Accessing valuable company information is becoming increasingly complex, whether it's a password, an email from a vendor documenting price agreements or crucial information about a client contract. The computer has allowed us to generate information as never before, thus increasing the complexity of accessing and managing this information.

It's not a matter of if, but when the information management meltdown will take place, unless you address the issue now. Today and tomorrow, Promotional Consultant Today shares these seven essential questions to address the information in your business:

1. What information do we need to keep? Start with your company's mission and goals. What business are you in? What information do you need to reach those goals? And, of course, what information do regulators require?

2. In what form? Most information today is already in digital form. In many organizations, that information can be stored in more than one program. Consistency is the key.

Only a small portion of the information that exists on paper today is worth converting to a digital format. As the quantity of information received and generated by business increases, electronic storage options become essential. It is simply not cost effective to use paper for long-term storage of business information.

3. For how long? Employees are scared to throw anything away because the boss may ask for it, and many bosses won't take the time to make a plan for records retention. When they do, the decision often breaks down in the implementation. The advantages of electronic storage can become disadvantages, as companies painfully learn when called to account for e-mail messages sent years previously. Regardless of the reasons, the results are the same: overstuffed filing cabinets and hard drives.

Many companies hold file clean-out days, and but often fail miserably. Why? Because management has failed to create the methodology, mechanics and maintenance to enable and empower its employees to make the decisions required to eliminate unnecessary information.

This is one PCT you'll want to archive. Read tomorrow's issue for more thoughtful questions regarding information and data management.

Source: Barbara Hemphill is the founder of Productive Environment Institute in Raleigh, North Carolina, and author of Less Clutter More Life. As one of the country's leading organizational experts, she has helped many corporations, such as Staples, Hallmark and 3M increase their productivity and efficiency.