Tech Tips to Eliminate Printed Matter & Paper Clutter

Consider making a New Year’s resolution to reduce the consumption of paper in your business environment, and you’ll not only streamline processes and improve productivity, but you’ll find it saves money too!

Implementing a few simple strategies can help to get your business on the right track.

• Create and send documents in digital format.
  
  
• Review documents online rather than printing to read later. Save copies of important emails, files, and more on your computer. Be sure to back up your files.
   
• Have employees use an iPad, tablet or laptop to take meeting notes.
   
• Send out time sensitive announcements through email. No need to print and pay an employee to hand distribute to individuals or mailboxes.
   
•  Make it standard practice to send out company invoices by email.
   
• Encourage direct deposit of paychecks. Electronic banking saves paper.
   
• Reuse old boxes and shred paper for packing.
   
• Encourage the use of mobile devices. Tablets are popular and almost everyone has a smartphone now-a-days. With the increased availability of mobile apps, employees can complete various business related tasks on the go. For example, if an employee is on-site estimating a job, he/she can sketch a diagram and create an invoice for a customer on a mobile device. Then, the information can be emailed to the office or the customer without ever having to print anything.
  
  
  • Accept Mobile Payments. With a smartphone and a mobile payment application, it’s easy to accept credit or debit card payments from any location.
     
• Consider a Company Intranet. Employees can access company information and submit related forms anytime from anywhere. How about posting employee manuals and other materials online rather than distributing — and continuously updating — printed copies?
   
• Cloud computing allows for teamwork and collaboration. Employees and vendors can easily share information from anywhere there is Internet access. Clicking on links brings forth documents that can be edited online with no need to download attachments or print out hard copies, thus reducing paper and storage requirements.
   
• A business process review can determine the most efficient ways for your organization to perform necessary functions. Automating and streamlining your business processes among people and systems will eliminate unnecessary paper trails and content storage costs. A Brave River Business Process Review will help to determine methods of reducing costs and providing more efficient use of resources.

One more important point… Besides making your business more efficient and saving money, using less paper makes your business more environmentally friendly.