anywhere, across a number of

formats and devices. There is a growing desire

to take everything electronic on a day forward

basis. Then there is the challenge of what to do

with our existing, paper-based records

collections. And all these challenges are set

against the constant requests from

management to “do more with less”.

In other words, most organizations agree that

reducing the amount of paper is good, but they

don’t have an action plan to get there. A recent

AIIM whitepaper provided some good numbers

on this challenge.

AIIM White Paper Study:

Paper Focused Business Processes

For 74% of

participants, paper

reduction was a

business process

priority.

But only 24% of these

companies actually

had policies and

procedures to reduce

the amount of paper

they are working with.

Using records management best practices goes a

long way to getting your organization to a paperlite

state. Let’s take a how they can help you reduce the

amount of paper you work with.

Implement a

Corporate

Classification

System.

Taking a careful, structured look at your

official records is essential, and it starts with

corporate records classification. This

establishes organization-wide categories for

records, preferably based on the business

functions supported by the records. The

different elements that make up the records

classification all play an active role in

making your office paperlite.

The office of record, medium of record and records

retention schedules are just some of the elements

to consider including when it comes to your

organization’s corporate records classification.

Let’s have a quick look at each.

Office of Record

Medium of Record

Records Retention Schedules

Office of

Record

Many records classifications

designate a department or

other organizational group

responsible for creating and

retaining records of a given

business activity. Provided

this designation is accurate

and up-to-date, it can also

provide a signal to other

departments that any copies

of the records they hold are in

fact transitory and thus

subject to clean-up

mechanisms.

Medium of

Record

Increasingly more organizations are

making determinations that the

official record of a given business

activity should be kept in electronic

form, as opposed to paper. Where

this is the case, consider having a

“Medium of Record” field as part of

the classification. Then, when users

encounter records categories that

are designated for electronic

retention, they can better identify

and purge paper convenience

copies that are no longer needed.

Better yet, it can lighten the volume

of paper copies that are created in

the first place!

Records Retention

Schedules

A good retention schedule is your best

friend when it comes to creating a

paperlite office. In fact, an effective

retention program can help you reduce

the amount of paper you store by one-

third. How? Because your schedule

details exactly what you need to keep

and for how long, you are in a position

to control the growth of your records

collections. This way you ensure that

you aren’t keeping paper records you

don’t need.

And even if your retention schedules

dictate long retention periods for some

categories, they are important to the

paperlite office for two main reasons…

10

YEARS

20

YEARS

30

YEARS

THE FIRST REASON is that eventual disposal is better than never

disposing at all. Some classification categories may have retention

periods of 10, 20 or even 30 years, but that time will come.

Established companies dispose of longer-term records every year,

allowing for direct cost savings that comply with all applicable

requirements.

THE SECOND REASON is that

without a retention schedule,

typically everything gets kept –

including records with short

retention periods. Some

organizations are hesitant to

pursue records retention

scheduling at all because of the

vague sense that some items

need to be retained for many

years. By not identifying those

items and treating them

accordingly, organizations

without retention schedules end

up spending several years worth

of resources storing and

managing content that could

have been disposed of as little

as one year after it was created.

Create a Disposal Policy

A clear records disposal policy

is critical for getting to

paperlite. It sets the overall

mandate, enabling the

implementation of records

retention schedules.

From a paperlite office

perspective, it is essential to

have a directive authorizing

secure destruction of non-

record, transitory materials. So

the policy itself dictates

regular, timely purging of these

materials.

Records Disposition Process

So now that we know what to do, how do we do it? This is where the implementation of a records disposition

process comes in. Once a record has reached the end of its scheduled retention period, it is usually eligible

for destruction. All record destructions should be accounted for via a documented approval process.

Once disposal sign-off is obtained, records can be destroyed using shredding, or another method, which

provides reasonable guarantee against information being recoverable. Records management staff should

certify the destruction. All records disposal documentation should be retained permanently in case any of the

destructions are called into question.

In conclusion, Part One of “Getting to Paperlite” covers four records

management best practices that are critical to achieving a paperlite

office: implementing a corporate classification system, developing a

records retention schedule, creating a disposal policy and implementing

a records disposition process.

In Parts Two and Three we’ll discuss tools to manage your existing

collection for paperlite and strategies for handling your day-forward

records. Look for these Slideshare presentations in the coming months!

Thank you!

Visit us at

www.tab.com/paperlite

for more resources!