A “paperless office” seems to be a common goal among small businesses, but many companies don’t know what is preventing them from going paperless. To help you identify these issues and create a more streamlined system, we have put together a list of habits that may be preventing your office from transitioning to a paperless system.  Once you identify the problem areas, you will be better equipped to develop a plan of attack to make your paperless goal a reality.

Here is a list of habits that may be preventing your office from going paperless:

Hoarding Documents

Many people are afraid to get rid of files or share files because they don’t trust the company’s file structure. They are worried they won’t be able to find documents quickly or concerned they will accidentally get deleted. Creating a clear and effective filing system will help encourage document hoarders to trust the system and share documents on a common network.

Version Confusion

Without a set of standard naming conventions, it can be difficult for a company to maintain version control of their files. This causes employees to waste time searching for updated versions of documents because they are not named in a way that clearly indicates when a file has been updated.

Filing Everything

When there is not a consistent file structure in place, some people end up filing for the sake of filing. They create too may sub folders that are difficult for others to navigate. This unnecessary clutter prevents an electronic filing system from working effectively.

Relying on Search

While search functionality can be an extremely useful tool for finding documents quickly, it poses a problem when files are being shared among team members because not everyone uses the same keywords to search. This can lead to version control issues and excessive digital clutter in the long run.

Piling Papers

When a company does not have a good system for processing paper documents and adding them to an electronic system, it’s easy for paper to pile up. When paper piles up, team members can not retrieve documents efficiently because they don’t know where to look.

Now that you have identified some of the specific tendencies that are preventing your office from going paperless, you can get started creating file naming conventions, file retention policies and folder structures.

Interested in going paperless? Check out our File Management Consulting to learn how we could help!

The next step in transforming JoAnn’s overcrowded space into a functional office was scanning.  JoAnn has been saving paper copies of her past work, as well as other reference materials, in large binders in her office.  They were taking up valuable space and creating clutter, so we suggested that she scan the documents she no longer needed physical copies of.

While JoAnn had considered this option before, she never followed through because the task of scanning that many documents is fairly time consuming and overwhelming.  Thankfully, we were able to partner with Scan-Doc to help us tackle the project.  Scan-Doc was able to convert five entire bankers boxes worth of JoAnn’s binders into electronic files stored safely on a flash drive and organized into convenient sub folders.

Many of JoAnn’s reference materials are now paperless, stored in electronic files to save space.  She told us the scanning “was one of the most exciting parts of this whole experience.  I was over the moon to receive five bankers boxes worth of scanning; it cleared out so much space and now that they’re electronic, I can use them so much more efficiently.”  JoAnn can now reference what she needs from the comforts of her computer, rather than sifting through piles of paper.

Continue following our blog for the final steps we took in JoAnn’s office transformation, as well as the big reveal of her new functional office!

Photo courtesy of Leo V. Santiago.

Special thanks to Scan-Doc for their scanning services.

Are you a piler or a filer (and we’re not just talking about paper files)? Do you see piles of paper around your desk or rows of organized folders in your file cabinet?  Are there dozens of inconsistently-named documents on your computer or organized, easy to navigate folders and sub-folders?

To help you identify where you lie on the spectrum, here are common “symptoms” of both pilers and filers:

You might be a piler if…

• You are surrounded by piles of paper that you don’t want to make a decision about
• You have a year’s worth of filing that has piled up because it hasn’t been assigned to anyone (or it’s been assigned to the wrong person)
• Your computer desktop is cluttered because your electronic files don’t have a “home”
• You rely on search to locate your electronic files
• Keep in mind: Though relying on search may work for you, it is not an efficient practice when sharing and collaborating with team members.  They have to be able to retrieve files as quickly as you.

You might be a filer if…

• You consistently file paper documents and electronic files as they come to you
• Every paper and electronic file has a “home”
• Keep in mind: Just because you’re a filer, does not mean you’re necessarily an efficient filer.  You can waste time if you have too many folders, which ultimately slows you down.

Which are you—a piler or a filer?  Are you the same for both your paper files and your electronic documents?