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| The Elements of Document Control By David A. Baldwin The Out of Control Syndrome Organizations create documents daily. They are used to convey new ideas, provide direction, give instructions, describe processes, define specifications, and a host of other purposes. Often documents are generated in an ad hoc environment without thought to how they will eventually be used or by whom. Documents are often created in a casual manner and then stored on someone's hard drive. They are passed around in printed form, or attached to e-mails, and end up being thrown away or deleted when they no longer seem relevant to the issues of the day. Realizing the Importance of Documents This undisciplined approach to document creation and distribution overlooks the importance documents may likely have to the organization in the long term. Individually, documents are pieces, or snippets, of the organization's intellectual capital. They each contain information that represents a small part of what the organization knows. Taken together, over time, documents become a significant part of the intelligence of the organization. The importance of documents to the organization and, perhaps, its very survival, calls for a thoughtful approach to understanding the role documents play in the day-to-day functioning of the organization. Once this is understood, the need for a rational and consistent means of creating and managing documents becomes clear. A Practical Approach to Document Management Effective document management requires an underlying philosophy and strategy. It should be tailored to the needs of the organization that must use it. It should be practical and it should be written. No document management strategy can be useful if it is not explicitly documented and made part of the daily routine. In organizations with the proper understanding of the significance of document management, this documented philosophy and strategy becomes a document management policy. Once this policy is defined, it should be followed with a document management process that explains how to put the policy into use. The document management policy and process become the organization's method of document control. In broad terms, document control provides a means of managing the development, approval, issue, change, distribution, maintenance, use, storage, security, and disposal of documents. The Purpose of Document Control The goal of document control is not to create extra work or build a bureaucracy. Instead, it is put in place to protect the value of the content of documents and to enhance the usefulness of that content to the people in the organization who need to use it. Document control provides a framework for thinking about how information is created in the organization and how it should be managed once created. The purpose of a document control method is to ensure:
Document Control Procedures The document management process put in place to support the policy should include procedures that define the development of documents. While these procedures should not be cumbersome, they should be explicit and detailed enough to provide clear direction as to how documents should be prepared. The procedures may include topics such as:
A System Tailored to the Environment While many of these processes can be automated with a document management tool, the organization must not allow a purchased software application to dictate its document management policy and process. To work effectively, a document control method must be adopted that makes sense for the organization's environment and culture. Implementing a Document Control Process Prior to implementing a document control process, an organization should prepare a document control policy that explicitly explains how the system is to work. This document should describe with precision the rules for how documents are to be created, reviewed, published, stored, and used, as well as any other details as suggested in Document Control Procedures above. A relatively simple way to implement document control is to use a master list as the control mechanism. This is the approach taken by the ISO 9000 series of quality standards. The master list contains the same document control elements as does each document. The master list, however, is the governing instrument for the process. If the master list is changed, affected documents must be changed to correspond to the master list. In such a system, the master list is a particularly sensitive document once document control information is recorded and must be protected accordingly. The document control policy may include instructions for how the master list is to be managed. In actual practice, a document is created, its document control elements populated, and the master list is used to record the document coming under the control process. If the system is audited, the master list is the source used to check the control of individual documents. Document revisions are done in a similar fashion. Document content is changed as required, the document control elements are updated, along with the revision history page of the document, and the master list is updated to correspond to the document information. Document Control Elements At a minimum, the recurring control elements of a document include the document name, revision number, issue/revision date, the current page number and the document’s total number of pages. This is the same basic set of information that is included on the master list. Other information, such as the name of the author or editor, the name of the person authorizing the document, and document reviewer identification could also be included. It is a good idea to include all such information you choose to record and track on the revision history page of the document as well. Again, the document control policy should spell out what information about each document will be maintained. The minimum document control elements should be consistently placed on each page of the document, normally in the header and footer. Other information, such as classification of information (confidential, proprietary, etc.) or copyright notices may be required by your organization as well. Organizations usually publish these requirements for employee use. Once the required control elements are placed within the document, an entry in the document control master list should be made. Going forward, for the document to be considered controlled, its document control elements must always match those on the master list. Between the document and the master list, should control information get out of synch, the document is no longer considered controlled. References Robitaille, Denise. Document Control: A Simple Guide to Managing Documentation. Chico, California: Paton Press LLC, 2005. Dick, David and Kathy Bine. “Documentation Management for Dummies.” The Nor’easter (July/August 2003). |
© 2008 David A. Baldwin, Dave Baldwin Consulting. All rights reserved.
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