Document management is a key function of project management. Being able to identify and locate documents easily reduces the amount of time spent looking for documents. It also allows easier references to documents. This document structure is intended to be used within a file system on disc, and is a hierarchy of directories under the project directory.
All projects should utilise a document numbering scheme. This section defines a simple scheme that can be applied to many different types of projects. It can also be adapted to suit the projects needs. The document numbering scheme has 6 components:
Each document will have a unique number defined by the first 4 classifications - this is the document number. The fifth classification is a description to assist locating documents. The description should describe the contents of the document. Documents should be referenced by the document number as the document number will tell the reader where to find the referenced document.
All documents will have a file name in the following format:
PSSTTNNNN-DESCR.EXT
The numbering scheme classifies each document into several key areas. At the highest level, the key areas are:
The secondary classification is a 2-digit number specific to the primary classification and is used to further classify documents. For example, Management documents include the schedule and the contract. The secondary classification might define contract documents to be "01" and the schedule documents to be "02". All contract documents would have "M01" as the first three letters of the filename.
The tertiary classification is a 2-digit number that further classifies the secondary classification. For example, there may be two types of schedule documents. The schedule might be classified as "01", and the work breakdown structure might be "02". All work breakdown structure documents would have "M0202" as the first five letters of the file name.
The file number is a unique number within the directory. Typically, it starts at 0001 and increments with each new document added. For example, the fourth work breakdown structure document would be defined as M02020004.
The description describes the content of the document.
This is the file extension used by the software package and has no other significance.