Top 5 Efficiency Tips
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The document provides 5 tips for improving efficiency in information management: 1. Eliminate bottlenecks in information flow by ensuring easy access for all who need it. 2. Remove paper from processes where possible to reduce errors and streamline workflows. 3. Examine copying practices and reduce unnecessary physical copies that waste time and resources. 4. Implement disaster recovery and litigation readiness to allow quick response to unexpected events. 5. Optimize workflows to achieve flexibility and agility to meet changing business needs.
Top 5 Efficiency Tips
- 1. EfficiEncy toP 5 EfficiEncy tiPs Practical Steps to Drive Productive Information Management Practices To help you realize the goal of more productive operations, we’ve compiled this list of things you can do to streamline your information management processes Interested to learn how to and promote efficiencies across your company. make these efficiency gains a reality? Contact 1. EliminatE BottlEnEcks Iron Mountain today and The usefulness of information is directly tied to how easily it flows throughout we’ll work with you to put your company. So when a record is maintained by a sole custodian, exists in a single physical copy or resides in a lone department, it can create bottlenecks the insights and best that slow response times, delay billing cycles and make it difficult to distribute practices we’ve learned the necessary information in a timely manner. from helping over Eliminating these bottlenecks is a great way to boost efficiency and maximize 140,000 companies the usability of the information you create and share each day. To do so, think improve information about how a specific piece of information is used to support a given business management efficiencies process. Ask yourself who needs it, when and for what reason. Then, review to use in your business. access requirements, examine current workflows and determine a means of storing, indexing and — when appropriate — imaging different types of information to provide records to users across your business. To find out more, call 2. look for thE PaPEr trail 800-899-IRON, or visit Despite our best efforts to eliminate it from the workplace, paper continues to ironmountain.com/efficiency. be a prominent part of many business processes. Because paper-intensive activities typically require you to manually print, distribute and store records, they are often the source of many errors and operational inefficiencies. Thankfully, removing paper from these processes is a sure-fire way to reduce errors and streamline processes. To start, analyze your workflows to determine where paper is not required, and adjust these processes to prepare for the transition to digital records. Then, establish a procedure for the timely conversion of paper records to an electronic format. At the end of these steps, you’ll find it much easier to access a particular piece of information and put it to use toward a variety of ends. 800 899 IRON (4766) / ironmountain.com 1
- 2. 3. Zoom in on coPiEs Do more with less, Although we’ve become accustomed to conducting business via electronic means, we continue to create more physical copies than we need. And whether and do it as quickly these copies are piled on an employee’s desk or stored in a filing cabinet, keeping as possible. It’s advice all too many on hand can significantly hinder agility and slow response times. companies must heed in To make sure this isn’t the case, examine your current processes and look for order to compete in areas where redundant copies are draining efficiency. Any situation where today’s economic climate. multiple copies are created can be refined with the help of centralized, However, given the electronic storage that provides company-wide accessibility. Next, develop and amount and variety of enforce policies and procedures that require any copies to be properly information these destroyed after being used. This way, your employees will have access to the records they need without filling your office with unnecessary paper. businesses must access, distribute and manage 4. PrEParE for thE unExPEctEd each day, improving the Events like fires, floods, audits or lawsuits can happen at a moment’s notice. way it flows from person When they do, any information security lapses are thrown into the spotlight. to person to drive And if it’s difficult to restore and access critical records, your business suffers and can even grind to a halt. productivity has become no small task. Recognizing that the unexpected can — and does — happen is the first step in being able to quickly recover from a disruption or respond to a discovery request. But that’s only half the battle. You must also implement disaster recovery processes that ensure a paper record — as well as the system on which electronic information resides — can be restored following an unplanned event. You’ll also need to develop litigation readiness programs that help you identify and produce the records needed during a lawsuit in a timely manner. 5. crEatE BusinEss aGility Quickly responding to requests from internal and external customers alike is highly dependent on your ability to locate the required information in a timely manner. To do this as efficiently as possible, you must optimize your workflows so they are able to flex with the changing needs of your company. To achieve this goal, simplify the workflow to the point that it requires the fewest touches, exchanges or approvals to complete, so that as the volume of activity changes, you can easily compensate. Improving throughput in this way helps to create business agility, which has far-reaching implications on your ability to achieve high customer satisfaction marks, deliver products to market on time, share information with suppliers and customers and flexibly manage resources to address emerging business challenges. aBout iron mountain. Iron Mountain Incorporated (NYSE: IRM) provides information management services that help organizations lower the costs, risks and inefficiencies of managing their physical and digital data. Founded in 1951, Iron Mountain manages billions of information assets, including backup and archival data, electronic records, document imaging, business records, secure shredding, and more, for organizations around the world. Visit the company Web site at www.ironmountain.com for more information. © 2011 Iron Mountain Incorporated. All rights reserved. Iron Mountain and the design of the mountain are registered trademarks of Iron Mountain Incorporated in the U.S. and other countries. All other trademarks and registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners. US-EFF-EXT-DS-020111-001 800 899 IRON (4766) / ironmountain.com 2