Office reform

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Efforts to strengthen the registry system led to the so-called office reform in the 1920s and 1930s , some of the measures of which still influence the administration today.

Innovations

The most important innovations were:

  • the abolition of the diary
  • The dissolution of the central registries
  • The introduction of file plans for the forward-looking structuring of the file transfer
  • The introduction of the file number

The diary

The diary offers the possibility of precisely following the entire course of the document in business transactions, from receipt through the various processing stations to filing.

The central registries

The central registers, in which the documents were sorted and filed according to uniform principles, were dissolved in favor of the decentralized file management, in which each clerk manages his files himself.

The filing plan

File plans were the essential element to compensate for the disadvantages resulting from the abolition of the diary and the dissolution of central registers. They have to be systematically structured in stages in order to develop the inner coherence of the respective work areas shown and to make the writing and administration clear, fast and smooth. For authorities and administrative branches with a similar range of tasks, the creation of standard file plans has established itself - a system that was particularly suitable in local government with a relatively uniform task and administrative structure to simplify administration.

The file number

The file number was used instead of the diary number, which, as an orderly neutral business reference, accompanied the course of the document from receipt to completion, but did not provide any information about the content of the document or its affiliation. Through its connection to the filing plan, the file number immediately provides information about the processing point and makes the organizational assignment of a process immediately recognizable.

storage

In addition to these content-related innovations, the filing and formatting system of the files has also changed . Instead of the thread-sewn files with horizontal storage that are common in Prussia , there were standing files.

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