Your starting point
For secretarial, office-management and administration teams coordinating files that require several documents.
A file can exist without being complete. Documents arrive in stages, sometimes with unclear names. Before assisting classification, define what is expected and how it will be checked.
How to move forward
Define the expected items
Describe a file type and the documents required at each stage. Identify when a person needs to confirm a document's relevance or validity.
Prepare the sorting
Test document identification and extraction of useful information. Provide a review category for unreadable, incomplete or unfamiliar content.
Coordinate the next steps
Prepare requests for missing items and status changes for approval. Avoid duplicate reminders and keep a named owner for each file.
Agree before starting
- Clear expectations for each file.
- Uncertain documents flagged for review.
- Organised follow-up for missing items.
Your questions
Can we work from an email inbox?
That depends on access, tools and handling rules. A review should specify which messages are in scope and what actions are permitted.
Does classification validate a document?
No. Recognising a document type does not prove authenticity or sufficiency. Business checks and required approvals are defined separately.
Which file type should we start with?
A frequent file type with known requirements and described exceptions. It should be simple enough to compare the two handling methods clearly.