Document control has been around for decades. Organizations dealing with high volumes of documents and data need a system to keep track of everything. 

It’s a game-changer for organizations looking to streamline their administration and keep their documents organized. So, what is document control, and why is it important? We’ll explain how it works and how to maintain it.

Key Takeaways 

• Document control is about the lifecycle of a document, including when it was created, reviewed, amended and then disposed of.

• Document control helps improve compliance, security and productivity. It also secures better access and easier tracking.

• Document management focuses more on efficient storage than on the documents' version history. 

  
  

What is Document Control?

Document control is the action of maintaining and organizing the documents of an organization. 

There are several parts of document control: 

1. Identification

2. Storage

3. Protection

4. Retrieval

5. Retention

6. Review

7. Approval

8. Disposition

9. Change tracking

The whole purpose of document control is to ensure all documents have been created and reviewed before being distributed and disposed of in an organized and systematic manner. 

Document control also ensures all information is relevant and current. 

This is especially important for organizations like law firms who want to avoid delays caused by incorrect and outdated documents. Good document control will follow the standards recognized by ISO 9001. Organizations can use this international standard of requirements to ensure their document control meets customer and regulatory requirements.  

Organizations handling large volumes of documents can experience lost information and general confusion if no document control has taken place. 

It's about keeping all the information organized and  keeping extensive records of all documents created, received and disposed of. Document control makes it possible to trace documents and their reliability. 

Whether one person handles document control or a system has been used, policies and procedures must be continuously created and updated. 

The whole purpose of document control is to maintain a system for how an organization handles its documents. To do this efficiently, policies and procedures are created for smooth handling. However, document control must keep up as technology continually advances and changes.

Why is Document Control Important?

Implementing document control is a good way for organizations to avoid productivity losses due to mismanaged documents. There are plenty of benefits of document control.

Compliance 

Keeping a trail record of all documents and important information is important because just one lost document can result in costly fines, penalties and other legal worries. 

This is especially important if an organization is undergoing an audit and documents are missing. Document control ensures an organization remains compliant with local and federal laws.  

For example, organizations in the medical industry conducting research and product development must keep extensive documentation of all aspects of their research. Document control will help ensure all documents are recorded, are up to date and can be easily accessed. 

Better Access 

There’s nothing worse than trying to find a document in a disorganized system when you're in a time crunch, and luckily for you, good document control fixes this. With all the documents stored online in one place, accessing them is much easier and quicker. 

This also makes reviewing and updating documents much faster. The ability to restore the documents to their previous versions if there are mistakes is invaluable.  

Easier Tracking

When large volumes of documents are shared with many people within an organization, it’s easy to lose track of them. Document control allows organizations to track all aspects of the document. 

For example, organizations can see who has access to the documents, what version of the document they're accessing, who sent what documents, and where the documents are stored. This improves efficiency within the organization and prevents delays caused by misplaced documents. 

Improved Productivity

A surprising benefit of implementing good document control in your organization is improved productivity. People waste so much time searching for documents without an organized system.

Outdated or lost documents can cause delays, which lowers productivity. Using document control can improve an organization’s efficiency.

Improved Security 

Policies and procedures put in place for document control can also improve the security of your documents. This is especially important when an organization stores personal data like medical records or financial details. 

Tracking who has access to certain documents can help lower the risk of cyberattacks like data breaches and quickly identify potential problems with the storage system. 

Reduced Operational Costs 

Think of the time before you could fill out a document online when you needed to print hundreds of pages. Nowadays, document control involves scanning and storing papers online and creating new documents without printing them. 

By using online document storage systems, organizations do not need to spend as much on printing and filing materials, which lowers operational costs. It’s also better for the environment. 

Better Customer Response Time 

Document control can help improve customer response time when a business interacts with customers and deals with their personal information. Quickly searching and reviewing customer documents will prevent any service delays.

Document Control Example

Many people may think having document control means investing in storage systems. While this is the case, especially if you're dealing with large volumes of documents, you can also use Google Docs. 

Document control has several parts, like identification, storage and protection.

Google Docs offers these features, and that's why it's a good example of document control. For example, in Google Docs, all documents are stored in one folder with the ability to identify important documents as “favorites.”

All documents are stored in one folder and are organized according to your preferences. You can protect documents by changing the access settings to viewer or editor. This means you can track any changes, thanks to the version history. 

Keeping documents up to date is why many organizations use document control, and Google Docs also provides these features in the form of comments and suggestions. 

Suggestions and edits can be approved in real-time on Google Docs, with information available on who accessed the document and made the changes. Owners of the document can track access to the documents and whether they can make changes. 

How to Maintain Document Control in an Organization

Maintaining document control in an organization is key to ensuring your document control remains organized and everyone knows how to follow the procedure. Here's how to maintain document control efficiently.   

Hire Knowledgeable Document Controllers

Organizations should hire a knowledgeable document controller with experience carrying out the tasks needed. 

Senior Document Controller at Core Project Advisory, Sonya Hargreaves, explains

“[Document controllers] ensure that only the latest documents and information are available by all the relevant people across multiple teams or organizations.”

A proper document controller will have previous experience, good organizational skills, good typing skills, project management experience and good attention to detail. 

Hiring knowledgeable document controllers will help prevent delays due to learning on the job or incorrect practices. 

Create Clear Procedures and Policies

For document control to work properly in an organization, procedures and policies must dictate how to handle documents. These procedures need to be clear with no ambiguous or unclear instructions. Otherwise, it  leads to confusion and a disorganized storage system. 

These procedures guide people within an organization on how to correctly access, share, review, change and dispose of documents.  

Train Teams to Follow the Procedures 

The best way to get an organization to carry out document control procedures and policies is to train people how to do it. It’s a good idea to hold regular training sessions where teams learn all the correct procedures and have an opportunity to ask any questions. This ensures everyone on the team understands what to do and efficient productivity is maintained. 

Pick the Best Software Tools for Document Control

The key to maintaining document control is using the tools available for document controllers. These tools are typically software like document databases, electronic document management software (EDMS) and content management software (CMS).

This software helps streamline document control and helps the controller manage documents in an organized manner, which can be helpful for remote workers. 

Review the Results Periodically and Adjust 

Technology is always evolving and changing, so your document control system must constantly adapt to meet international standards like ISO 9001. Document controllers should regularly review the results of their procedures and adjust when they’re not working efficiently. 

Document Control vs. Document Management

While both document control and document management involve handling documents, there are some differences between the two. 

Document management entails the capturing, storage and retrieval of documents. It’s a wider process involving more than just controlling pieces of information but also managing all aspects of handling documents in an organization.

So, if both document control and document management make finding documents easier, what’s the difference between them? 

Ultimately, the difference lies in the extent and goals of their operations. Document control is more specific, focusing on maintaining accuracy, tracking changes, and updating as needed to ensure all documents meet standards for quality assurance purposes. 

Document management is a much broader system. It encompasses elements performed by document controllers. However, it also includes tasks like capturing incoming paper or digital files, storing them securely so they’re easily found, setting up workflow processes for approving new versions, and more. 

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

How do I make a file non-editable in SharePoint?

To make a file non-editable on SharePoint, you must open the file and select "info" on the menu. You then click "Protect Document" and "Restrict Access." After that, you'll select "Read-Only" and save the settings by pressing "Ok."  

Can you make files private in SharePoint?

To make files private on SharePoint, you'll need to restrict access to specific people by right-clicking on the folder and selecting the "Manage Access" option. You'll then need to select "Stop Inheriting Permissions" and choose the users you want to restrict from accessing the document. 

Can you prevent a file from being downloaded in SharePoint?

You can prevent files from being downloaded by changing the access to “view only” and turning on the block download setting. 

How do I stop users from moving files in SharePoint?

You can get users to stop moving files by allowing them read access only. This way, they can't move or edit files.