A document register must let you answer certain simple questions: Which document is it? When was it created? Who is involved? What is its current state? Where is it? If your register doesn’t make any of these questions easy to answer, you have made it too weak. If every document record demands twenty fields, then you’ve built something far more complex than most sets of documents require.
Start by picking a single type of document, such as external letters, invoices, minutes, or requests, and create a register for that alone. Don’t try to combine various different kinds of documents into a single register; it will become much harder to decide which fields are relevant to each one. For example, an invoice will typically need information about the supplier and payment status, whereas an incoming letter may need information about the sender, date received, routing destination, and current status. It’s much easier to manage a small register if each entry relates to the same type of document and follows the same process.
A simple letter register might look like this: Reference Number, Date Received, Document Title, From, To, Status, Location. You might add a brief notes field if there’s anything you need to know about it, for example, whether an attachment is missing or whether a reply has been sent. You should avoid adding any generic fields, such as Information, Notes, Details, etc. If there is any ambiguity about what a field should contain, rename the field until you can explain to someone exactly what it means.
It’s more important to keep the register consistent than to make it look pretty. Use a single date format, a single numbering scheme for reference numbers, and keep the set of possible values for fields to a minimum. A list of statuses such as received, pending, forwarded, replied, filed, is far easier to work with than a list containing things like “under review”, “sent to manager”, “almost done”, and “done”. The same rule applies to document types and departments. Keeping the language consistent will make the register much easier to filter and search.
The most common problem with registers is that they become unwieldy copies of the actual document. Don’t copy long descriptions, postal addresses, lists of attachments, or other details into your register. All you need to know is enough metadata to uniquely identify and find the document. You should store the full document elsewhere. Your register should simply be a pointer to the document, giving the name of the folder it’s stored in, its physical location, etc.
Once you’ve created the register, fill in ten example records and use those to perform some tests. Find all documents received last week. Find all documents still waiting for review. Find the definitive record of a particular piece of correspondence. Find a particular file from the register alone. See which fields were used and which were not. Get rid of any fields that aren’t needed. Only add a new field if there is no way to find a document or follow a particular document without it.
When you have created a register where it’s easy to complete entries, and you can find any particular document without searching through multiple directories, you’re ready to expand it. Just remember to keep it as small as you possibly can, otherwise nobody will update it. A short, accurate register is more useful than a large one that nobody bothers to update.
