People still need to be able to do their jobs, make records and complete all the tasks that they used to – although in some cases going paperless might actually streamline and reduce the workload of some of those tasks. This can also be important for a growing business as it scales up, or a flexible one that responds to an ever-changing environment.Įffective management of a paperless office requires you to have the right tools in place. Instead of the limited space of a physical storeroom and filing system, you will be able to choose and pay for the resources you need, when you need them. What is a paperless office system? Simply one that allows the same work, communication and record-keeping to be undertaken but in a digital form instead of a physical one.Ĭloud-based solutions can be ideal in this regard as they tend to be scalable. Generally this will mean moving directly to comparable digital alternatives. Once you understand where paper is being used, you can plan for how you are going to replace it with a paper-free alternative. What about training materials and external communications? Working out what you use paper for now will allow you to more easily move your processes online or at least into the digital realm. Do you still send internal memos on paper? Print audit software can help you track this but it’s important to know what paper materials come in and out of the office on a regular basis. In even a small business it can be difficult to track who is printing what, when and for what purpose. Here are some simple steps that can help your business to make this transformation… Often it can take a long time to adjust to paperless, which is why paperwork storage, even just temporarily is worth consideration. So there might be plenty of benefits to moving to a paperless footing but how do you actually go about it? Multinationals might be able to bring in consultants to guide individual offices through the process but if you are a small business and going paperless, it might be a different story. The digital revolution has enabled a new way of working and, whether you’re a big business looking to streamline and optimise, an SME with limited resources or a freelancer looking to run a paperless office from home, it can be surprisingly affordable and easy to do. There are digital security issues to bear in mind of course, but when following simple best practices and using the appropriate software, your documents can be more secure than hard paper copies. They obviously require less space and can also be more secure. After a little initial training and adjustment it is also far more efficient.ĭigitised documents are far easier to store, organise, search and retrieve. It can save money in the long run, eliminating not only the cost of the paper itself but also expensive printing, photocopying, storage and postage costs. There are a number of other benefits to switching to a paperless or online office. The production and use of paper in the office and elsewhere also contributes to deforestation and comes with a massive carbon footprint. Recycling can mitigate some of the environmental impact but millions of tons still end up in landfill every year. Not all of that is for office use of course, but businesses tend to use more than households and are major consumers of paper products. One study suggested that the US alone uses 85,000,000 metric tonnes of paper every year. The manufacture and distribution of paper products uses up huge amounts of resources every year. They affect everyone after all, but consumers are increasingly looking at the green credentials of the businesses they interact with and your actions in this area can also serve as a selling point. Some businesses may take an ethical stance on environmental issues. Taking the next step and going paperless takes a little planning and expertise but it is not hugely difficult and brings a number of benefits.Įnvironmental benefits of a paperless officeĮnvironmental issues are at the forefront of a lot of people’s and businesses’ concerns at the moment and rightly so. Many offices are already a hybrid between old-style paper-dominated spaces and fully digitised workplaces. A paperless office is a workplace or work environment that uses minimal paper, with most documents and files being used and stored in a digital format.
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