Most
offices are already moving toward a "paperless" office.
Either
because they are frustrated with paper and the clutter associated
with it, because they find electronic documents easier to manage….or
maybe they are looking to reduce the use of paper for environmental
reasons. Whatever the reasons, people are making the switch to a
paperless office.
Want to move your
office closer to becoming paperless? And maybe save a few trees
along the way? Here are a few things to keep in mind as you move
toward a paperless office.
1. Back up your
data.
This goes without saying. Have a backup system in place.
Whether you are backing up to tape, a second hard drive, removable
drives or online offsite backups …make sure you have a system in
place and perform restore tests periodically.
2. It will be a gradual conversion.
Don't expect your
office to go from a
mostly paper one day to paperless overnight. It's a progression. You
might start out by scanning all incoming paperwork into your system,
or by eliminating internal paper correspondence.
3. "Paperless" often really means "less
paper."
Have realistic expectations. You might not be able to go 100%
paperless. Not all of your clients or customers will want their
invoices sent electronically or they won't want to communicate via
email. Some vendors will still want to communicate by USPS…and tax
or regulatory requirements could force you to either do some
business on paper or at the very least, require you to keep hard
copies of your past business records.
4. Everyone has to buy in.
Don't be surprised
by some resistance. Not everyone in your office will be eager to
change. Everyone will have to learn new routines ….and it will feel
like more work at first.
5.
Less paper is just the beginning.
Expect a number of benefits. The most immediate change that
you will notice when you move to a paperless office is the reduction
in the cost of printing, mailing, shipping and storing paper. In the
long run, other benefits will be noticeable. You'll spend less
time sifting through paper and files, you'll notice how easy is it
to organize, manage and locate electronic documents. And in
time, there won't be a need for all of those filing cabinets.
