The Paperless Process—More Than a Software Solution
Today’s responsible business manager is either already committed to or has started looking to reduce the amount of paper handled in the office: understanding that the path to being paperless is not just about the software solution and more about the processes put in place to get there. The way in which your organization handles day-to-day documents and files is critical to its success. Planning a migration to a paperless process in your office goes beyond a software solution. Regulatory requirements and operational considerations of moving to a paperless document management system should be understood clearly by managers and department heads. A thorough examination of current processes, understanding the timeline of the transition process, and proper research is your responsibility when “sailing your ship into paperless waters”.
New & Improved Workflows
When going paperless, reducing the amount of printing and its associated costs are only a fraction of the operational aspects to this big change. Better workflows are one of the huge benefits that going paperless brings to the office. Most businesses have policies and procedures that over time, staff have had to change for one reason or another. This leads to a hodgepodge of formal and informal policies and procedures that are often conflicting, resulting in numerous inefficient workflows which lead to weak internal controls. When moving to paperless processes consider the following:
- Take the time to address current workflow issues and challenges.
- Are existing workflows, formal and informal, appropriate for the new operating environment.
- Identify the key objectives and the key staff players.
Communication & Change Management
Consider that when employees are asked to work outside of their normal workflows they can be resistant to change as they may have a hard time understanding paperless document management. Overcome employee uncertainty and objections from the start, ensuring that the move to a paperless office is productive with the following:
- Explain clearly why this is good for the organization and ultimately for them.
- Map out goals and what you are asking employees to achieve.
- Demonstrate how jobs can be done with greater ease and efficiency.
- Confirm that staff understands what is expected of them.
- Follow-up regularly and monitor processes during the transition to eliminate “old paper habits”.
Document Management
“The processes that control and organize documents throughout an enterprise, incorporating document capture and content capture, workflow, document repositories, Electronic Records Management (ERM) as well as output and information retrieval systems.”
Office managers need to understand the regulatory requirements before implementing a paperless document process. There is information found online that should be carefully reviewed when forming new document management policies and procedures. While the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) offers information on Electronic Record Keeping and Acceptable Formats it is important that office managers and business owners understand that being paperless is not only about the software solution that digitizes your paper into a Portable Document Format (PDF), but that there are regulatory requirements expected for proper document management. Once the regulatory requirements, policies, procedures, and workflows surrounding your new paperless office have been addressed, then take these simple steps:
- Designate a document management person—Choose someone responsible for implementing the entire paperless process and make sure they have the necessary supports in place.
- Establish document management procedures—Follow CRA guidelines and incorporate them into your company’s policies and be sure to document them.
- Organize existing files—Unless starting from scratch, you likely have a combination of electronic and hard copies of documentation. Pay attention to documents no longer required and note documents that might be missing.
- Purge—In accordance with CRA regulations, purging material that is no longer required under your new paperless document management process is getting rid of dead weight.
- Ongoing maintenance—Keep up the hard work. Stick to the new processes and ensure that the new filing system is being maintained which makes document retrieval easier.
Finding your organization in good standing with a proper document management system goes beyond the software solution. After all, turning “paper into PDFs” has been happening for awhile, but how we store, keep, and access these documents is crucial to having a well-run paperless document management process. If it seems like a lot of hard work and you aren’t sure where to start, AOS Partners can help. As experts in this area, we have many years of successfully assisting organizations with streamlined workflow solutions and efficient document management processes.
Contact us!
Jackie French
AOS Partners
Working From Home—the New Normal
Times certainly have changed. Remember the good old days when we could gather around the office coffee machine and chat about last night’s episode of Dancing with The Stars? Okay, I never really watched that show, but I heard all the cool kids did.
The New Normal has taken some of us for a whirlwind while we scramble to find the right software technology that allows us to continue to do our jobs from home. Even those who have the most current virtual meeting rooms or tools set up still found it a challenge to continue business as usual.
One of the silver linings in all this is the abundance of free technology information. It’s all around us now more than ever. From which tools should be used, “how to” videos, and best tips and practices on the subject of remote work from home. One source that I’ve recently come across and found extremely helpful is the LinkedIn Learning Blog.
In a recent series titled “New to Working Remotely”, LinkedIn is offering over 15 FREE videos, each varying from 20 minutes to over an hour on different topics to help us all adjust to doing our jobs from home. From the tools you should be using to remote leadership, remote management and more. You can find the entire series on LinkedIn here.
If you have flipped from working in the office to remote work from home, you’re not alone. Millions of Canadians who suddenly couldn’t go into the office have figured out how to do their jobs from home. According to Statistics Canada, 40% of Canada’s workers found themselves working from home as COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns were enforced. A few simple tips that we’ve found helpful adjusting to the new normal are:
1) Have a designated workspace: This should be a quiet place where you can have minimal interruptions. It’s also important to make sure this is a space you can walk away from when your workday is over.
2) Good lighting: Hopefully you have a space with as much natural day light as possible. Sitting in the dark for 8 hours staring at a screen is not good for your eyes or your brain and can affect your productivity! If you don’t have much natural light, be sure to have sufficient artificial light.
3) Stand up: It wasn’t too long that sitting was described as the new smoking. It’s easy to forget this when we are working from the comfort of our own home. Be sure to stand up and stretch it out at least every hour for just a few minutes.
4) Take your work breaks: Home sweet home can sometimes make it feel like we’re not really working. We can easily grab a quick coffee or a snack and get right back to it. DON’T DO THIS! Make sure to take your designated break times, go for a walk, eat your lunch outside on a nice day, or even stop to Face Time a colleague you would take breaks with at the office.
Working from home has its pros and cons. Pros show that there is less stress, no time consuming and costly commutes, more flexibility in managing family or life tasks, more autonomy and a better quality of work-life balance in general. Some of the cons are it can be lonely, feeling disconnected from a team, difficulty in turning off work, and perhaps reduced support. The reality is that there are significant changes in where we work in today’s world and having to get used to the new normal isn’t a choice.
While this has proven to be a profound upheaval in work for some industries, thankfully for AOS Partners we’ve been able to remain flexible for our staff and our clients. We have the necessary work tools and software solutions in order to serve our clients remotely and also assist them is adapting to this brave new world.
Whatever your work situation looks like we hope that you are staying healthy and productive.
Jackie French
AOS Partners