The utopia of a paperless office has always been many companies end goal. Few organisations have been able to achieve this as paper and printing is still at the core for many. Recent research and the introduction of COVID-19 has shown a significant decrease, 56% of workers are printing and less are still scanning. This new way of working is proving not to be sustainable in a remote environment.
The push for a digital solution has never been more needed. Many companies have started to move in this direction due to the difficulties with staff working from home. However still workers believe that the COVID-19 pandemic has not meant their companies have improved on the way documents are managed.
Transitioning into a paper free business is not a small step for any business. There are many new tools available and plenty of reasons why this is a good approach.
Increased productivity
A heavy paper driven tasks creates risks and bottlenecks. Employees waste several hours virtually dealing with paper processes. Creating a paperless environment eliminates filling out forms and chasing for information. This brings focus back to their important duties, making them more efficient.
Also, with paper there are limits to what is possible. Having multiple different people working on the same document is impossible especially keeping track of who has done what. This poses the question on how can remote employees work with their teams effectively? With a digital approach this allows the flexibility to share, edit and encourages collaboration.
Introducing new software and processes can be a tough change, but with a good training plan and employee interaction most will see the advantages.
Saving on Cost
It is estimated that on average an individual in an office-based role will use over 10,000 sheets of paper a year. This equates to around 2 boxes of paper at around £20.00 a box, these costs start to add up in businesses with a lot of employees.
The average company spends £100 searching for missing documents and £200 to recreate anything lost. That means 1,000+ employee companies are spending millions annually dealing with paper and the issues that arise.
With budgets being restricted due to the impact of COVID-19 then digital changes can help to drive down operational costs and quickly increase productivity.
Environment
With businesses still using a lot of paper this obviously can have an impact on the environment. Quite often toner cartridges from printers are not disposed of correctly, this are very bad for the environment. Ultimately these ink and toner cartridges end up in landfills, at the rate of millions per year.
With a more digital approach and a strong focus to reduce the amount of printing then these numbers can be easily reduced. This could be as simple as just reducing the number of printers in an office to encourage a more ‘online’ working process. This helps businesses to move towards a greener approach which can help to preserve the planet for the future.
With our working world completely changed there has never been a better time to move into a paperless process. There is nothing holding back businesses making the long over-due leap into digital ideals apart from collective will.
