Qualities make the filing system effective and efficient. A good filing system should possess different qualities such as simplicity, economy, flexibility, safety, compactness, accessibility etc.
Essential qualities of good filing system can be described as follows:
Simplicity is the first quality of a proper filing system. A good filing system should be simple to operate. It should be easy to understand by employees. Its operation should not be dependent on skilled employees.
A good filing system should be economical. It should not be expensive to install and operate. The cost of files, folders, cabinets and equipment should not be high.
A good filing system should be compact. It should not occupy too much office space. It should fit with office layout.
4. Flexibility
A good filing system should be flexible. It should have capacity to change with the changing needs of the office. It should discard dead files to make room for new files.
A good filing system should have safety. It should ensure safety of documents from insects, water, fire, dust etc. It should preserve documents in good condition.
A good filing system should be easily accessible. It should not take much time to file new documents and take out needed documents. It should easily locate the documents.
A good filing system should provide cross reference of records. It should help to locate a record in more than one file.
A good filing system should be properly classified. It should have indexing. This is needed for easy location of documents. Index provides location of the file. Classification groups the files.
Essential qualities of good filing system can be described as follows:
1. Simplicity
Simplicity is the first quality of a proper filing system. A good filing system should be simple to operate. It should be easy to understand by employees. Its operation should not be dependent on skilled employees.
2. Economy
A good filing system should be economical. It should not be expensive to install and operate. The cost of files, folders, cabinets and equipment should not be high.
3. Compactness
A good filing system should be compact. It should not occupy too much office space. It should fit with office layout.
A good filing system should be flexible. It should have capacity to change with the changing needs of the office. It should discard dead files to make room for new files.
5. Safety
A good filing system should have safety. It should ensure safety of documents from insects, water, fire, dust etc. It should preserve documents in good condition.
6. Accessibility
A good filing system should be easily accessible. It should not take much time to file new documents and take out needed documents. It should easily locate the documents.
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7. Cross reference
A good filing system should provide cross reference of records. It should help to locate a record in more than one file.
8. Classification and indexing
A good filing system should be properly classified. It should have indexing. This is needed for easy location of documents. Index provides location of the file. Classification groups the files.
