10 Steps To Go Paperless

The paperless office has been a popular concept since the introduction of electronic document formats, such as PDF (Portable Document Format), which have been around since the early 1990s. Four decades later, PDF has been the industry technical standard for over 20 years.

Even though the paperless office has been a goal for businesses and households alike, it was the COVID-19 pandemic that made the paperless office less of a nice-to-have and more of a necessity. The whole world was forced to lay the much needed groundwork and actually push through the implementation. What used to be expensive and complicated to implement has become far easier to do and saves costs in the long run. Here’s our advice on how to go paperless.

Steps To Go From Paper to Digital

 

1. Embed Paperless in the Company Culture

 

Change comes from within. Every effort to change the way a business works will start from within and from top to bottom. Moving towards a paperless work environment can be challenging, but with careful planning and implementation, plus the right tools, it certainly is possible.

2. Establish an Enablement Team

 

Depending on the size of the organization, an enablement team—or person—can be a very useful resource to support change and offer advice and training. They’ll be the front-runners, the leaders, the motivational speakers, and the whole project’s biggest advocates. Going paperless means having to digitize and maybe even automate multiple company processes. This will require having the right people lead by example and train employees who might not be technically savvy. A paperless office requires every employee’s commitment to the change, which makes training an important upfront investment. The enablement team also serves as a feedback loop. They can collect information from end users and really filter out important improvement points or point out when things aren’t going as planned to take action at the right time.

3. Check for Compliance

 

Before investing in tools to digitize documents, it’s a good idea to first check to see if any compliance regulations require you to keep hard copies of documents with an ink signature for a certain period. Depending on where you are in the world, electronic signatures are generally accepted in place of physical signatures, but it’s recommended to check in with your local laws around signatures and legality. Even if a switch to the paperless office is promoted, there are likely archiving requirements that must be considered for some time.

4. Switch To Paperless Billing

 

Switching over to paperless billing not only makes business processes easier, but it saves on costs. A few benefits of digitizing invoices include:

• Avoiding late fees from misplaced, forgotten, or lost bills
• Improved security (paper billing can leave businesses vulnerable to theft)
• Cost savings on postage and mail
• Saving time on tracking down invoices

5. Have Paperless Meetings

 

Switching from paper to digital platforms during meetings may appear difficult at first, but it’s definitely worth it. Digital documentation has many benefits for both the organizer and attendees:

• Set up complex agendas in minutes with little effort.
• All participants stay up to date on changes to the current agenda.
• Prepare and update material in an interactive environment.
• Get all meeting information upfront.
• Easy collaboration during the meeting.
• Have all meeting notes easily accessible in digital format right away.

6. Paperless Tasks and Memos

 

Switching to paperless task lists, memos, and notes is easy, especially with a host of clever document management software on the market. Most options also come with the possibility of collaborating and syncing with teammates. Information is less likely to be lost or destroyed and can more easily be shared with others on short notice.

7. Mobile-first Work Environment

 

Even in a fully paperless office environment, some paper will likely still make its way into the building. This is mostly because we are in constant communication with external vendors, partners, and clients who have yet to go paperless. The best and most proactive way to mitigate this paper usage is to equip employees with a mobile avenue to digitize documents compatible with the business’ paperless environment. The Smallpdf Mobile App is an especially useful tool for scanning, editing, storing, and sharing documents on the go.

8. Paperless Signatures

 

Printing, signing, scanning, sending, and storing contracts might be one of the most time-consuming tasks to take place at work. A compilation of statistics shared by Finances Online shows that it takes an average of five days to get a traditional signature, while an electronic signature takes only 37 minutes. While electronic documents are easy to keep track of and their progress can literally be tracked, due to the time it takes for traditional signatures to come back, it’s easy to forget about individual requests and not follow up to get everything ready within the required timeframes.

Smallpdf’s eSign tool responds to the need for quick and easy electronic and digital signatures that meet security requirements. The tool also incorporates an editing function for adding dates and text before signing. Users can also request up to 100 signatures from outside parties and keep track of the signing process from within the software. Digital signatures are generally widely accepted, but we encourage users to check in with their local laws regarding legality and e-signatures.

9. Invest in PDF Software

 

Once all documentation has been digitized, it’s important to understand how to edit, convert, and manipulate different file types to maintain the new paperless ecosystem. It’s even more important to ensure that all users companywide can easily understand and use the new PDF software for complete company buy-in. Unlike before, PDF software today is agile and user-friendly. The challenges of expensive solutions that take entire IT companies to implement have been cleared. Options like Smallpdf open the doors to affordable and easy-to-use PDF software for everyone, regardless of the size of your business or pockets.

10. Provide Recycling Solutions in the Office

 

Unfortunately, going paperless does not happen overnight, so a good first initiative is to provide sustainable solutions for the paper that is still used or required. Although this isn’t a direct route from paper to digital, it is a step in the right direction to encourage a sustainable mindset among employees while larger changes are in the works. It’s also helpful to not overwhelm employees with one swift change, but rather introduce the strategy and gain cultural buy-in from everyone.

We hope these steps help with your new or ongoing transformation from a paper to a digital office environment.

While you’re here, why not get started with paperless signatures? With Smallpdf’s eSign tool, you can sign contracts and request signatures in just a couple of clicks!