The paperless office is on the rise. Most offices either already have the tools to go paperless or can acquire them at a low cost. The barrier is mostly the will to do so. Some people don’t see the need, or have a hard time giving up paper, or simply find it hard to change their habits. But there are significant benefits to be gained from operating a paperless office.
Benefits of a Paperless Office
One of the biggest benefits of getting rid of your paper files is the cost savings. Consider the following example. If it takes five minutes to retrieve and replace a paper file and an employee works with ten paper files per day, that’s 216 hours a year – over five weeks’ time – spent walking files around. At $20/hour, that’s $4300 per year. A paperless method would eliminate these costs while still ensuring employees can find and work with all of their necessary documents.
Other benefits include increased security, better disaster recovery protection, environmental benefits, and remote access for your important documents.
Getting Started – Making the Move to Paperless
Having a proper plan in place to take your office paperless will help keep you from ending up in a messy situation. Here are some tips and tools to help you along the way.
- Instead of printing and storing important documents in filing cabinets, save them online.
- Look into a document management system to help keep the office’s files organized efficiently.
- Convert previously “paper-orientated” tasks to digital ones. For example, make electronic to-do lists? and use a projector screen in meetings instead of paper handouts.
- Instead of exchanging business cards, connect via LinkedIn, Facebook, or Twitter. Social networks keep your contacts’ information current and provide a better storage methodology for keeping your contacts’ information on hand.
- Use a scanner to convert paper documents like faxes, invoices, etc. into digital formats. You can then shred your old documents and eliminate even more paper clutter.
Keep in mind, a paperless office doesn’t happen overnight. Schedule time realistically for your office’s migration to the paperless world. Dedicate a certain amount of hours per week towards tasks such as scanning documents online. Make a calendar of when you plan to implement the various components of going paperless, and be prepared to educate your employees on the new ways they should be conducting their work.
Realize that less paper is just the beginning of the payoff
The most immediate impact of a move to a paperless office is the reduction in the cost of printing, mailing, shipping and storing paper. Over time, lots of other benefits should become apparent, such as:
- Less time spent looking for paper lost in the shuffle
- Fewer hours spent looking for bills, documents, and copies of client documents
- The ability to access all sorts of information from computer files in a matter of seconds, instead of searching through your office
Do not be daunted by the process of switching to a paperless office. In the end, the cost-savings, better organization, and other benefits are well worth investing in this endeavor.
For those of you who’ve already taken some paperless initiatives in your office, what results have you noticed?