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Folder organization

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Subhan Manafzade Binagadi, Ba, Azerbaijan

Hi community,



We have a project that recurs annually, and while most of the requirements remain consistent, the schedule changes each year. I’m looking for advice on how best to organize our folders—specifically for the schedule and reporting documents.



The project involves different scopes, and each scope has its own schedule file. We also track progress through Excel reports for each scope. Since reporting and scheduling are closely linked—especially for daily tracking and milestones—one idea is to keep both the schedule and reporting files together in the same folder. However, as the number of files grows, this could become cluttered and harder to navigate.



While it might seem like a small detail, the way we organize these files has a significant impact on our overall data flow.



From your experience, how would you recommend organizing these files?



How have you structured schedule and reporting documents in similar recurring projects?

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Eduard Hernandez
Community Champion
Product Operations Program Manager Barcelona, Cataluña, Spain
I'd suggest to have separate folders for archived and current documents. In that way, the chances to update a non current document, and the issues derived from that, decreases. If you work in collaborative environments, it is important to ensure that the right level of permissions (view, edit, etc.) is established among the various users/stakeholders.
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1 reply by Kwiyuh Michael Wepngong
Apr 15, 2025 6:49 AM
Kwiyuh Michael Wepngong
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Eduard is on point!
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Kwiyuh Michael Wepngong
Community Champion
Financial Management Specialist | US Peace Corps Yaounde, Centre, Cameroon
Apr 15, 2025 4:59 AM
Replying to Eduard Hernandez
...
I'd suggest to have separate folders for archived and current documents. In that way, the chances to update a non current document, and the issues derived from that, decreases. If you work in collaborative environments, it is important to ensure that the right level of permissions (view, edit, etc.) is established among the various users/stakeholders.
Eduard is on point!
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Kiron Bondale Retired | Mentor| Retired Welland, Ontario, Canada
Subhan -

This is where you'd benefit from looking at the requirements from an information-centric rather than a document-centric approach. A wiki might be a more efficient method of capturing the information as you'd likely reduce the duplication of content from year to year.

Kiron
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1 reply by Subhan Manafzade
Apr 15, 2025 10:44 PM
Subhan Manafzade
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Hi Kiron,

Could you please elaborate your answer with some practical examples?
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Subhan Manafzade Binagadi, Ba, Azerbaijan
Apr 15, 2025 7:30 AM
Replying to Kiron Bondale
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Subhan -

This is where you'd benefit from looking at the requirements from an information-centric rather than a document-centric approach. A wiki might be a more efficient method of capturing the information as you'd likely reduce the duplication of content from year to year.

Kiron
Hi Kiron,

Could you please elaborate your answer with some practical examples?
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1 reply by Kiron Bondale
Apr 16, 2025 7:13 AM
Kiron Bondale
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Subhan -

For example, rather than capturing requirements in separate documents, have a single wiki page which captures the requirements and tags them based on release.

Kiron
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Kiron Bondale Retired | Mentor| Retired Welland, Ontario, Canada
Apr 15, 2025 10:44 PM
Replying to Subhan Manafzade
...
Hi Kiron,

Could you please elaborate your answer with some practical examples?
Subhan -

For example, rather than capturing requirements in separate documents, have a single wiki page which captures the requirements and tags them based on release.

Kiron
avatar
Keith Novak Tukwila, Wa, United States
You can create a WBS for your own files and deliverables just like the product deliverables breaking it down into configuration definition, team, finance, schedule etc. It's very similar to the way PMI creates their structure for process groups.

Number the folders and they are easy to keep in order. That way, if you keep the latest file name the same and change the old ones you can make links to the files, like your current spending and the same link always point to the latest version, Then drop the older version in an archive folder.

If your projects are recurring, then you can create a new set of folders using the same structure for each one. You may not have requirements changes on every project, but having the folder even if it is blank means your numbering system stays the same.

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