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JuliasPaperlessOfficeresearchedBasedReport....docx
Transitioning to a Paperless Office
Prepared for
Michael Clayton
(Senior Vice President)
Prepared by
Julia D’Rozario
(HR Manager)
October 7th, 2018
To: Michael Clayton, Senior VP
From: Julia D’Rozario, HR Manager
Date: October 7th, 2018
Subject: Proposal to Implement a Paperless Office
Good day, I am contacting you as I am interested in performing a research about going into a paperless office. There are many benefits of transitioning into a paperless office by reducing the amount of paperwork that is unnecessary within our organization.
With the plethora of documents that we are dealing with now, we can waste valuable time by using pen and paper with the paperwork that we need to do and browsing each document within the folders. Going paperless will ensure that documents are in a timely manner along with freeing up valuable office space and save few trees.
Time has always been an essential key within our organization. By transitioning into a paperless environment, we could reduce the cost and focus our budget to more significant things we need. This will also improve security and reduce valuable storage issues that we have. I look forward on hearing your thought on my proposal.
Benefits of a Paperless Office
I propose that by going paperless the benefits outweigh the obstacles in transitioning to a paperless office. In our organization we spend a lot of hours daily locating the documents that we need to file and process them every day. Going paperless will ensure the access of documentation with ease along with freeing up valuable office space and saving few trees. With one click, users can easily locate the files they need and can accomplish the task in a timely manner. Going paperless can save us time, money, and space. We will have countless savings in supplies, cost, storage and labor. Staying organized has always been the goal of the organization. I feel that having the convenience of documents readily available will also create a more efficient workplace.
There are many benefits in creating a paperless office. Below are some of the main benefits that will be the most valuable to our organization.
Cost Savings
With the countless hours that are spent daily locating and processing the documents, I think that it would be beneficial for our organization to invest a little cost in new hardware and software to have a paperless environment. I am positive that this little cost will have a big return of investment after few months. By using the technology, we will be able to save since the amount of supplies needed would be reduced. Going paperless will save the organization about $5,000-$15,000 per year on printing, mailing, paper and storage space.
Security
Switching to an electronic document management system improved security system. By going paperless, it is easy to protect sensitive information because of password protection at different levels. It lets you create security settings and give authorized users the ability to view the same document. Having the electronic system will also permit us to track the file from creation to storage and its users.
Easy Information Sharing
By filing the documents electronically any authorized personnel will have access at the documents. With the electronic management system, all documents are scanned and electronically stored, making it accessible to anyone who is authorized and need the file. This permits the organization of a continuous workflow and no time is wasted to accomplish the task.
Better Productivity
Since documents will be filed electronically, documents will be easily be accessed if needed. This will result to increase efficiency. Document searches can be done quickly and gives results in seconds. Going paperless helps in managing the amount of work that needs to be done every day. In many cases, I have noticed that undue delays in productivity are a direct result of excessive paperwork that can be misplaced or destroyed. Going paperless helps free up valuable resources. It will permit us to quickly respond to operational needs and access the information needed. The effort required to organize, manage, and access information will be reduced.
Disadvantages
With the transition to a paperless, there are going to be some obstacles or downfalls. I think the biggest issue is the loss of data and equipment failure. It is important to keep the hardware and software to be up-to-date to minimize this problem. Keeping the system upgraded from time to time is also one of the disadvantages of having a paperless office because this comes at a cost. Having system failure can interrupt workflow. A paperless office is vulnerable to human error. Improperly scanned documents can result in incomplete record, files that are inaccurately named are often difficult to retrieve and incorrect linking of documents are few examples of human error.
Conclusion
I feel that it would be beneficial in moving forward with taking the organization to the next level by going paperless. Though, there are certain drawbacks of having a paperless office the benefits still outweigh the negative impact of the transition. Going paperless is going to be a big step with taking the organization to the next level. My proposal serves as the first step for moving forward with the future.
Executive Summary
Purpose and Methodology
As technology develops and become more modern, the concept of paperless office becomes a popular possibility. More and more companies are planning to go paperless because of the widespread of computers and Internet. Though there is a widespread about the concept of going paperless, our organization still utilizes the old fashion way of processing paperwork. Due to the challenges of a paperless office, this report provides reasons and recommendations for transitioning to a paperless office. This research will also discuss the possible benefits electronic system can achieve.
Findings and Conclusion
A literature review and a survey were used in this research to gather information about the subject matter. The articles for the literature review gave a general idea on the subject. A survey was done by almost all staffs to get a feedback about the transition of the organization to a paperless office. Most employees were familiar with the concept of going to a paperless environment and agree with the idea of transitioning and utilizing the electronic system.
Recommendation
Aside from performing our duties there are also piles of paperwork that we are tasked to do daily. These piles of paperwork are often used a lot of our valuable time, time that we can spend with more significant things to accomplish our duties and responsibilities. But instead, we spend most of our time in completing the documents and then filing them properly and accurately. Some of these documents are just redundant and can easily be completed if we are using the electronic system. There is also a concern about the great amount of paperwork that piled up and creates chaos in our office area. Another concern is the lack of storage space in our office. To address these issues, it is recommended to transition our organization to a paperless office and utilize the electronic system of processing and filing documents.
Table of Contents
Executive Summary……………………………………………………………………………. V
Advantages of the Paperless Office 7
Challeneges of Paperpless Office 8
Methods ( Primary and Secondary Sources) 9
Conclusion and Recommendation 10
Introduction
For centuries, people have tried to make their work more efficient and faster, which resulted in the emergence of the paperless office (Orantes-Jimenez, Zavala-Galindo, & Vasquez-Alvarez, 2015, p. 47). The paperless office concept “means a change in how the technology industry, for information and management, is a “new way of working in the company”, and it involves a considerably reduced or totally eliminated use of paper in an office environment (Orantes-Jimenez, Zavala-Galindo, & Vasquez-Alvarez, 2015, p. 47). The emergence of this definition is traced in 1975 and is associated with the Business Week article “The Office of the Future” (King & Toland, 2014, p. 1). The article claimed that the office would be revolutionized, and electronic terminals would completely replace paper carriers (King & Toland, 2014, p. 1). Recently, there have been attempts to translate the described vision. For example, the U.S. and European officials have reached an agreement on transferring digital data from one side of the Atlantic to the other (UP Front, 2016, p. 6). Still, the study cited by UP Front (2016) indicates that a lion’s share of western office workers does not support the idea of the paperless office, claiming that it will make their work less effective (p. 6). To comprehend the reasons underlying such reaction, it is advisable to analyze the advantages and limitations of the paperless office. Evidently, such comparison will provide insights into the barriers to making western offices a more efficient place.
Advantages of the Paperless Office
Virtually every large enterprise is along the paperless journey, because it is associated with a range of benefits (Andersen, 2017, p. 27; Sandu & Seth, 2014, p. 35). The first, and evidently, most important reason to go paperless is significant times savings (Sandu & Seth, 2014, p. 35). The study cited by UP Front (2016) indicates that “Across Europe, office workers spend nearly 19 hours every year walking to and from printers…” (p. 6). Sandu and Seth (2014) argue that it is a significant period and it can be used for truly important purposes.
This assumption is further supported by Hollis (2017) who stresses that the paperless office could facilitate business development (p. 30). Sandu and Seth (2014) argue that improved business development arises from a more rational use of available resources (p. 35). For example, the paperless office allows saving time that has become the modern business’ more asset. To illustrate this assertion, the YouGov survey stresses that 30 percent of business managers and directors would use the paperless office to save time and spend it on business development (Sandu & Seth, 2014, p. 35). The above advantage can hardly be underestimated, since ongoing development is the major prerequisite for competitiveness in the modern market.
Furthermore, there is ample evidence that the effectiveness of the paperless office can be examined through sustainable competitiveness of the green office (Gilbert, 2007, p. 1; Zsolnai, 2002, p. 652). To clarify the relationship, it should be noted that green business relies on using fewer natural resources to complete the tasks needed (Sandu & Seth, 2014, p. 35). In this way, refusal to use paper carriers is considered an act of environmental and social responsibility (Sandu & Seth, 2014, p. 35). Eventually, companies that seek to preserve and contribute to communities in which they operate enjoy greater customer loyalty compared to companies that use less sustainable practices.
So, there is ample evidence that the paperless office is more economical in terms of using available resources (Andersen, 2017, p. 27; Sandu & Seth, 2014, p. 35; Zsolani, 2002, p. 653). The resources saved by using the paperless office can be redirected to create a more effective business performance (Sandu & Seth, 2014, p. 35; UP Front, 2016, p. 6). However, to make the most of the paperless office, it is necessary to understand challenges that are associated with it.
Challenges of the Paperless Office
Analyzing existing perspectives, it would be wrong to assert that the paperless office is an impeccable option. Security is one of the major issues that arise when discussing implementation of the paperless office (Sandu & Seth, 2014, p. 35). Indeed, business directors and managers are supposed to answer several urgent questions, including “What if the building is burned down?” and “What if the off-site server went corrupt?” (Sandu & Seth, 2014, p. 35). The incapability to solve these difficulties in a timely and effective fashion can lead to leakage or loss of information, and eventually undermine the organization’s performance.
In addition to the above challenge, companies should consider the fact that not all agents and clients are tech-savvy. Examining this challenge, Sandu & Seth (2014) stress the following: “The truth is that not every…buyer or…seller has a computer, and not everyone is comfortable signing a significant official document through an electronic signature platform.” (p. 35). In this way, a large percentage of paperless companies are facing the difficulty of convincing their partners that electronic documents are as reliable as paper ones.
Significant is the fact that not only the company clients, but also employees experience a discomfort, thinking about transferring from the use of paper documents to electronic ones. Study conducted by Epson stresses that 83 percent of office workers in Europe believe that banning on printing would “limit their productivity” (UP Front, 2016, p. 6). These employees believe that they would be more likely to make mistakes when editing electronic documents (UP Front, 2016, p. 6). Furthermore, a lion’s share of the surveyed employees fears that the paperless office would prevent them from sharing data with colleagues and disrupt cooperation in the team (UP Office, 2016, p. 6). In this way, business directors and managers are expected to bring in major changes to organizational culture to facilitate the implementation of the paperless office.
Methods
The primary research resource utilized was a questionnaire which was distributed among workers. They were filled out by employees from the top to the bottom level. To keep in line with the subject of this study, the questionnaires were distributed via e-mail and the employees were encouraged to return it in a similar fashion. The questions were developed to get feedback of the employees’ idea of the paperless office and to determine how effectively this could be integrated into the organization’s daily activities. The findings from the questionnaires were adequate to facilitate an accurate inference of the perceptions towards a paperless office. The secondary research was collected from scholarly and academic journals as well as online publications. The articles were thoroughly selected and reviewed according to its relevance to the topic. The articles were used to have a better understanding with the transition and to recognize the possible benefits of the transition to the organization.
Results and Discussion
50 percent of all employees gave responses to the questionnaire. The questionnaire included 12 questions, whereby five were open – ended while seven were closed.
Idea Regarding the Paperless Office
The staffs were asked if they had any familiarity with the idea of a “paperless environment.” 83% of respondents stated that they were familiar with the term, 5% did not know what the phrase meant, and the rest did not respond.
Processes and Forms
Most of the employees who gave responses were sure that they would save significant time utilizing the forms that were in electronic form. These forms included time sheets, overtime, contacts, leave, and performance appraisals etc.
Paper Files vs. Electronic Files
At least 50% of respondents presently use electronic files each day. Indeed, 85% of respondents felt that they needed to use electronic files more. Amazingly, most of the respondents stated that they did not have any difficulties looking for files in hard copies. Only 25% had problems locating hard copies each day; 70% of respondents saved around 90% of their daily work electronically. There were apprehensions as to whether files stored in electronic format were adequate for their daily duties. 50% stated that electronic files would be adequate for daily use whilst the rest had concerns. Other worries included security (like hackers and viruses, power failures, cost of shifting from paper to e-format, bandwidth, management’s comprehension of the complete process, system malfunction and failure, loss of files, and delayed response time. Other respondents had concerns that some processes would be hard to digitize.
On the other hand, the benefits appeared to outweigh the concerns by far. Most of the respondents stated that advantages of shifting to a paperless office included; cost, time, and space savings, decreased clutter in the office, easy access to information, and reduce in respiratory problems since dust originating from files will be minimized and mitigate stationery expenses. Other benefits include increased productivity and efficiency, enhanced communication, protection of the environment, increased office space, and secure transfer and sharing of files.
Conclusions and Recommendation
References
Andersen, J. (2017). Paperless office. June Food and Drink Technology, 27.
Gilbert, A.J. (2007). The value of green marketing education at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. Retrieved from http: //www.uwlax.edu/URC/ JUR-online/PDF/2007/ gilbert.pdf.
Hollis, M. (2017). The time has come. You can have an efficient paperless office. Here’s how. March Chiropractic Economics, 29-31.
King, K., & Toland, J. (2014). iPads in the paperless office: The impact of tablet devices on paper consumption in higher education. Journal of Applied Computing and Information Technology, 18(1). Retrieved from http://www.citrenz.ac.nz/jacit/JACIT1801/2014King_PaperlessOffice.html
Orantes-Jimenez, S.-D., Zavala-Galindo, A., & Vasquez-Alvarez, G. (2015). Paperless office: A new proposal for organizations. Systemics, Cybernetics and Informatics, 13(3), 47-55.
Sandu, U., & Seth, R. (2014). Paperless office: A new name to technology. IJMBS, 4(2), 34-36.
UP Front (2016). EU, U.S. agree on new data transfer deal. March/April Information Management, 6.
Zsolnai, L. (2002). Green business or community economy? International Journal of Social Economics, 29(8), 652–662.
