The Five W’s of Efficient Records Retention

This article discusses the importance of having an efficient records retention policy in place for organizations. The article defines records retention as the continued possession and control of records throughout their lifecycle and emphasizes the need for a strategic plan to govern the creation, storage, processing, and destruction of records. The article also highlights the challenges associated with records retention, especially in today's digital age where new types of records such as emails and social media are being generated at an exponential rate.

The article stresses the importance of having an all-inclusive retention policy that takes into account strong information governance best practices, including those that deal with electronic communications. It provides a guide for organizations to evaluate their current retention schedules and develop a new strategy by asking the Five W's (who, what, when, where, why) and sometimes How of records retention.