For close to the number of years that I have existed in the physical plane of our planet people have heralded the imminent certainty of the paperless office. Why this dream first seeded so long ago has not become a working reality is beyond my reckoning.Why even choose to discuss an area already covered to excess. Well after spending about 4 hours searching intensively (not including the week of quick flick seeks) I found myself considering the possible benefits of a document management system that is entirely electronic. Admittedly many times the preference to have a tangible document to read has led self to print a page or two rather then reading the identical message from a monitor. May have something to do with the educational systems influence or the ability to quickly scrawl some workings or a message. Anyway a brief summary follows outlining possible ways to reduce paper excess within your home, office or wherever you choose to beIs it necessary to print every email that comes through? No. Exactly what I thought although am guilty of printing hard copies on occasion. Not everyone needs to read the latest joke that hit your inbox (in hard copy at least ‘that is what the forward function is for’ forward the joke and read it of the monitorStaff may not necessarily adopt your grand vision overnight. In time they will swing and perhaps may thank for eliminating the ‘seek for a week’ next time they are asked to retrieve a file.
Make certain to backup files regularly (I mean regularly for only a few months of last data may equate to 9 months to recover and reprocess). I think we are all busy enough. The storage solution seems to be the major factor in keeping people shackled to their paper handling customs
Invest in a scanner for documents that need to be held and area unable to be reprinted. If we take the tax accounting office as an example. A simple return will require only the retention of a group certificate and a signed declaration. Scan these papers and store them within your computer in a way that will enable an easy recovery should the client want a copy in future.
While in the tax accounting firm why not offer clients to email or burn to a disk a copy of their return rather then printing 15 pages.
Note well. Achieving the dream will take time but imagine looking around the office and the extra space that may be created when at least 75% of the paper there is able to take its last journey to the security shredders. Further imagine a client walking in the office next time and desperately needs a copy of their advice from the OSR for 2004.
The paperless office does not mean NO paper however it can equate to a great deal less clutter and a marked improvement in location efficiency.
Apart from the organizational and efficiency benefits achieved from adopting a paperless system within your organization exist a secondary benefit by saving a few trees.
