As a small business, we are beginning to accumulate tons of notes, emails, sketches white papers and other loose ends that need to be handled properly. Whether storing physical files or electronic data, it will become necessary for you to keep that information in a trusted and secure place; one that you can easily navigate when you need to find that contract or article you filed about 3 months ago. There are many reasons why you should implement a good file management system, not the least of which is out of respect for your clients’ intellectual property and well-being. With this entry, I wanted to give you an idea of how we keep a strangle hold on our file management system and offer some insight into our project organization. I don’t think I’ll be offering any “groundbreaking” advice, but there’s no time like the present to get your business in gear.

Paper Management

Ah, good old fashioned paper. It’s hard to believe that there are days that go by when I don’t write a single thing on a piece of paper. About the only time I write anything is when I sign my name on a contract. These days everything is electronically produced, saved and stored. But no matter how high-tech we get, we still always seem to amass a ton of paper documents on a weekly basis. Whether it be contracts, NDAs, expense reports or even initial site sketches and notes, we have come up with a pretty good system for keeping everything organized and under control. The first key to proper paper management is the filing cabinet. We use green file folders and have invested in a $20 labeler (one of the best office purchases yet!) to keep all of our files separate and orderly. We create a folder for each client and all of the important emails, notes, sketches, FTP login info, etc. live there for quick reference when we’re working on a project. You may think this method is a bit antiquated in a world filled with spreadsheets, calendars and personal data assistants, however, nothing quite gives you the security of having paper copies at hand just in case.

Data Management

Your data is precious and you should never take your hard work for granted. Whether it’s the latest Photoshop mock-up you’ve done for a client or a proposal you spent all week slaving over, everything needs to be accounted for. It only takes one random hard drive crash for you to understand the importance of making data copies as often as possible. We back up all of our files nightly so that if the worst happens, we always have a good copy from the previous day on hand. For our back up needs, we rely on a small utility for OS X called SuperDuper!. I recommend this to everyone that owns a Mac, it’s an absolute breeze. At only $27.95, it’s a small price to pay for your piece of mind. You can set it up to copy in the middle of the night and leave it alone. Trust me, you’ll sleep better knowing that your data is safe; and so will your clients.

New ways to stay organized

Now that you have a fantastic file management system and a solid data back-up plan, what else can you do to keep your team organized? One word: Basecamp. This web app by 37signals keeps us on task and clutter-free every day. We can break down our projects by client and have access to all of the info we need with a simple login. And what’s better, the client can have access to the project pages too; leading to less miscommunication and more collaborative thinking. Need a copy of the latest logo? No problem, the client uploads their Illustrator file directly to Basecamp and we’re able to grab it and go. The easiest part is that 37signals hosts the files and data for you, allowing you spend less time worrying about back-ups and more time considering your client’s needs. Does it get any better than that? I don’t think so. You can check out Basecamp for free along with a number of other 37signals products and start getting your team organized right now.

I’d like to encourage folks to contribute any organizational tips and tricks that they use on a daily basis. If you have a great way of doing things and you’d like to share, we’re all ears.

As a small business, we are beginning to accumulate tons of notes, emails, sketches white papers and other loose ends that need to be handled properly. Whether storing physical files or electronic data, it will become necessary for you to keep that information in a trusted and secure place; one that you can easily navigate when you need to find that contract or article you filed about 3 months ago.