You’ve probably heard the phrase “content is king.” Our data, documents and other information are essential to the work we do, yet few organizations step back and review their information practices as effectively as they should. Instead, many get stuck in a game of whack-a-mole, chasing each new tool or trend while skipping the most important issue: getting clear about their information habits and fixing the ones that aren’t working.
Reviewing your information management (IM) practices doesn’t have to be daunting or expensive. When you fix your information practices, all boats rise: your processes, people and systems all work better.
In this short video, I share the four basic questions we use when conducting information management audits for clients, which you can use to get started too:
1. Classification: How do you group your information to manage it?
- Classify information in the way that makes the most sense for your organization or team.
- Your “buckets” (such as customer, project, sales or finance information) guide the rules you apply.
- Sensitive strategy information shouldn’t be managed the same way as take-out menus.
2. Approved Repositories: Where do you keep information, and where do you not?
- Information is spreading across email, messaging apps, Teams sites and cloud-based tools.
- Define where information should be stored, and where it shouldn’t.
- If people can’t find information where they expect it, it might as well be in the trash bin.
3. Status: How do you separate work in progress, archived and ROT?
- ROT stands for redundant, obsolete and trivial.
- A mix of current, half-done and outdated documents lumped together limits visibility.
- Separating these categories is a simple way to improve how you manage information.
4. Policies: Are your IM policies clear, reasonable and designed for the real world?
- Many organizations have IM policies that are never read or followed.
- Start with the first three questions, then layer on basic rules like retention, naming conventions and metadata.
- Above all, keep your policies practical.
Watch the video below to see how it works. 👇