7 Ways Document Management Can Increase Office Efficiency
The foundation to any good office is a strong document management system. Whether you’re a law firm that needs important client documents readily available or an organization looking to streamline your hiring or invoicing process, efficiency is key. With more businesses gathering necessary data through both paper and digital based documents, keeping track of them has almost become a full-time job. A strong document management system allows you to keep processes streamlined, increase productivity, decrease time spent looking for mission-critical documents, and help improve inter-departmental collaboration. Below are 7 ways you can help digitally transform your document management process and help your office become productive – saving you both time and money.
- Simplify and Streamline Workflows
Paper-based workflows are not only time-consuming, they’re extremely inefficient. Document Management software allows you to simplify the process of moving documents from multiple touch-points and in turn decreases processing time and the chance for misplacing critical documents. The workflow can be automated to fit your teams needs and allows you to create a new system should your business needs grow or change. The right document management software adapts to fit your teams needs at any moment in time.
- Integrate Your Devices to Help with Capturing Documents
Due to the variety of ways we now receive documents (scanning, multifunction printers/copiers, smart phones, tablets, etc.), it is important that your devices work in tandem with your document management system. Most offices today use multifunction printers (MFPs) to accomplish daily tasks, but not everyone knows that these devices have the option to be equipped with software to assist you in your workflow. With the right software in place, MFPs can eliminate manual data entry and automatically file and name your documents. Pair it with workflow software already in use by your teams and it will help increase adoption rate and allow you to leverage your investment across your organization.
- Improve Your Document Retrieval Process
A recent PwC study reports that the average worker spends 40% of their time managing non-essential documents. Additionally, IDC estimates that employees spend 20% of their day looking for information in hard copy documents and that, 50% of the time, they are unable to find what they were looking for. Document Management software helps organizations save on a multitude of soft costs in terms of document retrieval. For example, the average office spends $20 to manually file each document and of those documents 1 out of every 20 is lost or misfiled. $120 is then spent searching for the misfiled document and $250 spent to re-create it. With document management allowing for automatic filing and search functionality, downtime and cost can be significantly decreased.
- Secure Your Important Documents
Many offices have compliance standards they must adhere to; document management systems allow you to securely store your files and ensure that only those who should see sensitive documents have access to them. Improve your security by safeguarding your documents with user authentication and authorization. Furthermore, every touch a document has can be monitored via audit trails from document management software.
- Integrate with Tools that Foster Collaboration
Many document processes require input, review, updates and approvals from multiple people, sometimes from different departments. When done manually, multiple copies of the same form can be passed around – leading to decreased communication, slow process times, and ultimately resulting in one big headache. Digitize your collaborative platform and keep all documents, and the necessary actions and commentary, in one place. Cloud-based applications like Office 365 allow your team to work together to edit records and eliminates multiple versions of the same document being created. This ensures the document stays within its proper workflow and keeps your office running efficiently.
- Be Prepared in Case of a Natural Disaster
Besides freeing up space in your office, digitizing your documents protects them from potential damage or destruction. Natural disasters like fires, floods or tornadoes can destroy physical documents. Document management gives you cloud-based digital storage which allows you to store multiple copies in multiple locations. So even if disaster should strike, your critical documents will remain safe and secure.
- Safely Dispose Documents that are No Longer Needed
In the digital world, getting rid of documents may not be as simple as shredding them, but there are ways to safely remove documents that are no longer needed. Strategically archiving documents allows you to maintain efficiency, control costs, and improve security. Maximize IT resources to determine which documents need to be safely destroyed versus those just needing to be archived. This will help prevent employees from digging through files that are no longer relevant to find a correct piece of information. The best way to increase office efficiency and productivity is with a Document Management System tailored to your business’ workflow and needs. With a streamlined document management process your employees will spend less time locating and managing documents, giving them more time to devote to activities that drive your business’ success. DoveFlow works with multiple vendors in the Document Management world. Through our assessment, we’re able to find which system will work best for you. Give us a call if you’d like to see how a document management system can help grow your business.
