RECORDS MANAGEMENT HANDBOOK

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP74-00005R000100020026-4
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 67
• Document Creation Date: December 9, 2016
• Document Release Date: April 24, 2001
• Sequence Number: 26
• Publication Date: May 1, 1960
• Content Type: REPORT

/&10
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RECORDS MANAGEMENT HANDBOOK
Managing Forms
FORMS
ANALYSIS
Revised
May 1960
GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION
NATIONAL ARCHIVES AND RECORDS SERVICE
OFFICE OF RECORDS MANAGEMENT
FEDERAL STOCK NUMBER
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RECORDS MANAGEMENT HANDBOOKS
are
developed by the National Archives and Records Service
as technical guides to reducing and simplifying paperwork.
RECORDS MANAGEMENT HANDBOOKS:
Managing correspondence : Plain Letters- - - - - - - - - - - -
1955
47 p.
Managing correspondence : Form Letters.. - - - - - - _ - - -
1954
33 p.
Managing correspondence : Guide Letters _ - - - - - - - - -
1955
23 p.
Managing forms: Forms Analysis-----------------
1959
62 p.
Managing mail : Agency Mail Operations -- - - - - - - - -
1957
47 p.
Managing current files: Protecting Vital Operating
Records----------- -------------------
1958
19 p.
Managing noncurrent files: Applying Records
Schedules -------------------------------------
M
1956
23 p.
anaging noncurrent files: Federal Records Centers-
1954
25 p.
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CONTENTS
PAGE
I. WHAT IS FORMS ANALYSIS? --------------------------------------------- 1
II. WHOSE JOB IS IT?------------------------------------------------------- 2
III. CHALLENGING THE NEED---------------------------------------------- 4
IV. READING THE FORM ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 13
V. WRITING THE FORM----------------------------------------------------- 20
VI. TRANSMITTING THE FORM --------------------------------------------- 36
VII. FILING THE FORM------------------------------------------------------- 42
VIII. IMPROVING PROCEDURES THROUGH FORMS ANALYSIS- - - - - - - - - - - - - - 46
IX. TOOLS FOR THE ANALYST---------------------------------------------- 51
CHECK LIST-------------------------------------------------------------- 62
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I. WHAT IS FORMS ANALYSIS?
In the Federal Government generally all of us
want a form which can be smoothly integrated
into daily operations and help advance those
operations rather than hinder them. We want
the form to provide accurate and dependable
information, readily accessible in our records-
information we can rely upon as a sound basis
for forming policy, making decisions, and
directing or coordinating operations. We want
a form which will improve employee morale and
create public goodwill. We want a form which
will be economical in manpower, equipment,
and printing costs for its preparation and use.
This is what we want, but it is not what we
always get. Instead, we often get forms that
are hard to read and understand, difficult to fill
in accurately, impossible to process quickly,
uneconomical in size, and costly to print.
Why does this happen? Because so many of
us take the attitude that a form is unimportant.
We fail to realize that a form is actually an out-
line of a job to be done, a procedure in motion.
We get effective forms only through forms
analysis. Forms analysis is the means of
determining WHAT should go on the form. It
is a specialized kind of methods improvement
or procedural simplification, its approach to
such improvement and simplification being
through the forms involved. When we analyze
a form in the light of its related work routines,
possibilities arise for benefits which go beyond
the specific actions of entering information on
the form or taking information from it in some
prescribed sequence. Forms analysis thus
is management analysis applied in the three
following areas :
? NECESSITY OF INFORMATION
The first important consideration is to question
essentiality. Not all the information to be gath-
ered always suits the service or process for which
it is to be used. Sometimes different infor-
mation would be more suitable and often less
would be sufficient.
Many times the procedure requiring the use
of the information also may be unnecessary in
whole or in part. These aspects of forms anal-
ysis are covered in chapter III, Challenge the
Need, and chapter VIII, Improving Pro-
cedures Through Forms Analysis.
? PREPARING THE INFORMATION
Analysis in this area is required to determine
the best way of getting the information needed,
the best method of minimizing error, the easiest
way of entering information on the form, and
the most convenient and economical method
of sequencing it. In this handbook these
aspects of forms analysis are covered in chap-
ter IV, Reading the Form, and chapter V,
Writing the Form.
? HANDLING THE INFORMATION
Processing the information calls for determining
what equipment and methods will do the work
best. The information must flow between two
or more points, and speed and accuracy of flow
can be hastened or slowed down by the way the
form is developed. The information must
always be retrievable at low cost and rapidly.
These aspects of forms analysis are treated in
chapter VI, Transmitting the Form, and
chapter VII, Filing the Form.
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II. WHOSE JOB IS IT?
The improvement of forms should be a coopera-
tive effort of all those who create, fill in, use or
otherwise handle forms. In practice, however,
most improvements will come either from the
office of the operating official who originates the
form, or from a forms management analyst.
The reasons for this are not far to seek.
OPERATING OFFICIALS
Most forms have their beginning in the office of
an operating official. He is the one who knows
how "his form" is used and how its use affects
other operations in the office. If a form is to
be revised, he is the one who must decide which
change is best and approve the final revision.
Operating officials, therefore, should know
about useful methods of forms analysis and
improvement. With this extra knowledge they
should be able to "rough out" the content of a
form that would meet the standards set forth
in this handbook.
It is natural for the operating supervisor or
administrator to feel that his everyday operat-
ing responsibilities are enough without worry-
ing about the analysis and improvement of
forms. A common reason given for delaying
action on forms improvement is that operating
problems take up all available time.
What many officials fail to notice is that un-
suitable forms, or the need for more forms,
actually bring about many of those operating
problems. For example, much of the corre-
spondence in some offices is caused by forms
which are not clear as to the entries desired or
the action to be taken. The official himself
frequently spends much of his time on work in-
volved in correcting mistakes and clarifying
misunderstandings caused by unsuitable forms.
Just releasing his time for other work should be
sufficient incentive to improve his forms without
even considering the time released for his people.
Then, too, some officials may not stop to
consider that they are already studying forms
just to keep them current with changing opera-
tions and conditions. With just a little more
study many changes could be developed into
substantial improvements.
This is not to imply that the operating official
should qualify himself to be a forms manage-
ment analyst. That is never his primary re-
sponsibility. He should, however, be aware of
the time he and his subordinates spend in
studying forms to make changes and in handling
operating problems caused by unsuitable forms
or the need for forms.
If the time spent is substantial, he should
certainly be concerned with making his efforts
more effective, even if it means spending a little
more time temporarily. It usually is a matter
of taking time to save time.
FORMS ANALYSTS
The magnitude of the forms problem has war-
ranted the establishment of a forms manage-
ment staff in many agencies and bureaus. This
staff assists operating officials particularly. in
the analysis of the more complex forms, and the
ones which relate to others to establish a system.
In many instances, the staff is able to suggest
further improvements which the originator did
not think of. Partly this is because many
forms branch out beyond the originating office
into other organizational elements for their
preparation or use. Even in substantive pro-
grams most of the forms are administrative in
nature, where there are many similarities
between organizational segments. The experi-
ence of the forms analyst includes a knowledge
of standard (Government-wide) forms as well as
agencywide practices.
The forms analyst can stand detached
from the operating task and see vrocedural
aspects which those closer to the operation may
not see. Further, the analyst is in the best posi-
tion to be a middleman between the originator
and the users. Finally the forms analyst will
usually be the forms designer, bringing the
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viewpoint of that technical specialty to bear on
the matter. But despite its skill, it would be
a mistake to assume that the whole burden of
forms analysis could ever be shifted to any
forms management staff. There can scarcely
be a substitute for the firsthand knowledge
of operating officials in determining WHAT
goes on the form.
CERTAIN ESSENTIALS
The earlier an analyst is requested to participate
in the development or revision of a form the
more helpful. his recommendations will be.
Too many times the originator brings his rough
sketch to the forms analyst and says: "This
form must be at the print shop by tomorrow
night." The analyst can't do a good job in
that time.
It is the joint, cooperative effort of operating
officials and forms analysts, during all phases
of the development or revision of a form, which
pays the greatest dividends in the improvement
of forms and related procedures.
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III. CHALLENGING THE NEED
Mr. "X" is a Division Chief. A change in the
office procedure of one of his Branches requires
that additional data be processed in that office.
The Branch can get what it needs from 15 field
offices of the agency.
CHALLENGING THE NEED
1. Is the form needed enough to justify
the work generated by its preparation
and use?
The first impulse of the Branch Chief is to
believe that the easiest way to secure the infor-
mation and use it is by a new form. He
hastens to get a blank sheet of paper and
rapidly starts writing questions. He writes
questions because about 95 percent of all forms
are a kind of questionnaire.
He quickly decides he could use the answers
to 20 questions. Put in forms language, he is
talking about 20 spaces to be filled in. He
determines, rather hurriedly, what should go
on the form. He has become a forms origina-
tor.
But he has only started. He did not stop
long enough to ask himself the right questions,
nor did he take time to think through his
replies.
Or consider another situation.
That same Branch has been using another
form for three months. Three employees have
told the Branch Chief the persons filling in
item 17 apparently do not understand what is
wanted. He has also been told by some of his
staff that if two more facts were provided on
the form, it would cut out "quite a few" letters
for additional information and some teletype
communications.
The Branch Chief did what you would ex-
pect. He decided to revise the form. He
called for a copy of the form and with a few
quick strokes of his pen he made the changes
he wanted.
But before Mr. "X", the Division Chief,
approves the sketches of his Branch Chief and
initiates a new form or revises one already in
use he should get his subordinate to ask the
six questions shown in figure 1.
2. Is each proposed item necessary?
3. Is each copy needed?
4. Can the form be combined with others?
5. Will the addition of another form, item,
or copy simplify work?
6. Do the related procedures need revi-
sion?
CHALLENGE EACH FORM
To determine the necessity for a form, we must
find out if the work generated by its preparation
and use is justified.
First we must ask, "What would we do if
we didn't have the form?" This question is
designed to put the originator in a reasoning
frame of mind. It will help to separate neces-
sary information from that which would be just
nice to know. It will force to the front other
alternatives. One of them may be better than
the proposed way.
We can eliminate a form if:
? The information is not needed
? Another source is available
? The cost of the information exceeds its worth
Information Not Needed
One surprising lesson to be learned from study-
ing forms is the number of times information is
being recorded which serves no important pur-
pose. Perhaps at one time the information was
essential but, because of changing conditions,
it is no longer needed. This is an age of rapid
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change. People originating forms, furthermore,
are usually so busy with day-to-day operations
that they have little time to examine their work
objectively.
Another Source Available
Another surprising lesson from forms analysis
is the number of times the same or similar
information is being. recorded or reported at
more than one point in an organization. When
there is such duplication of information, usually
the information needed can be obtained from
another source, from forms, records, or reports
being used for other purposes.
This makes it possible to avoid creating a
new form and the procedures related to it by
relying upon information maintained elsewhere,
by substituting a similar document or a copy
of it which will serve the purpose, or by revis-
ing another document to make it acceptable in
lieu of the form under study.
a re-evaluation and eliminate or reduce the in-
formation it contains.
In one agency, when the supervisor learned
a form would cost $200,000 he decided it was
not worth it.. In another agency a $75,000 cost
changed the supervisor's mind.
Of course, no one should attempt to cost
every form, or the originator may find himself
spending more time in costing than in develop-
ing improvements. Costs should be computed
only when there is some reason to doubt that
the information is worth what it appears to cost
on the basis of workload data collected during
the fact finding.
CHALLENGE EACH ITEM
The next thing to do in challenging the need
is to challenge each item on the form. We
follow much the same process used in challeng-
ing the entire form. "What would we do if
we didn't have this item?" we ask first.
Finding a better way to obtain the informa-
tion will permit the elimination of the form.
Perhaps mechanical methods for compiling the
information would be better and more econom-
ical than the manual procedures presently used.
Perhaps the form can be eliminated, simply by
using. a rubber stamp.
Cost of Information Exceeds Worth
Seldom is the full cost of a form realized until
a price tag is placed on its preparation and use.
In most cases the principal costs are labor
costs-the man-hours required to gather infor-
mation, fill in the form, summarize or extract
information from the form, and perform all the
other related clerical and administrative tasks.
Frequently, costing a form has to be done
item by item. When this is done, it identifies
that part of the information which is more costly
than the other parts.
Although one can usually estimate what a
form costs, a determination of its worth is
usually pure subjective judgment. By putting
a price tag on a form and discussing it with
others, it may be found that the costs are much
greater than anticipated. Just the act of bring-
ing to light the total cost of the form may cause
In one Government agency, a supervisor
eliminated 4? man-months of punch card work
per year by challenging the need for one item
which called for entry of month, day, and
year. The "day" entry was not needed.
We can eliminate the item if:
? It collects information which is no longer
needed
? There is a better source or way for obtaining
the information
? The information it collects costs more than
it is worth
? It can be combined with another item
This challenging of items is an important
part of forms improvement. It takes only a
few minutes for each item, if a complete job of
gathering the facts has been done. It is
seldom that a form is subjected to a complete
study without finding some items which can
be eliminated or simplified.
The work necessary to enter one item on one
form may not be too time consuming. But
when the form is completed hundreds or thou-
sands of times the work required for one item
may represent many man-hours of employee
time.
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CHALLENGE EACH ITEM, EACH COPY
TO THE MORTGAGEE:
Your Credit Memo is attached. Please
use FHA Case Number when making
payment to Fee Appraiser.
Th. appraiwl at the property desc,,b.d in the ortached application ha, been assigned Co you as an independent fee opproieer. Please complete
he appraiwl on the prescribed FHA form within Ouse 131 days and send it to this once. Yoor lee for completion of on occeptobl. appraisal will
be $20.00 which will be paid to yap by the Mortgagee. This form signed by you in th. right hand column will constil- your bill Co th. MoH-
sos.. and should be ,tamed to FHA with the appwiwl. FHA will no. its rx. ipl of the appraisal on the form and sunward it ro the Modgage*
as its outhoriy M disburse your fee hi you. If you canon accept the appraisal and complete it promptly, CHECK HERE ~y ^
nd lh cos. and balh copies of this form mmediately.
D.M Approiral received by FHA and d o
of oothoriaed FHA Employ..
PUBLIC VOUCHER FOR REFUNDS
*A APPRAIS t D IGNA ION
U.S. HOUSING NOME FINANCE NCY
FEDEERLAL HOR IN G A MINISTTRATION?
ffm
Distribution of? apses. S (orsggW~Dall, 2 and 1 to FHA Comptroller, 4 and 5 tc
Ft raiser w case, 6 to Mortgagee as an advance notice and No. 7 (last)
inPHA Field ORrceTickler Pile.
'Seven
Copies
$Dt 158l
rNra nipfrotle, Gore,bI;
18 items eliminat
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Figure 2 shows how the Federal Housing Ad-
ministration eliminated 18 items from an 8" x
10%" form, enabling FHA to redesign it to an
8" x 3 j2? form. By cutting the size, three
forms could be printed on an 8" x 10'2" sheet,
which further reduced by two-thirds the 250,000
times the form was inserted into the typewriter.
Also, the number of copies was reduced from
seven to three.
CHALLENGE EACH COPY
One of the biggest wastes in the paperwork of
many organizations is the preparation of un-
necessary copies of forms. Just the waste of
paper and employee time in preparing these
unneeded copies gives us reason enough to
challenge each copy of every form.
are being filed the division chief needs to be
reminded that each filing cabinet, when full,
represents $1,000 of clerical effort, $1,000 of
time to open file drawers and insert a piece of
paper in the right spot.
COMBINE 'WHERE POSSIBLE
There are at least three ways in which forms
can be advantageously combined. They should
be combined, of course, when they can be, for
this is usually the great "pay off" area in forms
analysis. We combine forms for:
? Standardization
? Telling the whole story
? Filling in at one writing
More significant, however, is the time wasted
by people who have to review copies which
they did not need in the first place. Fre-
quently these people are in responsible positions
and can ill afford to spend time reviewing
information they do not need.
Then too, everyone hates to discard filled in
forms, and they usually wind up in files, even
when the need for them is not too clear. In this
manner unneeded copies waste the time of
file clerks, squander costly file cabinets, and
usurp valuable office space. Each file cabinet
whose purchase can be avoided will save at
least 6 square feet of floor space and $60 or
more in equipment cost. It takes only 12,000
copies of a form to fill an entire filing cabinet.
Sometimes when copies go to A, B, and C,
it will be found that one copy instead of three
may suffice by having that copy go to C via
A and via B.
Sometimes three copies go to offices quite
close to each other. They may be willing to
cut out two copies once it has been decided
where a single copy would be most accessible
to all.
Sometimes copies are required for successive
administrative echelons-one for the unit, one
for the section, one for the branch, and one for
the division. A division chief in a case like
this should be asked if this could indicate
overlapping of functions. If all four copies
Standardization
Similar forms are often used for essentially the
same purpose in different parts of an organiza-
tion. By getting the people responsible for
these forms in agreement the development of
one form may replace the others. Examples
of this kind of combining are so common with
established forms programs that many can be
given.
Figure 3 is a typical case study. It comes
from the Veterans Administration and shows
how four request-for-information forms were
combined. The task of the analyst here was
to realize that despite differences in content,
sequence and arrangement of items, methods
used to obtain the information, and construc-
tion of the forms-still in essence they were
kin.
Of course one benefit of this kind of com-
bining is to reduce printing and stocking costs.
Much more important, it brings about a selec-
tion of the best procedure for processing the
form, reduces the training time of employees
reassigned between offices, and Simplifies direc-
tion.
Telling the `Whole Story
A second way to combine is by consolidating
forms used in successive work steps. This
makes it possible to get the complete story on
one sheet of paper. Frequently this avoids
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MW
STANDARDIZA Ti0
N
VA Form 3101, November 1945, was a 4-part
carbon-interleaved snapout set used for requests to
the Army, Air Force, National Guard, Public Health
Service, and State governments.
A
VA Form 3102 was a cut form used for requests to
the Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard.
"'Vure 3
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the transcribing of information from one form
to another.
Even if transcribing is not eliminated, con-
solidation is still helpful. For example, an
agency formerly used one form to request the
reproduction of printed material. The next
step, a request for the distribution of the ma-
terial to the recipients, required another form.
Much of the information entered on the repro-
duction request was also entered on the distri-
bution request, so these two forms were
replaced by a "Requisition for Reproduction
and Distribution." Now this one form not
only serves all purposes, but even better it
also documents the whole continuous trans-
action. It tells the whole story.
"Telling the whole story" is portrayed
further in the study made by the Department
of Commerce. Eighteen different forms were
used by the various bureaus within the Depart-
ment to requisition different types of printing
services including distribution and mailing.
It was also learned that the billing information
could be included on the requisition to elimi-
nate additional paperwork. Figure 4 shows
how the forms were combined and the proce-
dure standardized.
taxpayer and the taxable year, however, was
the key information that was being entered.
This could be entered at one typing. This
reduced the 1,800,000 typings to 450,000.
The advantages of combining forms in this
way are increased clerical production, and de-
creased printing and stocking costs.
FILL FORM GAPS
Improving a form does not always mean simpli-
fying or eliminating forms, items, or copies.
Some operating difficulties have their origin in
the need for another form, for items that are
missing from a specific form, or for an additional
copy.
So originators must be on the alert for any
additions which will simplify work.
The need for additions often turns up during
discussions with people working with the form.
The need for other additions may become
obvious after examination of individually com-
posed letters or narrative reports requesting
recurring data, and directives or manual
issuances. The best method of finding missing
items is to examine completed copies of a form
in the files.
Filling In at One Writing
The objective here is to get all information
common to several forms into one writing
operation. Usually this is accomplished by
entering the common information on all forms,
even though after they are filled in they are
separated to serve different purposes and not
all the information is needed at each location.
The appointment of Federal employees is
handled by one form, although the payroll
office and the Civil Service Commission copies
could contain less information than is on the
"original" copy. Yet, one typing is better
than three even if two of the copies contain
more information than the recipients require.
Figure 5 shows two form letters and two
forms used by the Internal Revenue Service to
process certain types of cases. Addressing
these letters and forms required 1,800,000
initial typings. The name and address of the
Analysts look for handwritten or typed
notations for which space was not provided on
the form. If the same basic notations appear
repeatedly, chances are that the form should be
revised to include space for such entries. A
review of the procedure might reveal that by
using an extra copy of the form unnecessary
writing on the same form or possibly other
forms can be eliminated.
A few forms attempt to do too much. A
form should be designed to do a special job,
and when it attempts to do more, operations
will bog down. Where this is so, two forms
would be better than one.
REVISING PROCEDURES
By challenging the facts we can determine if
the form or items on it should be eliminated or
combined, if missing items should be added, if
the number of copies for each preparation
should be reduced or increased, and the best
9
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TELLING THE WHOLE STORY
18 forms
eliminated
Types of
services
Distribution
information
Billing
information
'-
OT
r....e.r ? ~MININIO REQUISITION ?c?
AREA
WRITE lox SeHADED