This document outlines strategies for achieving a paperlite office through effective records management. Key best practices include implementing a corporate classification system, developing records retention schedules, creating a disposal policy, and having a records disposition process. The document emphasizes the importance of reducing paper volume and managing records efficiently to meet organizational demands and minimize costs.

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Event title Getting to
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Paperlite.
Strategies for More Efficient Records Management
Part One: Records Management Best Practices

2. Everyone wants to
work with less paper,
but very few people
know how to make that
happen. Today, we’re
going to change that…
We’re going to give
you a plan that will get
you to a paperlite environment.

3. You’re likely painfully aware that managing
records is more complex than ever before.
Records volumes and formats continue to grow
exponentially. Information must be accessible,
any time, anywhere, across a number of
formats and devices. There is a growing desire
to take everything electronic on a day forward
basis. Then there is the challenge of what to do
with our existing, paper-based records
collections. And all these challenges are set
against the constant requests from
management to “do more with less”.
In other words, most organizations agree that
reducing the amount of paper is good, but they
don’t have an action plan to get there. A recent
AIIM whitepaper provided some good numbers
on this challenge.

4. AIIM White Paper Study:
Paper Focused Business Processes
For 74% of
participants, paper
reduction was a
business process
priority.
But only 24% of these
companies actually
had policies and
procedures to reduce
the amount of paper
they are working with.

5. Using records management best practices goes a
long way to getting your organization to a paperlite
state. Let’s take a how they can help you reduce the
amount of paper you work with.

6. Implement a
Corporate
Classification
System.
Taking a careful, structured look at your
official records is essential, and it starts with
corporate records classification. This
establishes organization-wide categories for
records, preferably based on the business
functions supported by the records. The
different elements that make up the records
classification all play an active role in
making your office paperlite.

7. The office of record, medium of record and records
retention schedules are just some of the elements
to consider including when it comes to your
organization’s corporate records classification.
Let’s have a quick look at each.
Office of
Record
Medium of
Record
Records Retention
Schedules

8. Office of
Record
Many records classifications
designate a department or
other organizational group
responsible for creating and
retaining records of a given
business activity. Provided
this designation is accurate
and up-to-date, it can also
provide a signal to other
departments that any copies
of the records they hold are in
fact transitory and thus
subject to clean-up
mechanisms.

9. Medium of
Record
Increasingly more organizations are
making determinations that the
official record of a given business
activity should be kept in electronic
form, as opposed to paper. Where
this is the case, consider having a
“Medium of Record” field as part of
the classification. Then, when users
encounter records categories that
are designated for electronic
retention, they can better identify
and purge paper convenience
copies that are no longer needed.
Better yet, it can lighten the volume
of paper copies that are created in
the first place!

10. Records Retention
Schedules
A good retention schedule is your best
friend when it comes to creating a
paperlite office. In fact, an effective
retention program can help you reduce
the amount of paper you store by one-third.
How? Because your schedule
details exactly what you need to keep
and for how long, you are in a position
to control the growth of your records
collections. This way you ensure that
you aren’t keeping paper records you
don’t need.
And even if your retention schedules
dictate long retention periods for some
categories, they are important to the
paperlite office for two main reasons…

11. THE FIRST REASON is that eventual disposal is better than never
disposing at all. Some classification categories may have retention
periods of 10, 20 or even 30 years, but that time will come.
Established companies dispose of longer-term records every year,
allowing for direct cost savings that comply with all applicable
requirements.
10
YEARS
20
YEARS
30
YEARS

12. THE SECOND REASON is that
without a retention schedule,
typically everything gets kept –
including records with short
retention periods. Some
organizations are hesitant to
pursue records retention
scheduling at all because of the
vague sense that some items
need to be retained for many
years. By not identifying those
items and treating them
accordingly, organizations
without retention schedules end
up spending several years worth
of resources storing and
managing content that could
have been disposed of as little
as one year after it was created.

13. Create a Disposal Policy
A clear records disposal policy
is critical for getting to
paperlite. It sets the overall
mandate, enabling the
implementation of records
retention schedules.
From a paperlite office
perspective, it is essential to
have a directive authorizing
secure destruction of non-record,
transitory materials. So
the policy itself dictates
regular, timely purging of these
materials.

14. Records Disposition Process
So now that we know what to do, how do we do it? This is where the implementation of a records disposition
process comes in. Once a record has reached the end of its scheduled retention period, it is usually eligible
for destruction. All record destructions should be accounted for via a documented approval process.
Once disposal sign-off is obtained, records can be destroyed using shredding, or another method, which
provides reasonable guarantee against information being recoverable. Records management staff should
certify the destruction. All records disposal documentation should be retained permanently in case any of the
destructions are called into question.

15. Thank you!
In conclusion, Part One of “Getting to Paperlite” covers four records
management best practices that are critical to achieving a paperlite
office: implementing a corporate classification system, developing a
records retention schedule, creating a disposal policy and implementing
a records disposition process.
In Parts Two and Three we’ll discuss tools to manage your existing
collection for paperlite and strategies for handling your day-forward
records. Look for these Slideshare presentations in the coming months!
Visit us at
www.tab.com/paperlite
for more resources!