A records management program cannot succeed without the involvement of the organization’s decision-makers. Key stakeholders frame the record-management policy. There are two primary goals in involving decision-makers. First, since they will have a broad view of the organization, they encourage the message that no personal ownership of information exists. Second, their involvement establishes the necessary authority to conduct a record management program. Determine who on staff will be the stakeholders and the executive sponsor of this project.

Establish a project team with departmental representatives. The team sets up a network of records coordinators with a lead person and coordinators for each department. Decide if everything will be done in-house or if outside help, such as a consultant, will be needed.

Select one department to initiate the records management project. Based on the experience obtained in this department, you can estimate the resources needed to do other departments.

Perform an Inventory

Perform a cursory inventory of where your physical records are kept. Do you have records stored in off-site storage? Do you have records stored in other areas besides the office? Are there abandoned files left by former employees? Include empty offices, closets, and other common areas. Document where materials are located, how much there is, and the format. Determine what you already have by record type and years or range of years to provide a baseline for records management.

An inventory helps identify which materials are records or nonrecords, such as reference materials, personal papers, and extra copies of materials.

The inventory helps identify which records would need to be immediately available in the event of an emergency, which are vital records.

Classify Records

Every record of an organization is active or inactive. Within these classifications, the record belongs in a series, such as progress reports or presentation materials. The series belongs to a particular category—historical, or administrative, for example—that determines whether the records are to be retained or thrown away.

Do the same with your digital records. What records are being kept, how are they identified, and where are they located on the servers?

Determine if you have current or anticipated lawsuits. What has been the organization’s history of litigation? This information informs if materials need to be retained for legal holds. If records are on legal hold, they cannot be destroyed until the legal hold is lifted.

Hire a records manager (temp, contract, or consulting) or task an employee with this project. This person will complete the inventory of records and write a records management policy that determines when documents should be retained and when they should be destroyed according to a schedule based on federal, state, and local laws.

Determine if records will be kept in a centralized area or at individual workstations and the document types that are included in the record files. Also, determine how draft documents, working papers, and concurrence copies will be handled and who will be responsible for maintaining the record copy.

Create a Policy

The records management policy should be approved by the board before implementing it. The policy may require a review by a lawyer, depending on the type of records or current or anticipated litigation.

The consultant (or a member of staff) will train employees on the records retention policy with live and recorded sessions. The training will explain how to translate the policy into real-world action.

Each department would implement the policy according to its specific documents. Shredding and scanning services should be obtained to assist departments in implementing the policy. What vendors do you already employ? Each department manager would have a specific date to attest that they have implemented the policy.

The policy will be reviewed yearly to make sure that the schedule still aligns with local, state, and federal laws.

Explore Off-Site Options

Determine if you will need an off-site storage vendor if you do not already have one. The vendor should be used for records that must be kept permanently or for long retention periods that you do not have room on-site to store. Keep in mind that the monthly rates for off-storage storage are low, but destroying, removing, or moving off-site storage collections is expensive. The latter fees can easily result in thousands of dollars.

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