In a world flooded with emails, files, messages, and digital clutter, it’s easy for organizations to lose control of their information landscape. One of the most common challenges? People want to keep everything, “just in case.” This mindset leads to bloated systems, increased risk, and confusion around what matters most.
Whether it’s a banner ad in your inbox or a signed contract, every piece of information must be managed, but not all with the same level of rigor. That’s where the Three-Zone Model comes in. Simple, effective, and scalable, this model helps professionals make sense of what to keep, what to archive, and what to toss. It’s a practical approach that anyone managing business information should understand.
The Three-Zone Valuation Model categorizes information into three value tiers:
The simplicity of this model helps information management professionals easily determine how long each category of information should be kept and how it should be managed. Here’s why it works:
By applying this simple, three-zone model, organizations can reduce clutter, enforce compliance, and encourage intentional information management. Let’s dive into more detail:
Low-value information refers to temporary, non-critical content—what’s commonly labeled as “non-records.” This includes materials like calendar invites, email newsletters, Slack or Teams messages, or administrative notices. These items serve a fleeting purpose and hold no lasting business value once their message has been received.
Organizations should implement automated deletion processes to manage this zone. Items should be purged in as little as a few days or weeks to avoid unnecessary digital clutter. These types of information are the most abundant and the least important, yet they can clog up storage systems and create compliance vulnerabilities if left unchecked.
A useful analogy is junk mail. Once you’ve seen it or ignored it, it serves no further purpose. Eliminating this information quickly is a crucial first step toward a cleaner, more manageable information ecosystem.
During a recent webinar, Ashley McKay, Sr. Records Compliance Specialist at Valero Corporation, explained the model at a high level and how she recommends treating low-value information:
Medium-value information lives in the gray zone. These are documents or data created during the course of work that don’t rise to the level of formal records but are still useful in the short term. Think of draft documents, project notes, or working spreadsheets.
Although this content doesn’t document final decisions or transactions, it plays an active role in daily operations. It’s often necessary for collaboration or planning, but its value declines quickly once it has served its purpose. These items should be retained for a defined short-to-medium period—usually one to three years, depending on the business need.
Think of this zone like a whiteboard—great for brainstorming but not meant to be kept forever.
This category tends to be the most debated. Business units often assign different levels of importance to the same type of content based on their unique needs and priorities, which makes standardizing retention timelines a challenge. It’s best to involve these stakeholders when defining retention periods and revisit those timelines annually to reflect operational changes.
During the same webinar, Omero Banuelos, Senior Counsel at Access, explained why organizations often struggle with this category of information:
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High-value information comprises permanent or long-term records that document key business actions and decisions. These are the official records: signed contracts, employment agreements, insurance documents, or financial statements. They are the data points that define what your organization has done, said, agreed to, or completed.
These records must be managed with precision according to your organization’s retention schedule. Premature deletion or improper storage of these records can have serious consequences.
Think of high-value information like the deed to your house. It’s critical, irreplaceable, and must be stored securely and reliably.
In this clip, Ashley explains the difference between zone 2 and zone 3 types of information:
In summary, the Three-Zone Valuation Model simplifies the decision-making process around retention and disposal by categorizing information into clearly defined value tiers. Low-value information should be deleted quickly to avoid digital hoarding. Medium-value content should be retained just long enough to support active work. High-value records must be handled with care and retained according to formal policy.
This model works best when supported by user education and automated processes. Reinforcing the idea that everything, regardless of its initial importance, has an expiration date. This helps build a culture of accountability and clarity, as Ashley explains in this webinar clip:
Ultimately, it’s not about keeping everything. It’s about keeping the right things for the right amount of time.
For additional insights from Ashley McKay and Omero Banuelos, watch the full recording of Avoiding the Headlines: Practical Strategies for Effective Records Compliance. In addition to classifying information based on value, they discussed the legal implications of retaining information for too long, embedding compliance into systems for easy adherence by end-users, and the importance of documenting decisions for retention periods.
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