This is an update to an earlier post titled Can We Go Paperless
Earlier this year I began an experiment on how difficult it would be to migrate towards a complete digital work environment. For years I had kept daily To-Do notebooks and was constantly grabbing Post-It Notes to write little reminders or lists for myself or others in our office.
Aside from the minor anxiety that was created by abandoning my notebooks, everything has gone fairly smooth. Current technology has truly made this process a more obtainable reality. For me, the magic combination has been the adoption of “the cloud” to store my documents and Microsoft’s OneNote to replace my daily To-Do lists and notebooks.
The pleasant surprise has been that I am finding the paperless process much more efficient than my old school ways of pen and paper. I receive numerous e-mails with attachments which I had traditionally printed out (so I could make notes on them as I review the document) and carried with me in a folder until they were no longer needed and then thrown away. Now, I simply save the attachment to OneNote, where I can make hand-written notes on the documents and save them. The beauty of this process is that now I am able to access my information on my phone, my computer or any other internet connected device. I don’t have to worry about carrying the folder full of print outs in the event that I might need one of them. This alone is a major victory.
Concerns around security with the Cloud were discussed and a suitable solution was put in place. Our final selection of a cloud configuration encompasses a high level of security encryption and is hosted by one of the largest companies in the business. We understand that this will never guarantee that there will not be security concerns, but we did feel confident that between the combination of security protocols and a proactive hosting company, we would be sufficiently protected.
The old habits of reaching for a pen are fading away and there is significantly less clutter around my desk. I use text messages or instant messaging (IM) rather than using Post-It Notes and overall am better organized. Just like moving from reading books to reading a Kindle, I find myself saying “why didn’t I do this earlier”. In part because it seems like the “green” thing to do but primarily because after the pen habit is broken it’s an easier process and therefore much more organized.
I will continue to hone my digital survival skills on a personal level but next I want to see how far I can push the envelope on the business front. It seems like there are so many places where we could reduce our reliance on paper and improve efficiency. Both are important levers of success and should provide positive results to the bottom line. Look for more on that in my next update.
