From the course: Administrative Professional Tips

Organizing your electronic files

From the course: Administrative Professional Tips

Organizing your electronic files

“

- Imagine you are preparing for a very important annual meeting. You are the one responsible for ensuring that your boss's PowerPoint slides are shared with the tech team who will be setting up all the presentations. It's the hour before they are due and guess what? You can't find it anywhere on your computer or in the cloud. It has literally disappeared into thin air. Have you ever been in a similar scenario? I have and it's the worst feeling in the world. A great way to avoid this situation from ever happening again is to ensure you organize your electronic files so they can be searched and retrieved with ease. Here are some helpful tips that you can use to organize your electronic files. Naming your files consistently. You should be concise, yet descriptive enough so that you or whoever else needs to retrieve the file will be able to easily recognize the content contained within. It is also important to include the date in the naming of the file for sorting purposes. A best-known format is to designate by a four-digit year, two-digit month, and two-digit date, followed by your file name. When you use this format, your files will stay in chronological order if that is important for you. Creating folders and storing files within them by category, date, client name, or any specific designation you wanna give them. Folders are particularly helpful in sorting out your email messages. When you create a file folder or specific label, you can easily move your email messages to that place in order to easily retrieve them later. These folders or labels become your digital filing cabinet and definitely saves you time and energy, as opposed to having to search for specific documents. Using designations such as draft, approved, and final for some of your shared documents. This is very helpful when you are working on shared documents, such as those found in Google Drive. In my case, I have monthly documents I need to create and have reviewed by my boss. I create folders or file names that show the disposition of the document that we are working on. If it is in draft form, that is the folder or file name I use. If it is ready for approval and I place it in a folder that says, for approval, it is a helpful way that we both know where work stands and what steps need to be taken next. Purging your electronic files from time-to-time. You can schedule regular maintenance time to do this, such as monthly or quarterly. Purging these electronic documents helps to free up space and simplify your files. Each organization normally has procedures for archiving records. You should consult with your IT department. If your company does not currently have something set up, you could champion this effort and research the best ways to ensure electronic documents are protected, stored, and disposed of properly. Good records management is important for both your physical and electronic files and documents. It may take some time to initially get organized, but once you have a solid system in place, it will save you time and maximize your productivity for years to come.

Contents