paper-free projects and interoperability connectors

Paper-free projects are allowing many CEOs to raise their companies’ process efficiency at the same time they are decreasing environmental footprint and assuring compliance. Steps towards the paperless society are being given every day by companies, governments, and other organizations.

But there are several issues to think about before go for it. According to an AIIM survey, respondents inputs and findings, here are the top 10 things never to miss to ensure the success of paper-free projects. Read them carefully and look inside your organization to check if you have all you need.

 

Must haves to successfully implement paper-free projects:

 

  1. Top level executive buy-in and support: without this support, nothing can be implemented successfully. Your first step is to persuade big bosses.
  1. Gather feedback and seek endorsements from all stakeholders: their opinion and vision are very important to sustain your strategy.
  1. Re-think the whole process – don’t “pave the cow path”: the secret is to question everything. Look at how paper enters and rules your business, where it slows things down, where it clogs up the workspace, and where it restricts information access and process flexibility.
  1. Make good use of standards and best practice advice: they’re named best practices for a reason, aren’t they? Don’t work by instinct.
  1. Have at least one team member with practice/qualifications: know-how and hands-on experience are crucial in disruptive initiatives.
  1. Capture as early in the process as possible: start from the very beginning and go step-by-step. Extend the paper-free concept further to the point of origination, whether that is a branch office, a shop, or the mobile devices of your employees and customers.
  1. Manage as you would any process change: paper-free is yet a big change, so be prepared for the usual resistance.
  1. Start with the more specific applications: that way you can gain and proof quick-wins, collect lessons learned and replicate them in the future.
  1. Don’t accept “it’s against the regulations” at face value: there’s always an answer to every challenge, get advised with your legal department. There are too much myths out there.
  1. Ensure that your supplier has true expertise in all technologies involved: if not, the chances for something goes wrong are quite high. Technology is the basis for automation.

 

The vision of the paperless office is possible when all the documents arriving in the organization are captured in a single point and immediately scanned, identified, classified and routed as an image and data (electronic file) to the appropriate employee or department for processing. No more filling cabinets, no more interoffice couriers wheeling wagons of mail around, no more rifling through manila folders looking for missing paperwork.

Identify, assess, plan, implement, measure, refine and repeat. That is how to get there.


To-dos:

– Check your company’s workflows, customer satisfaction, and teams efficiency
– If you think it’s time to get paper out of your processes and you need some expert assistance (technology / implementation / consulting), get in touch with us
– If you have already implemented a paper-free project, what have been the keys to success? Share with us in the comments
– Subscribe to our blog to receive valuable insights about document management and paper-free processes
– Download the eBook “Paper-free processes: 5 steps for creating a mobile strategy that really works” and learn how to put an effective mobile strategy in place to take advantage of the 24/7 connected business world

[eBook] 5 steps for creating a mobile strategy that really works