Looking to go paperless? Here’s our Top 5 Tips

Living in a digital age, going paperless has been more achievable than ever. However, many businesses have found the transition to paperless operations difficult. So what do you need to do to successfully go paperless?

By now, we all have experienced the problems that using paper can cause. Not only is it bad for the environment (50% of printed material ends up in the bin at the end of a day), but it can be a time-waster, too. In fact, employees can lose as much as 40% of their time looking for paper files. Beyond this, paper files can also be bad for security, as sensitive data can be easily exposed to visitors.

Many small and mid-sized businesses are taking the steps to go paperless. With the use of the latest digital technology, it is time to reduce your paper dependency. Cutting out paper can reduce waste, save time and cut down costs. But how can you go paperless?

1. Use note-taking apps – Note-taking is important in meetings, or to make a list of necessary information or tasks you need to complete each day. But you do not need to use paper and a pen to take notes. Using note-taking apps can help you to organise your notes or edit them, it can also make it easier to share your notes with your team, if necessary.
2. Use a digital signature to sign agreements and contracts – Physical contracts or agreements often contain important information, which can cause stressful situations if these documents become misplaced. Using a digital signature will also save you time and prevent you from having to print out pages and pages of an agreement or contract.
3. Send emails instead of letters where possible – Although physical letters are required in certain situations/industries, using emails where possible is much faster, and more reliable than paper letters. Paper letters can easily get lost in the post, sent to the wrong address, or misplaced, whereas emails arrive almost immediately, making it an efficient way to communicate.
4. Use online invoicing to process client payments – Even your financial department can be handled with the correct paperless operations in place. Physical invoices or cheques can quickly amount to a large quantity of paper waste. Using online invoicing can also prevent security breaches.
5. Use tablets or laptops when you are on the go – Paperless operations can be simple, making a conscious effort to reduce the amount of paper you use can be as easy as using your laptop instead of your notebook when you are on the go. Breaking habits of using paper will also improve your organisation.

Creating a paperless workspace is a process, however with the digital tools that we have access to today, moving to paperless operations is an easier process than it may seem. As more businesses reduce their reliance on paper, it will pave the way for a snowball effect. Experts predict that over the next 2 years we will see a significant increase in paperless operations.

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