Thursday, November 15, 2012

10 compelling reasons to eliminate paper in your office


Paper based forms, documents and contracts consume space, are easily lost, and are resource inefficient.

It's time to "go green" and reduce your use of paper, and here is how.

1. Consult with everyone in the office to develop a team plan and goals for reducing paper usage in your office

2. Start tracking paper usage – consider a competition between offices and departments to reduce usage 

3. Provide staff with dual monitors to give employees an incentive to keep things on their screen and increase productivity. This New York Times article confirms that adding an extra monitor increases productivity.

4. Enforce strict printing policies requiring double sided and/or 2 page layout printing for ‘temporary’ documents 

5. Ensure your Sales and Marketing team email sales brochures to prospects, rather than produce printed copies

6. Onboard your new hires into your business electronically, using solutions like HROnboard

7. Re engineer your forms.  There may be many forms within your business that could be constructed electronically to make it easier for people to complete them quickly. Consider using eforms throughout your business instead, such as Revolve

8. Store all source documents online eg email invoices and submit tax file forms to the Australian Taxation Office electronically

9. Put it on the computer: consider electronic faxing or scanning. This reduces paperwork in the office and allows deals to move in parallel. 

10.  Use recycled paper and shred paper for recycling – not really a reduction, but good for the environment.

In reducing paper, you will create a more efficient business, reduce wastage, and eliminate unnecessary costs. Too many compelling reasons not too....

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