taining the information? 5. Who needs access to the infor- mation? 6. How can everyone who needs the information find it? Nowhereisthereality:Answering those six questions requires the cooperation of everyone in the organization. It can easily take up to one year, or even longer, to answer them, since accuracy requires addressing the questions over a one-year business cycle at a minimum. Creating and maintaining an effective records management system I’ve developed a five-step process called The Productive Environment Process™, which can be applied to organize information in any organization. 1. State your vision. If your records management program is suc- cessful, what will you be able to do that you can’t do now? What positive effect will an efficient records management program have on the organization and your customers? 2. Identify your obstacles. What currently prevents you from having a successful system? 3. Commit your resources. How much time, money, and human resource power are you willing to put into the project? 4. Design your SYSTEM (Saving You Space Time Energy Money). What tools (software, existing filing systems that work well, etc.) do you currently have that will be helpful in the process? What other tools are available? What processes do you need to apply? A crucial component is applying The Art of Wastebasketry® to eliminate unnecessary records. 5. Maintain your success. What procedures do you need to develop and implement so the system you create will continue to work long after the creators of the system are gone? Note the common word in those five steps: “Your!” It would be wonderful if creating a records management system was simply a matter of buying a book or hiring an expert who told you exactly what to do. A successful records management program, however, requires people, processes and technology. It must be supported by management, customized for the organization, and executed by everyone in the organization to succeed on an ongoing basis. According to an article in the July 2010 issue of Journal of Accountancy, a paperless strat- egy can yield savings of 30% to 40%. Some of the savings comes from reduced overhead costs, such as what you spend on paper or real estate expenses, while others come from the increased efficiency of working digitally. Every firm is different and the extent to which it goes digital var- BUSINESS FEATURE –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– 78 TileLetter | October 2018