In order to remain a competitive and promising K-12 organization and not lose key advantages for stable and long-term development, a modern K-12 organization needs to respond to digitalization demands on time. Therefore, it is not surprising that document management systems have become one of the essential elements of the K-12 digital transformation. They are used for internal purposes – for managing document flows and improving management quality. They are also used for external purposes – for prompt guaranteed exchange of legally significant information with counterparties and controlling authorities.

What is a document management system (DMS)?

Most document management systems focus on digital files. Such software serves as the single source of truth for all K-12 information and archives. When anyone with access rights needs something, they know where to look.

Using document management software helps simplify the document lifecycle management process to a great extent. You can set up automated workflows and management processes, updating and storing documents used collaboratively and company-wide. Studocu contains a lot of information considering document management software implementation in K-12.

Do you still not use a document management system in your K-12 work? It should be used in any K-12 where there are more than a dozen employees. If the goals and objectives of the document management system are more or less clear, then it remains to analyze in detail the benefits that come from the use of the document management system in K-12.

Document management efficiency grows

You have to understand that a teacher, just like any other K-12 staff member, may also have his or her document management tools. And the more effective they are, the higher the productivity of those who work on documents.

Usually, the efficiency of working with documents is a complex evaluation, which is made up of several components. We will look at many of them below.

Efficiency of K-12 employees grows

In part, this indicator depends on the actions of management. But in the case of using a specialized document management system, rank-and-file employees also get additional bonuses, which generally increase their work efficiency. For example, the K-12 staff know the documents available to them at all times, can always ask questions about specific documents, can easily estimate the amount of work to be done on document filling, and so on.

Full transparency and control of working with documents

When all the documents and persons responsible for them, the current progress, and other important information are in full view of the K-12 manager, the decisions are easier to make. The document management system comprehensively handles sending documents at all levels of the K-12 and ensures maximum availability of documents at all times. Senior K-12 management will be able to have their finger on the pulse of literally any document issue.

Data security

First, a K-12 should not lose access to its document base (which is the core of any K-12 organization). Second, unfilled, unsent, or stolen documents can be harmful if the employee responsible for them falls ill, quits, or simply goes missing. Thirdly, it can be a trade secret and its disclosure can give competitors an advantage or lead to other unfortunate consequences. Documents security is as important as students’ personal data security in online learning.

If your K-12 organization does not have special departments or services responsible for information security, the specialized document management software will help solve your security problems. The main thing is to distribute access rights and user permissions correctly.

Automate a number of processes

Automation and efficiency are closely connected. But now we are talking about automation of document management processes. Software for working with documents is designed to relieve K-12 staff of unnecessary burdens and automate their work. With the help of document management software, it is easy to store documents, implement the exchange of documents and procedures for their approval, and so on. The set of document management system features depends on the specific software.

Cost reduction

The most significant criterion for evaluating the benefits of implementing document management systems is the economic effect. There are various ways to assess this criterion, but all of them unambiguously point to the undoubted economic efficiency of such implementations. Digital technology has long occupied a place among the main competitive advantages of K-12, supporting the global vectors of development of the educational environment for K-12 of all sizes.

Cost reduction is a common trend for any K-12 processes that are well automated and have received the proper support. Comprehensive coverage of the procedures of interaction between employees (including the vertical “chief-subordinate”) and transparent control ensure optimization of document management processes. And optimization of K-12 processes always means cost reduction.

Reducing the risk of errors

This is the most important factor that makes K-12 organizations use document management automation systems. Along with productivity and cost savings, you get something more: fewer errors. Since a number of functions are implemented by the document management system, the human factor goes into the background.

Flexible planning

When you have everything under control, you have all the departments and their employees in your database, you know who is doing what, and it is easy to put documents in process. And do it in such a way that nothing “breaks” because of inconsistencies, overlaps, and other problems.

The right document management software provides feedback. For example, when assigning documents for filling, an employee can refuse by communicating the reasons in a special format.

Conclusion

Less obvious advantages of document management systems include the ability to integrate external systems, ready interaction schemes, and processes, the aggregation of information about users and their actions, a built-in notification system, analytics, etc. Unlike desktop document management systems, the cloud software works in the cloud and has ready-to-use mobile applications. This means that tasks and notifications are guaranteed to reach your K-12 staff anytime, anywhere.