If you’ve stepped outside recently, you may have noticed that we’ve finally escaped the arctic temperatures. Spring is here! Although this may sound like a joke to those states in the Northeast that are still under attack from the merciless snow gods, I think we can all agree it’s at least a step in the right direction.
With spring comes not only flowers and iced tea, but spring cleaning – those dusty days filled with wonderment as you pull foreign objects from the back of your closet that should have stayed in the 80’s. However, often our computers and offices are more in need of cleaning than our closets. This year, spring cleaning should extend further than the remote spaces of our homes and on to our workplace files and data.
Here are four ways to do it:
- Start on a personal level. An uncluttered computer desktop and library helps us to find information faster and ensure we’re working with up-to-date versions of our important documents. Go through and delete redundant or out-of-date information to avoid confusion later, and delete the screenshots of your old Justin Bieber concert tickets. Take it one folder at a time, and don’t forget to back up your computer to keep what you do need safe from computer-related catastrophes.
- If you don’t have one already, build a filing system for your loose papers that you can stick to for the rest of the year. Try creating folders for meetings, things that require action on your part, items that require a response from someone else, or information that just needs to be stored long-term. Then set up a schedule to periodically sort through it to avoid build-ups that take hours to organize.
- Now it’s time to think bigger. Is your department overrun with too many paper files? If your information is hard to find or is just taking up space needlessly, this spring could be the right time to invest in some document scanning so you can use that space for something better. Storing those files electronically not only makes them easier to sort through, but gives you the opportunity to make them immediately accessible from any location, eliminating the need for other employees to repeatedly ask you and your staff for that information.
- Maybe it’s not the paper files you take issue with, but your department’s or even organization’s data. Without regular upkeep and strategy, it’s easy to let data get siloed into areas that are inaccessible or difficult to navigate for many employees, or to build up old, inaccurate, or otherwise useless information. One way to avoid this is to consolidate the places in which your data resides. There’s no need to store your information in six different places when it’s easier to have it in one. By using an enterprise content management system, employees can use a single system to quickly find and share content, and you can ensure everyone has the same information.
Spring is, in some ways, a time to start anew. If you’ve been putting off organizing your information in any capacity, why not do it now to improve office efficiency and productivity in the coming months? And throw those 80’s clothes out. You don’t need them.
Thinking of working towards higher office efficiency? Already doing it? For more information, watch our webinar recording below and find out what going paperless really means- 5 Stages of Efficiency.
