How to Create a More Efficient Paperless Office

For many years, companies and government offices around the world have been struggling with the idea of creating a truly paperless office. Although the idea in principle is achievable, there are often exceptions that cannot be overcome due to logistical or legal requirements. Despite these hurdles, there is never a better time to switch to a paperless environment, not just for the efficiency of your company, but also for the environment. Here are a few ways that you can start to use less paper in your office.

photo/ William Iven

Internal Documents

With modern technology and software, there is now little need for any internal documents to be sent in paper form. In fact, by having all of your internal documents sent via emails or a messenger service, you can create a better paper trail than just passing documents between each other. If you have many remote workers, they can get a huge benefit from using electronic documents. It means they can have access to them instantly, and if they are saved in online folders, then they will be available to everyone in the office as well.

Bill Payments and Statements

Many companies are now asking their customers if they want their statements and invoices sent electronically. Not only can this benefit the customers, but it can also help the company to reduce waste and costs. Some customers still prefer to receive their documents in paper form, though this is starting to decrease. Other important documents such as invoices and receipts usually have to be kept for a period of time for legal reasons. It can cause a large amount of storage space to be used, which costs money. Another alternative is to use a virtual data room which can hold all of your electronic documents securely without taking up any additional office space.

Business Meetings

One of the big uses for paper is the meeting printouts that everyone gets when they arrive. The same happens when you have a training session because you want something your workers can read and refer to in the future. However, you don’t have to rely on paper because there are now many ways that you can share this information electronically. For example, if you are holding a meeting with a new client, email them the handouts before the meeting. It means they can read through it before they arrive, and they can also keep it with them for future reference. Training can be just as easy because you can email the PowerPoint presentation to your colleagues so that they can see it before the meeting. You can also make it mandatory for the workers to watch it so that the training is completed.

Creating a truly paperless office is more about the staff than just offering an electronic alternative. Your staff need to be trained to use technology in a way that will reduce paper and make the digital alternatives easily accessible to all the workers. By doing this, you can have an efficient and environmentally friendly office.

Author: Carol Trehearn