If your organization is still storing and managing documents in physical folders or scattered across different team members’ computers — you’re doing it wrong.
A system that is not unified and requires employees to hunt for documents or ask others for help wastes time and hinders productivity.
What you need is document management system (DMS) software that enhances your document storage and distribution so that everyone can easily access relevant files.
In this article, we’ll explain what a DMS is and why your team needs it. We’ve also listed 7 features that your DMS must have for it to be an effective solution.
What is a DMS?
A document management system is a type of software that automates every process of the document lifecycle, including document creation, storage, organization, and distribution.
Essentially, everyone can access relevant documents with a few clicks instead of searching through endless folders or paper files.
Advanced DMS software can streamline your entire document approval process and is ideal for enterprise content management.
Platforms like monday.com combine digital document management with project management.
So, whether your documents are related to sales, finance, marketing, or any other work process, they can be added directly to the relevant task.
As a result, your entire work process becomes more efficient since any employee has immediate access to relevant files anytime, anywhere.
Why should you use a DMS?
A DMS can significantly boost your organization. Here’s how:
- Centralized document storage: all your documents are stored on one easily accessible platform. This eliminates the need for individual document sharing via emails and messages, or if you’re more old school, faxes.
- Easy document retrieval: every worker can find any relevant document in an instant. This means they can get their work done faster since they don’t have to rely on other colleagues to get files or search through multiple physical folders.
- Better collaboration: a DMS can boost collaboration by allowing you to attach files to specific tasks, tag users, and add comments. So, employees can have conversations in the context of that particular file.
- Increased security: without a DMS, your documents are likely stored in a physical location, or they’re scattered across multiple workers’ desks and PCs — neither of these scenarios are great from a security perspective. A DMS, on the other hand, has comprehensive security features.
- Boost productivity: all of the above features improve productivity since every file is easily accessible, enabling teams to grasp information and act on it faster.
What are some use cases of a DMS?
You can tailor your document management software to your organization’s needs, but here are 3 common use cases to get you started:
HR document management
A DMS like monday.com lets you store and access files related to hiring, onboarding, leaves, workloads, etc., on a single platform. So, you can store all the information related to an employee or a potential hire in one place.
Moreover, monday.com is a Work OS, so you can efficiently store documents related to hiring and track your entire onboarding process.
Apart from onboarding, monday.com can also help you with employee management, leave tracking, and workloads, along with all the documents involved in these processes.
Project document management
Every project has tons of supporting documentation, including client details, contractor details, task information, project files, first drafts, and more.
A good DMS can help you organize all of these files in a way that makes sense, not just for you but for everyone in your team.
On monday.com, you can add notes and files directly to tasks, so your team members have all the info they need.
Collaborative brainstorming
A DMS with advanced features, like monday.com’s workdocs, is perfect for collaborative brainstorming. Using a workdoc, all team members can simultaneously work on a single document and bounce ideas off one another.
You can directly add any videos, images, and other types of files using the Updates section. If you want a particular team member to look at a specific file, you can ‘@’ them so that they see it directly.
With workdocs, your team members aren’t just explaining an idea. They can visualize it and then open the floor for comments, edits, and updates, in real-time.
monday.com streamlines the entire brainstorming process and lets you track an idea from conception to approval to project completion.
7 features that your DMS must have
If you’re in the market for a DMS solution, here are 7 features that are critical for your software:
1. Effortless file sharing
Any competent DMS will let you create, add, and remove files effortlessly. But you need a platform that does more.
Your DMS should enhance your workflow. monday.com does this by allowing users to add files to every task on a project board directly. You can add images, videos, PDF files, and text documents.
Everyone associated with that task has direct access to that document. There’s no need for searching or asking others.
A workdoc functions similarly. Users can add documents and images to a workdoc with ease.
2. Automation
One of the primary ways your DMS boosts productivity is through automation.
A 2019 monday.com report reveals that over 70% of those surveyed favored automating routine tasks like calendar invites and data entry.
When repetitive data entry tasks take up hours of work and hinder productivity, the solution is to invest in a DMS that integrates effortlessly into your existing workspace.
monday.com lets you create simple “if this, then that” automation rules across your workspace.
These rules can also be used for document management. For example, you can send automatic notifications when files need to be added to a task or instantly move files to the right place.
Automated document management can also boost your content management workflow.
3. Enhanced collaboration
Apart from document control, your DMS must have the right features to boost communication and collaboration. It should prevent unnecessary meetings and endless email chains.
On monday.com, for example, you can tag specific users under each file within a task. If a task needs a financial report, simply tag someone from that team, and they can add it instantly.
Team members can use comments within tasks to suggest and implement edits within a document quickly.
Your project boards are also updated in real-time, so there’s no need to worry about an information mismatch or team members not receiving the latest version of a document.
4. A cohesive system
A standalone document management solution is useful to a certain extent, but it will still require you to juggle different platforms.
What you need is an integrated DMS where you can create and edit documents within it. monday.com has workdocs for this.
monday workdocs is a collaborative document application where everyone on a team can add data, images, videos, and other files in real-time. You can even embed your existing project board or dashboards into your workdoc.
If you and your team are conceptualizing a new product or feature, a workdoc will let each team member add information in an organized manner. Comments, updates, and an activity log keep everyone informed in real-time as well.
You’ll never need to use a paper document again.
Moreover, workdocs can be created as part of a project board. That way, it’s a part of your workplace. Your team has a handy document to ensure you stick to your goals at any stage of the feature creation and launch.
Software devs can also be added to the workdoc, so they get an exact idea of what needs to be implemented.
5. Integrations
A document management tool that doesn’t work well with other apps almost defeats the purpose of the platform. It keeps your documents isolated and requires your workers to go looking for what they need.
To prevent this, monday.com integrates with hundreds of apps, be they a major CRM, a software development tool, or a marketing platform.
You can even create automation rules for tools that your workspace integrates with. This way, information from every relevant work app is provided within your monday.com workspace.
6. Security
Top-notch security is vital when it comes to document storage. You don’t want the wrong people to get their hands on sensitive documents related to your company, employees, clients, or projects.monday.com has robust security measures in place, so you never have to worry about data leaks.
All data is protected by 256-bit encryption, and our servers are hosted across multiple data centers of Amazon Web Services in the U.S. You can read more here.
You can also visit our Trust Center to see all the regulatory compliance and security certifications we have.
7. Scalability
To avoid constant large-scale data migration, you should choose a DMS that will grow with your organization.
monday.com has a storage capacity of anywhere between 5GB and 1000GB. So, you can start with a lower-tier plan and then scale up as your business grows.
If you need more space or features, you can just opt for a higher tier. monday.com supports businesses of all sizes, from start-ups to large-scale enterprises, so we have all the features to grow as your business does.
monday.com is the all-in-one DMS you need
monday.com is a dynamic platform that has everything you need in a DMS and more.
Forget about basic document management systems and choose monday.com, where your DMS can support your project management, sales, HR, IT, and any other business process to create an all-inclusive and supportive workplace.
You can get started with monday.com by using workdocs, the perfect collaborative platform for your team’s ideas, notes, and checklists.
