Do you know this situation: In the project, a partner asks you to upload a document with the announcement of a joint event on the website? You upload the document.
One day later, the partner sends a new document: In yesterday’s document a few small things were corrected – now this is the final version.
Two days later the next version comes with a few minor changes.
The documents always have the same file name. You cannot tell which is the “final document”.
No, that’s not right! You can distinguish the versions based on the storage date.
The question is: Is this necessary?
Do you really have to distinguish the documents based on the date?
No – that is actually an imposition for everyone. Projects should be structured and properly organized. This includes appropriate versioning of documents.
How can you organize documents?
Documents are either managed within the framework of a jointly used project management platform, or the parties involved are responsible for it.
One possibility is to add an ending to the documents
Example I
minutes_V-1.docx
The next version is minutes_V-2.docx.
If documents are changed (or expanded) very often, the number can also be provided with two digits or with a sub-number.
Example II
minutes_V-1.0.docx
minutes_V-1.1.docx
minutes_V-2.0.docx
The leading number always refers to a major change (e.g. new chapter added), the final number refers to smaller changes.
Conclusion
Handling documents is a crucial issue in projects. This includes the repository (where to find documents), the document (and how it’s created and formatted) itself, as well as the versioning of the documents.
It is a matter of respect for the other project partners, that one adheres to the rules and that the cooperation is made as easy as possible.