We have written before on the blog about the importance of auditing and organising your digital files. This remains a vitally important thing for businesses to do when the data they hold both for themselves and on behalf of their customers is usually the very thing that keep businesses ticking.

What we haven’t written about before is the process of actually organising those files, so today we are covering a few actions that you can take to get started plus some interesting tricks and tips to further streamline your file game.

So if you’re finding yourself in a bit of a digital mess, this is the blog for you to help you start making sense of the chaos. Let’s dive in.

The first thing to consider is putting in place a hierarchical file structure. For many this will  already be a common thing, but some people still do just dump all of their files into the computers documents  folder and leave it at that. If you’re one of those people then you need to stop.

This type of file structure will mean that folders are grouped into sensible categories and then can be further sub divided into projects or discreet pieces of work. For example you may wish to have one top level folder for each client and then sub folders within that for each project or to store copies of invoices to that client.

A good next step to take is to firm up and write as a process the naming conventions for all files. Having a naming convention will help to ensure that things are filed in the correct order, in the correct place and will make it clear if a document is final or a draft.

What naming convention you decide is really up to you and there are lots of ways to do it. The more important thing is to communicate this convention to everyone and ensure they are using it so all your documents are on the same page.

On top of the tips above there are some other functions of filing that you can lean into. For example, depending on how you best search for things you may wish to consider grouping files by theme or colour coding them to ensure that you can find what you need more easily.

You should also consider the software features that come with your preferred operating system. Features like being able to pin files and put quick links from one folder to a document saved somewhere else can be incredibly helpful for navigating files and for easy access to folders that you frequently use.

It goes without saying that none of the above are hard and fast rules that you have to follow. However, implementing some of these tricks and tips should help your organisation improve significantly.

If this is just one of the IT challenges you face in your business, WebbyTech is here to help. You can see the full range of services we offer here or contact us directly for a no obligations conversation.