It’s officially 2022 yet many organizations and businesses still can’t let go of paper. While we know we’re most probably never going to become 100% paperless institutions, it doesn’t hurt to exponentially reduce our paper usage.
There are varied reasons why going paperless has proven to be a challenging shift for businesses and a lot of them include not knowing how to effectively navigate web-first solutions. Unsurprisingly, paperless workflows still sound like a mystery to a lot of professionals. Compared to physically filling out a form and then storing it in a cabinet, optimizing internet-based tools may still sound overwhelming to a host of workers and business leaders alike.
Still, not taking the time to learn how to maximize all that technology has to offer can be a costly tradeoff.
Here’s a load of reasons why going paperless will help future-proof your organization:
People are a lot more tech-savvy than you think
If going paperless in the 80s was something you would have wanted to pursue, then it would’ve been an almost impossible task to accomplish. Although the technology was slightly available, people generally weren’t ready yet. For that to happen, you’d have to spend thousands of dollars and hours to train people how to email, use scanners, and create online forms.
Today, that just isn’t the case anymore.
Even seniors know how to send google documents and open social media accounts now. Simply put, most of society’s modern professionals shouldn’t feel too swamped when asked to use the computer. The technological challenge isn’t as real as it used to be anymore.
Remote teams let businesses save a ton of money
Since the advent of the pandemic, many business leaders have been forced to allow most of their teams to work from home. Since then, the idea of remote work has only been fortified. Interestingly, this isn’t a new work set-up.
A lot of companies have employed this work arrangement for years, with western countries having strong remote teams in Asia and other continents.
Positively, this kind of setup is cost-efficient. Because business owners no longer need to pay for office rent and the utilities that come with it, it becomes easier to invest in areas that promise quicker profit.
What this means, on the other hand, is a stronger regard for paperless processes. To successfully manage a remote team, you’ll have to run an all-digital workflow—which, thanks to no-code tools, has been incredibly doable.
Security is unrivaled
If someone wants to steal a file, all they need is to break a drawer and that piece of paper can be gone forever. Meanwhile, digital solutions store all of your most important files on the cloud.
While anyone can still delete as many documents as they want to, it’s universally much, much easier to track accountability as to who performed what.
Modern encryption has also made it more challenging to break into private documents, although that, too, really isn’t impossible. Still, it’s difficult to actually “steal” a soft copy of important documents since backup versions of the same file are a dime a dozen online.
In other words, your files will always be safer on the cloud because it’s spared from threats that otherwise exist in the physical world. Typhoons, fire breakouts, and burglary can easily damage any file. On the cloud, however, it’ll take a lot more work to delete an item and guarantee that it’s erased forever.
Paperless workflows provide better customer experiences
“I love to fall in line and fill out 10 versions of the same form,” said no one ever. These days, you’ll have to incentivize consumers if you want them to physically show up at a store to manually fill out a form.
Fortunately, tools like JotForm, Google Form, WuFoo, and Bubble are terrific solutions to going paperless. In fact, the no-code revolution has been a tremendous help to organizations worldwide.
Because no-code demands no written code at all, professionals and leaders alike can bridge technical gaps on their own without having to solely rely on IT teams and software engineers, making it so much easier to employ a paperless workflow.
What’s Next?
Apart from saving trees and being nice to the environment, paperless practices extend a lot of benefits, and companies that actively impose the reduction of paper usage in exchange for digital solutions will have an easier time keeping up with digital trends.
Do you have apps you’d like to build? We’re the agency you want to partner with!
