Why Employees and Freelancers Are the Hardest to Collect Documents From

If you manage a company’s records, whether as founder, general counsel, or corporate secretary, you’ve probably noticed that some sources are easier to collect from than others. Outside counsel, accountants, investors, and advisers tend to be careful with documents. Keeping records is part of their job.

Employees and freelancers are different. In my experience, they’re the hardest group to collect documents from. Not because they’re careless, but because of how they see their role.

Why it’s harder

There are more of them. A company might work with a handful of advisers but dozens of employees and contractors over time. More people means more places documents can end up.

Documents aren’t their job. A commercial manager’s job is closing deals. An engineer’s job is building product. When they sign an NDA or receive a signed agreement, it’s a step on the way to their real work. They don’t think of themselves as responsible for maintaining legal records, so they don’t organize those records the way someone in legal would.

They leave. Freelancers finish engagements. Employees change roles or companies. Their inboxes and drives often go with them.

They hold documents without knowing it. Someone in sales may not realize the NDA sitting in their inbox is the only copy the company has.

How to make it work

Make sending easier than not sending. The less effort it takes, the more likely people are to do it. A single email address they can forward documents to is about as easy as it gets.

Be specific. “Please send us your documents” gets poor results. “Please forward any signed NDAs or customer agreements you’ve received” gets far better ones.

Let them forward, not file. A commercial manager who just received a signed agreement shouldn’t have to download it, find the right folder in a shared drive, and upload it. Forwarding the email to the company’s corporate vault takes two seconds, and the document lands in exactly the folder it belongs in.

Collect at offboarding. When an employee or freelancer leaves, ask them to send any company documents they hold before their accounts are closed.

Don’t depend on filing skills. Nobody outside legal should need to know how documents are organized. They should only need to know where to send them.

How DocChief helps

Every DocChief data room has a unique email address and secure file request link. Share them with employees and freelancers so they can forward or upload documents in seconds, without learning any filing system. Each document goes directly into the folder it belongs in. You control who can submit and can approve documents before they’re added, and DocChief organizes everything automatically as it arrives.

Related guides

How to Collect NDAs Scattered Across Your Sales Team
How to Collect IP Assignment Agreements From Employees and Contractors
Stop Training Every Employee to File Legal Documents