Document Center – Save Time and Increase Workplace Efficiency

Leading a business without a clear roadmap is like sailing without a compass. Governing documents, procedures, guidelines, and other document types may not seem exciting, but as a business leader, having these in place creates calm and security within the organization, as everyone knows what applies and where to find the correct version of each document.

It also saves employees significant time, as they often spend too much time searching for information or acting without a compass simply because they are unaware it exists. The question then becomes—where will they end up?

What Is a Document Center?

We refer to a collection of document libraries in SharePoint, which include various document types with associated metadata and are accessible to the entire company or a specific group of employees, as a document center.

A document center typically houses documents tagged with essential information (metadata) and often includes workflows connected to them. These workflows may include an approval process or converting approved documents into PDF format.

Documents stored in a document center can be displayed on the intranet, with permissions managed from a central location. This ensures that if an individual doesn’t have the right to see a document, it won’t appear in document lists.

How Do I Get Started with My Document Center?

Precio Fishbone has its own model for tackling the need for structured documentation. We guide you through the process of identifying the document types within your organization, defining metadata and the specific fields for each document type, and determining the necessary workflows. We conduct workshops with key personnel in your company—often employees involved in creating, approving, and publishing documents—who collectively prioritize and plan which document types to focus on.

We also assist in setting up a site for documents, metadata, and content types, and configure workflows according to Microsoft’s best practices.

We recommend starting small, including a subset of all documents in a Proof of Concept (POC) with a limited number of users. Once implemented and verified, the POC can be expanded to include more document types. We provide full documentation of the solution so you can choose whether to continue working with us or manage the document center on your own.

What Happens Next?

Document management is a moving target, with new document types and needs emerging. We’re happy to be part of your document management team and offer ongoing advice, tips, and guidance.

Alternatively, you can continue on your own, supported by the documentation and occasional check-ins with us.

What’s important is that you have control over your documents and can trust that the documents appearing in search results are accurate, approved, and accessible!

Practical Tips

The task might feel overwhelming, especially if you have document services, personal OneDrives, Teams, etc., so keep these tips in mind:

• Involve Key People: Include those who work extensively with documents and have the most to gain from better organization.
• Communicate with Document Consumers: Talk to people who search for documents to understand how they want to find them.
• Centralize Metadata: Identify common metadata that can be managed in one place and reused and maintained in a simple and consistent manner.
• Start Small: After identifying many document types, choose a few to start with, then expand as the process becomes more efficient.

Remember the Goal: Aim for time savings and reduced frustration among staff.

If you’d like to know more, don’t hesitate to contact us. We’d be happy to share how we work with document centers!