User Folder Structure for the Communications Department

asked on October 25, 2018 • Show version history

Hi all,

I am working on revising the existing folder structure for our Communications department and I am wondering what you have in place and if you would be willing to share your structure. Most of their documents are created by them for someone else, so they should be located in other departments’ folders with shortcuts into Communications folders. I would like to get some ideas before I rebuild the structure. I would also be interested in how you approached metadata as well as projects with a lot of communication around them from start to finish – do you keep communications files for these for the life of the projects or dispose of them earlier (as most comms files have a shorter “life”)? I would appreciate any information on that.

Thank you in advance,

Olga.

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replied on October 26, 2018

Hi Olga,

Since you work in the Public Sector, there are retention periods for each type of document. There is a famous quote: What goes in, must come out. If you have the Records Management module for Laserfiche, I would start there.

It is not a safe assumption (in general) that the users will periodically delete files that they no longer need. In fact, the opposite is usually true.

I bring up retention is because it can guide you on how to group & classify your documents. Ultimately, it also tells you when you can delete documents.

Hope this helps,

Chris

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replied on October 26, 2018 • Show version history

Hi Chris,

Thank you for your response. Yes, we do have a functional retention schedule and are starting to use the Records Management module in Laserfiche as well. I am thinking about the best way to organize Communications records - by functions does not seem to be the best option, as most things fall under a "project" - big or small - with associated advertising, public engagement, publications, etc. and I was wondering what you and others have done.

I terms of retention, we have advertising, public engagement, publication records with different retention periods, and when all of these are related to the same "project", e.g.: bridge construction, to me it makes sense to destroy them all at the same time, which then contradicts the retention schedule. I would like to see what others do. Take the longest period of time and then destroy all advertising, public engagement records, etc. together (e.g.: after 2 years) or tie these to the end of the project (even if if spans years) and then destroy? Thanks in advance!

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replied on October 29, 2018 • Show version history

I did an implementation for Capital Improvement Bond projects several years ago. I worked with my Records Manager (RMLO) and determined that any correspondence (paper or email, etc.) regarding one of these projects would be kept as with all of project documents. They had to be kept for a very long period of time usually spanning the life of the bond. I think it was 10 years after the last payment of the bond. Those long retention periods are perfect for using the Records Management module, since there is no need to wonder when something is eligible for destruction. I would recommend working with your Records Manager to define the retention periods and then work in how to structure your folders and/or metadata from there.

I don't have any specific suggestions for you on this. Maybe someone else can share what they have done.

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replied on October 29, 2018

Thank you for your response Chris. Yes, we do the same and keep any correspondence, etc. associated with a project for the life of the project, I was not sure, if Communications records should follow the same pattern. Thanks for your input!

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User Folder Structure for the Communications Department

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