Monday, May 7, 2007

Push to be paperless at work

I have begun an effort to get more people at work to be paperless with the following points:
  • Electronic submission of all expense reports

  • Make all HR/accounting forms (PDFs) interactive so that they can be filled directly online. Also allow electronic signatures in these PDFs to allow all forms to be submitted electronically.

  • Make all paycheck statements available online.

  • Move away from a paper-based fax system to an electronic system so that incoming faxes come in as PDFs (or other formats). Also allow direct faxing from anyone’s computer without having to print out a copy before faxing it the traditional way. I use Myfax.com and it works out pretty good for my personal (not work) usage.

  • Deploy a desktop search tool (such as that from Google or X1) to make it a snap to locate any document on personal computers. Knowing that it is going to be painless to locate any document will encourage people to store more documents electronically, rather than saving paper copies.

  • Deploy industrial-strength shredders (or other secure shredding) so that people who have accumulated confidential printed material can shred them easily instead of storing them on their desks not knowing what to do. Reduced clutter will make it easier to locate any remaining useful paper documents.

  • Discourage printing multiple copies of a presentation (or other material) for meeting attendees. Provide all attendees with electronic copies in advance and leave it to individual attendees to decide whether or not they need paper copies.

2 comments:

Peter woodfellow said...

I have been trying to get my work to reduce there paper and just email notices for work years. We must just at least 1000 pieces of paper each week on notices and newsletters which could all be done via emails.

off site shredding said...

it's true being paperless would be better but sometimes people need hard copies. Lets be honest, in the past people didnt think like this and there are piles of un needed waste paper with confidential details on them that need shredding.