How To Optimize Paper-Intensive Workflows

One of the challenges of companies these days is how to bring their processes up to date in this digital era. Antiquated, manual, and paper-intensive workflows are not only cumbersome but also bring up the expenses of companies.

Research conducted by global market intelligence firm IDC has found that large businesses spend 20% of their revenue on documented-related technology while small and medium businesses (SMB) users spend 15%. These are numbers you may want to think about when you review your strategies in generating more profit by cutting down expenses within your organization.

Optimizing your company's paper-intensive workflow will require the cooperation of all the employees – from C – level managers down to the most recently hired staff member. Reducing the number of documents that go in and out of specific departments in your company will require innovative solutions along with high speed document scanners that will help you finish digitization in the quickest way possible.

Thus, if you're looking to automate workflows and reduce the amount of paper your company spends on, here's how to optimize paper-intensive workflows.

1. Identify Error-Prone Or Inefficient Part Of The Workflow

Often, inefficient and error-prone parts of the workflow follow archaic systems. So, the first step in optimizing paper-intensive workflows is to identify which processes require a lot of human input, impede workflow, are tedious, and remove employees from high-value work. Common areas that usually generate a lot of documents that require going back and forth include HR, marketing and sales, and accounting.

It may be tempting to start digitizing all the departments' documents at once. Still, it's best to identify specific processes that generate the most hordes of paper documents resulting in countless clerical errors.

2. Map Out Processes

The next step is to map out the current workflow and identify opportunities for digitization. Talk to employees involved in handling the documents in this part and ask them how they take paper:

• Capturing: how documents come in – fax, physical mail, and email.

• Routing: how information is shared within the company – how documents are approved, reviewed, or for other needed actions.

• Retrieval: how documents are accessed

3. Design Your Solution

After mapping out your processes and identifying parts where digitization comes in, the next step is to design your digital solution by considering the following:

• Storage Options: Each business has its own needs, and it's best to assess early on how much storage you will need. Be wary of getting too complicated and expensive storage solutions and ensure that you don't limit the storage space you will be dedicated to this workflow. You may want to consider cloud storage as your backup to make collaboration amongst stakeholders easier.

• Authorization Technology: It is also essential to consider how signatories can approve your proposed solution. E-signature applications are readily available in the market should you need to have this option.

• Collaboration / Sharing: The beauty of digitizing documents is that it makes collaboration seamlessly wherever you are in the world. Since many businesses heavily adopt remote work, it is essential to include in your design how users can share and access these documents.

• Security: The last thing you need to include in your design is how to secure these documents. Now that this information is easily shared, it's best to consider how you will secure confidential data and to ensure that authorizations can only be given by the appropriate individuals.

4. Implement Your Design

Now that you've come up with a solution, it's time to deploy. As mentioned above, you may want to acquire high-speed document scanners to make it convenient to digitize paper. Before deploying to the whole department, it's best to test it out with specific teams to ensure that user needs are addressed. Doing so will also allow you to modify parts and processes that may not be suitable for the team that will be handling the new workflow.

Don't hesitate to iterate. Iterations will ensure that you continuously improve the workflow to resolve any hidden problems better. Deploying in iterations also means curing down the downtime needed. Implementing a new system will definitely cause hiccups on the usual flow, but don't let that scare you from patiently training and continuously assessing your new procedures.

CONCLUSION

Optimizing a paper-intensive workflow is beneficial to any type and size of an organization. Not only does it reduce operational expenses like labor costs, but it also minimizes human errors and minimizes potential costs of data breach expenses. Aside from having a seamless workflow that is easily accessible to involved individuals, digitizing your documents also shows how your company can adapt in the digital period.

This article does not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors or management of EconoTimes