Eighty percent of businesses want to reduce paper from their normal workflows and business processes, according to research from Xerox.
It’s no wonder: paper is becoming harder than ever for organizations to wrangle. Research and consulting firm Gartner reports that the annual growth rate of the amount of paper produced by the average business is 25%. That may sound like a modest number, but when it stacks year after year, it means many organizations are drowning in paper documents.
This is, in fact, a big reason why organizations like the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) are pushing for more electronic records management. Reducing reliance on physical documents increases accessibility, responsiveness, and better enables organizations to serve their stakeholders and customers.
But the push toward digitization and paperless operations comes bundled with a lot of myths and misinformation. Let’s break down some of the most common misunderstandings about what paperless, electronic records management really means.
MYTH: You have to go totally paperless. FACT: You’ll almost certainly still have some paper documents.
Most organizations probably want to target going paper-less (just using less paper) rather than totally paperless. For government agencies, NARA has dictated that all permanent and most temporary records must be handled in electronic format by the end of this year, but there will still be paper and analog records even so. If nothing else, many organizations and government agencies are subject to regulatory requirements that mandate the use and preservation of at least some paper forms. Additionally, it’s not true that absolutely everything has to be digitized in order to reap the rewards of going paperless.
MYTH: It isn’t worth the cost. FACT: Digitization has the potential to pay for itself.
Digitization definitely comes with an upfront cost, but paper-based records management can be surprisingly costly, especially over time. Records accrue expenses at almost every point in their lifecycle, from creation through destruction. Digital records, however, can eliminate or reduce many of these. For example, there’s no need to transport digital records to long-term storage facilities, and the cost of storing records in the cloud is a fraction of the cost of physical storage.
One study found that the majority of organizations achieve full ROI within one year of implementing paperless document management systems and procedures.
MYTH: It isn’t possible to do quickly. FACT: It’s challenging but possible to do quickly.
This one is trickier because neither of the two extremes are true. A well-built, well-executed digitization plan does take time for planning, training, implementation of the right technology tools, change management, etc.
But neither is it true that it takes forever. Often when digitization efforts go awry and become never-ending, it’s because other problems are getting in the way of the transition. For example, a lack of buy-in from either/both organizational leaders and workers can freeze the process in its tracks. Similarly, a poorly chosen Electronic Records Management system will make the process more difficult and more time-consuming than it needs to be. (Here’s the smart way to evaluate ERMs).
MYTH: Paperless solves all problems. FACT: It helps a lot but don’t overpromise.
Going digital does solve a lot of problems, but it’s important to manage expectations to avoid frustration and disappointment. Digitization is a huge step in the right direction, but it cannot (by itself) solve broken workflows or dysfunctional organizational systems. If the only change an organization makes is to “lift-and-shift” a broken paper-based workflow into digital form, they’ll just end up with many of the same problems. For example, electronic records can be a lot easier and faster to find than searching through cabinets and boxes of paper records, but only if the larger records management workflow is well-designed.
About PSL
PSL is a global outsource provider whose mission is to provide solutions that facilitate the movement of business-critical information between and among government agencies, business enterprises, and their partners. For more information, please visit or email info@penielsolutions.com.