In this evolving and fast-paced world, data organization remains crucial for productivity. Companies that fail to accurately manage their data risk wasting a lot of time and resources trying to achieve basic tasks. One of the best solutions to this is by creating a document management system. Utilizing Google Drive and Gmail can vastly transform how businesses store, organize, and share files. This article will guide you through the process.

Why Organized Data Matters:

The amount of time wasted to find documents is a huge productivity killer within a firm. Studies show that employees spend between fifty to sixty percent of their working hours looking for documents instead of using them. For businesses, this means missed chances and increasing operational costs. Adding to the operational complications, when data is distributed over different people, computers and files it becomes progressively more difficult to secure.

Organize your scattered data so that you can enhance your search speeds, streamline workflows, and improve security. Document Management System (DMS) creation ensures that your data is easy to access, organized, and shareable amongst users.

Formulating a Document Management System Through Google Drive:

Creating and managing a document management system is straightforward if you have a Google Drive which you can access with a free Gmail account. It allows you to easily store and organize documents. A step by step approach to set it up is provided below.

1. Log Into Your Gmail Account: If you don’t have one, a free account can be set up in no time.

2. Open Google Drive: Go to your Gmail inbox and click on the nine dots on the upper right corner of your inbox to view a menu. Click on the “Drive” icon to open your Google Drive.

3. Create Folders For Organization: In order to initiate the organization of your documents, click on the “New” button which is located in the left sidebar. Click “folder” so you can create one for your company or project. You can name it “Tech Never Sleeps” for instance.

4. Set Up Department Folders: You can create subfolders for every department which includes Accounts, HR, Marketing, Sales and so on. This will help to keep each department’s data organized and easy to locate.

Saving Information Inside Directories:

After you create your folder hierarchy, you can start saving information in every unit folder. Here is how you can add files to Google Drive:

File By File Uploading:

1. Go to the folder where you wish to upload your files (for example Accounts folder).

2. Click “New” and select “File upload.”

3. In the pop up window, select the files you wish to upload from your PC and click “Open.”

Uploading Folders In Their Entirety:

1. Click “New” again, this time select “Folder upload.”

2. Select the folder you wish to upload from your PC and click “Open.”

Alternatively, you can drag and drop files from any folder of your computer to the corresponding folder on Google Drive.

Distributing Information among Team Members:

It’s easier to distribute documents and folders to team members and bring a major benefit of using Google Drive. Here is how you can upload files:

1. Open the folder you wish to share for example the accounts folder.

2. Make right clicks on the folder and select ‘Share’.

3. You may now enter emails of those people whom you wish to share the folder with. For example, you can share the Accounts folder with your accountant whose email can be `siddharthjain@ceoitbox`.

4. Enter the permissions you want to assign.

– Editor- This permission level will allow the person to edit and, or add and remove files.
– Viewer- This permission level will only allow the person to view the files.
– Commenter- This permission level will allow the person to leave comments but not have the ability to change the files.

5. Add a message to notify the recipient and then click ‘Send’.

The recipient once the folder is shared will see it in the shared with me section in Google Drive. He will then be able to open the files subject to the permissions noted.

Simplifying Document Access:

It is evident that Google Drive improves the ability of employees to search for documents and files. Here are some few suggestions to enhance document access.

– Search bar:

If you are looking for a certain document, but are not sure what folder it is in, just click on the search bar type any relevant keyword associated with the file, and Google Drive will retrieve the file for you.

– Make Shortcuts:

Whenever you have a file or folder you access quite often, move it into ‘My Drive’ for easier access.

– Arrange using Alphabetical Order:

You can also set your folders to be alphabetically arranged once you need them organized and set up.

Sharing Specific Files:

To share individual files, do the same you would with a folder, but you’ll have to right click the file instead of the folder you want to share. Press the share button and repeat the process you did to share a folder. You can also change permissions to everyone and decide who can view or edit.

Data and Security Management:

There is the primary worry of security to consider when you are sharing data. With Google Drive, you are allowed to set differentiated levels of access for different users. For instance, you can allow editing access to certain members of the team and “view only” access to the rest. So, while your team is collaborating, Google Drive keeps your data safe from hardware damage so you are backed up in the cloud.

Conclusion:

Setting up a document management system in Google Drive allows your company’s references to be organized, accessible, and secure in a relatively simple way. The steps set in this article help your company reduce the time spent searching for documents, enhance collaboration, and increase overall efficiency. With careful and effective planning, all your company’s data is efficiently at your fingertips when you need it.

Categories: Business Automation