Here are ten RMA insights, that you don’t want to learn the hard way.
1. Auto-Categorization is not a magic antidote. If you aren’t careful about tagging and organizing your data, you’re making a lot of manual work down the road.
2. Organization is a magic antidote. Get organized upfront. It’s easier to provide structure to data from the beginning, than it will be to structure your data after the fact.
3. Keep It Simply Systematized. Use as few categories as your process allows. The fewer buckets you’re categorizing into, the easier it will be to maintain those categories (but make sure to see 4 below).
4. Metadata is your friend. Make sure your metadata is complete, and will allow you to separate a single category into multiple ones later, if need be. You don’t want to have to separate a category manually, believe me.
5. Be like a Ninja. The more transparent the Records Management process is to your end users, the more likely it is to succeed. Wherever possible, be like an RMA ninja.
6. But also like a Shark. The rules and regulations are always evolving. If you’re not moving your RMA process forward, you’re falling behind, or worse.
7. ‘Business Continuity’ is not just Jargon. It’s not, we swear. If your RMA system doesn’t aid business continuity, it’s not properly supporting your organization. Know it, live it, love it.
8. You’re leaking records. Records in the hands of partners, or on employee cellphones and laptops, are often just as responsive as the ones you keep on site. Know where your organization leaks records.
9. If it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing well. Implementation is key. Get it right the first time to save yourself a lifetime of headache. If you already got it wrong, please accept my condolences.
10. Make friends, a bunch of them. Get buy-in from other departments before you need them for your next project. You’ll thank us later.
Want more of our hard-won insight? Give us a call, or check out our Records Management University event!
