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For the past couple of weeks our team has been looking at different ideas about document retention. We also thought about how management is connected to the retention of records. One interesting thing about this article was the big red buckets.
How to Win the Compliance Battle Using 'Big Bucket'
Written by Susan Cisco, Ph.D., CRM
Here are our thoughts on this article:
This article is about whether or not organizations should implement the big bucket approach for records retention. Using the big bucket approach allows organizations to have fewer records categories while still keeping everything accessible and organized. The big bucket approach allows records managers to dispose of unnecessary documents. A system that allows companies to dispose of unneeded records in a timely manner controls the costs of records retention.
Our main questions are, can we relate this method to our own project with Peyton District Schools? Is it better to have numerous buckets with little amounts of records or the other way around?
The idea of many/few buckets reminds me of the organization system my office used when I worked at a different university. We had the option to store documents and records in our office's public server, or on a personal drive. Our public server was incredibly disorganized, because employees could create folders/subfolders/sub-subfolders willy-nilly. And there were so many different versions of documents available, that it was tough to tell which documents were most up-to-date. If you needed to access a document someone else had made... there went the afternoon.
ReplyDeleteWe reorganized our office/roles while I worked there, and along with that came reorganizing the public folders and streamlining our document storage. Our goal was to have as few folders (buckets) as possible, to keep the search/location process easy. Eventually, this worked well. But initially, we couldn't find ANYTHING because we'd moved just about everything to a new place, under a new name.
I'd hope that for your project, the process will be easier, as fewer people will need to access the "buckets."
I think too many 'buckets' can get really confusing. Only essential documents should be kept for hard-copy retention purposes. Other documents should be stored on the public server but in very detailed folders, so it is easy to find.
ReplyDeleteUsing an organized filing system of important hard-copy documents and a shared computer drive with many folders and sub-folders is the system that we use in the MBA office. We have important documents from the 1980s in our filing system for graduated MBA students. We keep track of them by color-coding the tabs on the files. 1980-1989 graduates get a purple tab, 1990-1999 grads get a yellow tab, 2000-2009 get a pink tab and so on... Maybe using a color-coding system at Peyton would be a good idea to think about.
-Emily
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ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI believe that having numerous amounts of buckets would be way too much. My opinion would be to minimize the number of buckets to just five major buckets. The reason for this is because it would clear up a lot of room and there would be less confusion on to what documents to save and get rid of. Also, the less the better because the more documents there are the more clutter builds up and eventually there will be unnecessary documents that are taking up valuable space. Last, using less buckets would probably be a good idea for your guys project because it would be a easier process to follow vs. having numerous buckets.
ReplyDelete~Keson
Hello Documents R Us:
ReplyDeleteI have been having a hard time with my VPN at home, so I haven't had a chance to actually view your article yet, but I will comment as soon as I’ve had the opportunity to read the article from campus.
-Nicole
I think that the less buckets/series there are, the easier it may be to find files. Having too many buckets to search can be time-consuming. Files can be further organized after being put into the buckets, but if there are fewer buckets, then one will have an easier time finding information.
ReplyDeleteThis article sounds like it can relate pretty closely to your project - when Tracy first came in, there were no buckets, but it seems like she's getting things organized and put into series.
-Devon
I would have to agree with the rest of the comments; too many buckets can get really confusing. I believe that naming the “buckets” is a bigger issue. Having lesser buckets with more detailed names might be the solution. Where I worked we had one folder (bucket) with different subfolders, where each subfolder was more and more specific (kind of like a funnel approach).
ReplyDeleteBecause each document had different retention requirements, we had to go in and update everything weekly. Once a month, we had a person assigned to go and look at the updates. Everything that was out of date( as far as hard copy form that needed to be saved) was shredded (for the purpose of quarterly audits). For Peyton school district, I am sure there are records that need to be kept for long times. I do like Emily’s idea of color coding, it simplifies record keeping.
In order to get rid of excess documents, Peyton School District might, possibly, consider scanning some of the documents and placing them on a drive in order to free up space. I said possibly because I don’t know what state regulated requirements are.
Sanja
Again, I would have to say that having numerous buckets is unnecessary, and messy. In order to keep everything organized, I would stick to just a few large buckets, and get rid of any unneeded documents.
ReplyDeleteIn order for Peyton School District to minimize their amount of buckets, they could keep all documents on some kind of computer program, so everything would be much more organized, take up less space, and easier to find exactly what they need.
-Katie
Having finally read the bucket article, I think that it is more beneficial for companies to employ several “buckets,” rather than just one big “bucket,” because the company can categorize their records into smaller sections. I liked the idea of having a user double check that the consolidation of smaller sections makes sense. It is important for a business to understand what records can logically be stored together based on content.
ReplyDeleteAfter having seen your final deliverable for Tracy, I think that your team did a great job of making Tracy’s “buckets” easier for her or other district staff to use.
-Nicole