Paper & Productivity - Two words that shouldn't be used in the same sentence (4 min read)

In today's crazy-busy world, productivity is fast becoming the new black, the future black and well, most likely everything in between.

Businesses of all shapes & sizes are looking for new ways to boost efficiencies, support growth and keep ahead of the competition.

One process improvement tool that allows organisations to achieve these things and many other benefits is digital forms.

Many SMB's are now beginning to walk the paperless path, allowing them to reap several benefits that paper-driven systems can not give them.

For any businesses, conventional methods of storing both paper and electronic documents pose several disadvantages that can undermine its efficiency and productivity—and in some cases, its competitiveness and profitability.

Simply put, if you wish to make your business more efficient, productive and competitive, you need to evaluate the current systems you are using for capturing, managing, storing and retrieving business information.

Is it as efficient as it could be, honestly?

With the implementation of digital forms, your business can enhance its productivity and efficiency, help take care of the environment, facilitate collaboration between teams/personnel, and significantly enhance workflow productivity.

The transition to "digital forms" allows your employees to handle, manage and communicate critical business information in seconds. It also allows your staff to collaborate with one another easily, which is particularly helpful when employing part-time staff or staff that job share.

Through the use of electronic documents, time-consuming processes are minimised, if not totally eliminated.

It can also give you and your employees greater mobility as you can securely access documents using mobile platforms, which are quickly becoming the norm for the latest workforce entrants. In understanding what is now possible with office automation & digital integration, you can quickly identify where pockets of opportunity exist for your business.

Like the transition from fax to email, from typewriter to personal PC, technology advancements are aimed at increasing productivity - we live in a digital age where we expect information to be instantly accessible. So why should access to the information at the core of your businesses be any different?

Technology for SMB's is no longer a ticket to the game, it is the game. In a time when the world seems to be spinning faster and faster, ensure that your business remains agile enough to keep pace.

Many business processes are simply outgrown without the business actually realising it, this is not typically something that pops up on the radar for review, though it should.

Outdated, paper driven processes should no longer be greeted with the response "it's just the cost of doing business".

There is a better way and in this day and age, more than likely always will be.