Many of us serve as volunteers in charitable, non-profit or religious organizations, sometimes in a board responsibility, others in executive or clerical functions. How often have you found that urgently needed information is locked away in the computer of another volunteer or colleague, sometimes at his or her home or even at their cottage!
The point is that a significant volume of the documentation in non-profit organizations often does not get into the central file repository. This is especially true in regard to paper archives … past board decisions; studies, reviews and opinions considered by previous executives and boards; etc.
Many for-profit organizations also fall into this costly and potentially dangerous situation. Just think of all the valuable knowledge and context that is currently hidden (lost!) in boxes of paper archives … information that could better inform and guide many current day board and executive decisions.
Consider this as a plea for decision makers in such organizations, to start your new project to digitize all important documents, with a low-cost electronic document management system to find and retrieve any needed information in a few seconds! This transformation will enable everyone with permission-based access rights, to get the information they need to do their tasks with excellence and vastly improved organizational efficiency!
It will also reduce, if not eliminate, the silos!
