How to Stay Organized in a Paperless Office

The number of reasons why company leaders turn to paperless systems is limitless. Among cost savings, productivity boosts and the ability to work remotely but still effectively is the fact that by embracing electronic workflow, employees can become much more organized.

Think of it this way – no longer will the office need stuffy, bulky, unappealing and dusty storage cabinets. While some companies might have a highly efficient storing system, one falsely filed paper can mean a lot of trouble. What if you need to refer back to a manufacturer’s invoice and it’s no where to be found because a worker put memos from “The Smith Company” into the file of “The Smyth Company?” The results could be disastrous, and there could be financial repercussions for the business.

Placing documents online can be helpful because workers would not only have to go through each and every paper again to make sure it ends up in the right digital file, but they’ll be able to find documents much easier through the use of keyword searches. This means that even if an error occurs and a record is placed into the wrong folder, it can still be found quickly without too much effort .

The sole action of leveraging document management software in the office can make the whole operation so much more organized and efficient, but what are some other tips and tricks that can enable workers to do their jobs in a more streamlined manner?

Plan beforehand

In order to make an organized paperless system, business leaders need to come up with a plan before they even scan the first document. As a Microsoft blog stated, individuals who want to embrace digitization have to be aware of the fact that it won’t happen immediately. But, as long as they’re efficient and have mapped everything out, administrators can make sure that everything ends up where it’s supposed to in a quick and steady manner.

PC Magazine reported that for best results when digitizing, individuals might want to consider scanning records from different sections at a time. For instance, it might be best to put records from the finance department on the platform first, followed by the marketing team, then human resources and so on.

Make sure you stick with it

The news source also claimed that it’s relatively easy to fall back into old habits, i.e. starting to take notes on pieces of paper or print out memos. This might not be likely if outside business partners have jumped on the paperless bandwagon – such as if you’ve been sending out invoices to manufacturers and they have been very receptive to the new process.

PC Magazine explained that this isn’t rare in the business world, but administrators have to work to keep everyone on the right path. The news source reported that if employees start to slip up, they need to know that it’s in everyone’s best interest that they take the time to transcribe notes, memos, bills and other records onto a digital platform sooner rather than later.

Backup regularly

This might not seem like a tip that relates to organization. However, if workers get in the habit of saving files they make edits to online, they’ll quickly find that they can ensure that every document within the company is properly updated and saved, which can go leagues to ensuring that the business remains efficient and everyone is on board with the new paperless policy.

Plus, this can make certain that the company doesn’t lose files, because then it will be like they’re back to square one, as if they still had file cabinets hanging around.