Checklist For Organizing Cloud Storage
The ability to store our files in the cloud revolutionized how we handle business data. Team members no longer have to email multiple iterations of a file back and forth. Employees no longer waste time ferreting out who has the latest copy of a document in process.
Between the financial years from 2015 to 2022, the percentage of global corporate data stored in the cloud doubled. In 2015, 30% of business data lived in the cloud, while in 2022 that number jumped to 60%. Today, the majority of organizations use cloud storage of some variety. Common services used include OneDrive, Google Drive, Dropbox, and others.
However, just like the storage organization on your personal computer’s hard drive, cloud storage can also get difficult. Files constantly get saved in the wrong place, duplicate folders get created, names make no sense any more. When multiple people share the same cloud drive it becomes difficult to keep things organized. Storage can be difficult to keep accessible.
Disorganized cloud storage systems lead to serious logistical issues. The largest issue is team members having a hard time finding files. In addition to spending a lot of extra time finding needed documents. 50% of office workers spend more estimated time searching for files than they do actually producing for the business.
Does your office suffer from messy cloud storage? Does it just get harder and harder to find what you need to work with? Read over the tips below. We collated several methods to tidy up shared cloud storage spaces and save valuable time.
Use a Consistent, Business Wide Folder Naming Structure
One member in a team might choose to name folders by client names. Someone else might label with the type of industry. When employees use different naming customs for folders, it’s harder for everyone. Nobody can find what they need. This also leads to the creation of duplicate folders labeled through different systems for the same thing.
Create a standardized, company wide folder naming structure that everyone in the business must follow. Create a map of the hierarchy of folders and protocols to name each thing. For instance, you might have “departments” as a first level folder and nest “projects” within it.
When everyone uses the same naming system, everyone finds things fast and easy. It also sharply reduces the risks of duplicate folders.
Limit Folder Structure to 2-3 Folders Deep
If too many folders get nested, it takes forever to find any given file. Team members must click down one rabbit hole after another. When employees need to click through several nested folders, it discourages them from saving a file in the proper designated place.
To avoid this issue, keep your whole file structure only two to three folders deep. Doing so makes files much easier to find and keeps your cloud storage accessible.
Never Create Folders for Fewer Than 10 Files
The more folders employees must click through to find a document, the more time everything takes. Folders quickly stack up as team members create them, since they don’t know where a file should go.
Create a rule for cloud storage to restrict folder creation to a tipping point of 10 files or more. Doing so avoids having a flurry of folders each holding a handful of files. Designate a storage administrator as well. This admin becomes the person other employees ask if they’re not sure where a file goes.
Advocate with the Slogan “Save Time By Saving Right”
File storage gets disorganized fast when multiple teammates save files to a general folder. Every one of us occasionally saves to something general, like the desktop on a PC. We always tell ourselves that we’ll circle back and move the file where it should be in that mythical “when we have the time”.
This issue proliferates when many people share the same cloud storage space. Files that aren’t saved where they belong add up fast. This chaos makes it exponentially harder for everyone to find things.
Publish the slogan “save time by saving right” among the staff. This imperative means that they should take the extra few seconds every time to navigate where the file actually belongs to save it. Using an ongoing practice likes this keeps things from getting unmanageable. If you took the above suggestions and use a file structure that’s only 2-3 folders deep, then this should be easier for everyone to abide by.
Designate Folder Tags or Colors for Easier Recognition
Many modern cloud file systems allow you to use color tagging on folders. Using this feature makes a folder or group of folders for a project instantly recognizable. Easy recognition reduces the time needed to find and store files.
For instance, you decide to color all folders dealing with sales as green. Folders used for marketing could be yellow, and so on. The brain makes connections to a topic faster when looking at a color than reading through text.
Declutter & Archive Often
Files pop up at a dizzying pace these days. The more projects you add to any cloud storage system, the harder becomes to sort through to find what you need. Even if the file storage is well organized, overload is overload.
Don’t let outdated files make it hard to find new ones. Accomplish this by decluttering and archiving on a set, regular basis. Get an admin to delete any unnecessary files at least once per month. For instance, duplicate files or old draft versions of a document aren’t needed any longer.
Also create an archiving system that regularly shuffles all older files in one big archive folder. Doing so keeps files that aren’t needed any longer out of the main file path people use often.
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