Online tools for collaboration and project management, such as cloud-based platforms and online workspaces are changing the way businesses conduct their daily operations. Furthermore, they are shining a light on the disadvantages of sticking with a traditionally operated office paper-based system of exchanging files and recording information.
Here are 5 ways in which a reliance on paper methods of business practice are limiting your company:
- Time and reliability
Being dependent on paper files and documentation can be a cumbersome thing. Within a single office, paper files quickly pile up and key documents easily lost. While they are rarely lost for long, the time required to go through a poor (or non-existent) filing system adds up, often involves more than one worker, and is simply not an efficient way to store or exchange key information.
Within a building that may have a number of offices exchanging files as part of its daily practice, the time lost to inaccurate filing and poor storage and/or limited access is even greater.
- Space
The filing and storage space required for paper documents can be enormous in even a small business. Whole rooms may be lost to cabinets or dusty boxes, and this is an inexcusable waste of resources and rent when there is a viable, space-free alternative, such as web-based software and online workspaces for collaboration.
- Cost and wastage
Purchasing those huge packs of photocopiable paper puts a strain on the resources of all companies. For fledgling businesses, where keeping costs at a low really can be crucial to survival, expenditure on paper – not to mention copiers, printers and ink – can be extremely stressful for a business owner. More so when considering how much paper is utterly wasted over the course of a day of typical office activity.
- Security
Paper documents can easily be destroyed, misplaced or even stolen, resulting in a costly clean up operation – perhaps even lost business.
- Corporate responsibility
What company can be honest in its claims of corporate responsibility while still using up reams and reams of paper each week, month and year? The first step towards sustainability and environmentally conscious business practices is to use resources more sparingly, and little is wasted more scandalously than boxes of A4 sheets of paper.
With project management no longer requiring traditional, paper-based methods of recordkeeping and information exchange, not to mention the heightened need for streamlined operations and a more environmentally conscious view, there has never been a better time to take onboard the shortcomings of paper documentation, and the outstanding advantages of firmly establishing online processes for your business.
