Electronic Records Management Training Course

Duration 5 days 10 modules · 33 contact hours
Level Intermediate Certificate on completion
Who attends Records Managers, Information Governance Managers and others
Fee from USD 1,100 KSh 95,000 for Kenyan organisations
Where 52 cities + online See dates by city
Next start 9 Nov 2026 Course code SD-KRM-021

Before you join: Participants should have experience handling organisational documents, files, information repositories or administrative processes.

Dates & prices

Two start dates a month in every city, and live online on weekdays or weekends. Fees are per participant; classroom fees include tuition, materials, lunch and refreshments, and the certificate.

Suggest a date or city

Showing the next six months. Later dates, other cities and private deliveries for your team are available on request.

Course overview

Electronic documents accumulate quickly across email, shared drives, collaboration platforms, business systems and scanned paper files. Without clear controls, staff struggle to find authoritative information, duplicate content proliferates, retention decisions become inconsistent, and records needed for audits, investigations, litigation or public-information requests may be missing. Records managers must translate policy and legal obligations into workable classification, metadata, retention and disposal controls that staff can follow.

This course teaches participants how to design, operate and improve an electronic records management programme. It covers ISO 15489 principles, records governance, business classification schemes, metadata, retention scheduling, disposal authorisation, digital preservation, access controls and audit evidence. Participants learn to distinguish documents from records, identify recordkeeping requirements, configure practical controls for common repositories, and assess whether electronic records systems support accountability and retrieval.

Teaching combines focused instructor briefings with records-management cases from government, banking, NGOs and corporate functions. Participants analyse recordkeeping failures, work through classification and retention decisions, review sample metadata and disposal evidence, and apply methods to their own information environment. Each participant leaves with a records management implementation pack containing a governance model, classification structure, retention schedule outline, metadata profile, system assessment checklist and 90-day action plan.

The course suits professionals responsible for records, information governance, compliance, legal operations, archives, digital transformation or business-system ownership. It is particularly useful where organisations are moving from shared drives or paper-based filing towards controlled electronic document and records management.

What you will be able to do

  • Apply ISO 15489 principles to electronic records management decisions
  • Design a business classification scheme linked to functions and activities
  • Create a retention schedule with defensible retention and disposal rules
  • Specify metadata requirements for reliable retrieval, control and audit trails
  • Assess electronic document and records management system controls
  • Develop governance roles, policies and operating procedures for recordkeeping
  • Plan secure disposal, transfer and preservation of digital records
  • Produce a 90-day electronic records management improvement plan

Benefits of attending

For you

  • Make defensible retention and disposal recommendations
  • Write clearer requirements for document and records systems
  • Identify weak controls before audit findings or information-loss incidents
  • Lead classification and metadata discussions with business teams
  • Build a practical records management improvement plan

For your organisation

  • Faster retrieval of authoritative records for audits and investigations
  • Reduced storage of duplicate, obsolete and low-value information
  • More consistent retention and disposal decisions across business areas
  • Stronger evidence of compliance with records and information obligations
  • Better recordkeeping requirements for system migration and transformation projects

Course modules

10 modules over 5 days

Participants can distinguish records from other information and explain essential recordkeeping principles.

  • Records, documents and information assets distinguished through evidential value
  • ISO 15489 concepts of authenticity, reliability, integrity and usability
  • Business transactions that create records requiring formal control
  • Recordkeeping metadata captured at creation, receipt and registration
  • Authoritative copies, duplicate copies and convenience copies classified
  • Lifecycle and continuum models compared for electronic recordkeeping
  • Consequences of poor records control for accountability and evidence

Participants can define governance arrangements for accountable electronic recordkeeping.

  • Records governance model linking executive sponsorship, ownership and assurance
  • RACI matrix for records managers, system owners and users
  • Policy hierarchy covering records policy, procedures and user guidance
  • Information governance committees with escalation and decision rights
  • Control objectives mapped to regulatory, contractual and operational obligations
  • Training requirements aligned with user roles and recordkeeping responsibilities
  • Performance measures for compliance, retrieval and disposal activity

Participants can identify recordkeeping requirements from business functions and risks.

  • Functional analysis identifies activities, transactions and resulting records
  • Process mapping exposes record creation points and handoffs
  • Requirements elicitation interviews business owners, legal advisers and users
  • Risk assessment prioritises records with evidential or regulatory significance
  • Recordkeeping requirements documented using ISO 16175 functional expectations
  • Source systems, repositories and integrations mapped against business processes
  • Gap analysis compares current controls with required recordkeeping outcomes

Participants can create a functional classification scheme and usable electronic file plan.

  • Functional classification separates business functions from organisational structures
  • Hierarchical file plans arrange functions, activities and transaction records
  • Naming conventions support predictable titles, identifiers and retrieval
  • Controlled vocabularies reduce inconsistent labels and ambiguous terminology
  • File plan rules prevent miscellaneous folders and uncontrolled duplication
  • Classification examples for procurement, HR, finance and project records
  • Change control governs new classes, closures and classification amendments

Participants can specify metadata and retrieval controls for trustworthy electronic records.

  • Metadata schema defines mandatory, optional and system-generated elements
  • Dublin Core elements adapted for organisational recordkeeping requirements
  • Indexing rules apply controlled terms, dates and business identifiers
  • Unique identifiers maintain links between records, cases and transactions
  • Search testing measures precision, recall and retrieval time
  • Version control distinguishes drafts, approved documents and final records
  • Audit trails capture access, edits, transfers and disposal actions

Participants can develop retention rules and control defensible disposal decisions.

  • Retention schedules connect record classes with approved retention periods
  • Trigger events define retention commencement and disposition timing
  • Appraisal assesses administrative, legal, financial and archival value
  • Disposal authorities document approval for destruction or permanent transfer
  • Legal holds suspend routine disposal during disputes and investigations
  • Disposition reviews verify eligibility, approvals and destruction evidence
  • Retention exceptions managed through documented risk-based decisions

Participants can assess whether an EDRMS supports required records controls.

  • EDRMS functions evaluated against ISO 16175 requirements
  • Capture controls register email, scanned files and office documents
  • Role-based access controls protect confidential and restricted records
  • Configuration rules automate classification, retention and disposition actions
  • Repository integration manages records across collaboration and line-of-business systems
  • Migration planning preserves metadata, relationships and audit history
  • Acceptance criteria test usability, security and recordkeeping functionality

Participants can protect long-term electronic records from technical and security threats.

  • Digital preservation risks include format obsolescence, corruption and platform dependency
  • Preservation planning selects formats, storage controls and monitoring actions
  • Checksum verification detects file alteration and transfer errors
  • PREMIS metadata records preservation events, agents and technical dependencies
  • Information classification guides access, handling and protection requirements
  • ISO 27001 controls considered for records confidentiality and availability
  • Business continuity arrangements protect vital records during service disruption

Participants can test records controls and prepare evidence for assurance reviews.

  • Control testing examines classification, access, retention and disposal evidence
  • Sampling methods select files, transactions and system audit trails
  • Audit criteria derived from policy, standards and legal obligations
  • Findings recorded with condition, cause, consequence and recommendation
  • Maturity models assess repeatability, measurement and continual improvement
  • Information requests traced from search query to verified record
  • Corrective action registers assign owners, deadlines and verification steps

Participants can plan a phased electronic records management improvement programme.

  • Stakeholder mapping identifies sponsors, champions, resisters and affected users
  • Prioritisation matrix ranks repositories by risk, value and feasibility
  • Implementation roadmap sequences policy, classification, migration and training actions
  • Change impact assessment identifies altered tasks, permissions and responsibilities
  • Communications plan explains user actions, benefits and support channels
  • Key performance indicators track capture, retrieval, disposal and compliance
  • Ninety-day action plan assigns immediate records management improvements

Exercises and examples are adapted to each cohort's sectors and roles.

What you take back to work

  1. Electronic records governance RACI matrix
  2. Functional classification scheme template
  3. Retention schedule and disposal authority template
  4. Electronic records metadata profile
  5. EDRMS control assessment checklist
  6. 90-day records management action plan

Who should attend

  • Records Managers — responsible for establishing and maintaining recordkeeping controls
  • Information Governance Managers — coordinating policy, accountability and information risk
  • Compliance Officers — requiring evidence of retention and disposal discipline
  • Document Control Managers — managing controlled documents and approved versions
  • Digital Transformation Leads — embedding recordkeeping requirements into new systems
  • Legal Operations Professionals — preparing for disclosure, investigations and legal holds

Skills and tools covered

Records governanceBusiness classificationRetention schedulingMetadata designSystem controlsDigital preservation

Tools and standards

ISO 15489, ISO 16175, Dublin Core, PREMIS

How the course runs

Training methodology

The course uses short instructor briefings to introduce standards, controls and decision methods, followed by case-based analysis of electronic records problems. Participants work in groups on classification, metadata, retention and disposal scenarios drawn from regulated and public-service settings. System-control reviews and simulated audit questions test whether records can be found, trusted and accounted for. Individual application planning connects course methods to each participant’s repositories, policies, risks and improvement priorities.

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should have experience handling organisational documents, files, information repositories or administrative processes. Familiarity with their organisation’s file shares, email practices, collaboration platforms or document management systems is useful. The course assumes that participants can read internal policies and discuss business processes with operational staff. Prior records management training is not required, and participants do not need technical system-administration skills, legal qualifications or prior knowledge of ISO standards. Those new to records work should be prepared to engage with retention, accountability and information-risk concepts.

A typical training day

08:30 – 10:30First session
10:30 – 10:45Refreshment break
10:45 – 12:30Second session
12:30 – 13:30Lunch and networking
13:30 – 15:00Third session
15:00 – 15:15Refreshment break
15:15 – 16:30Workshop and daily review

Live online deliveries follow the same structure in East Africa Time, with shorter screen blocks and longer breaks.

What the fee includes

  • Instruction by a practitioner facilitator
  • Full course workbook and materials
  • Exercise files, templates and case studies
  • Refreshments and lunch on classroom deliveries
  • Certificate of completion
  • Post-course application plan

Frequently asked questions

You should have practical familiarity with organisational documents, repositories or business processes. No previous records management qualification, legal training or system-administration experience is required.

Bring examples of the repositories, document types, retention concerns or audit issues you work with, without sharing confidential material. A laptop is useful for live online delivery and may be useful in classroom sessions.

It suits records and information governance staff, compliance professionals, document controllers, system owners and transformation leads. It is designed for people who must improve recordkeeping controls rather than only store documents.

Document management often concentrates on creating, sharing and approving current documents. This course focuses on records as evidence, including classification, retention, disposal, audit trails, legal holds and long-term preservation.

You can use the templates to review a repository, identify missing controls and set improvement priorities. The 90-day action plan provides a structured starting point for discussions with business owners, IT teams and compliance colleagues.

Training runs from 08:30 to 16:30 each day, with about 6.5 contact hours daily. The five days cover ten modules in teaching order, combining instructor input, cases, group analysis, control reviews and implementation planning.

Questions about this course?

Ask about dates, fees, group bookings or running it for your team. Our training team replies by email.

Ask on WhatsApp info@skillsetdevelopment.com

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