Remember back a few years ago when the promise of the “paperless” office was all the rage? We were being told from every newspaper, magazine and television report that with the advent of the personal computer and the internet, that paper would become obsolete and we would be able to work in a “paperless” world. Well, how’ s it going? Has your world turned paperless or are you still using plenty of the white stuff to take care of daily operations?
I have to say that in my home business and with my own personal business matters–including finances and bill-paying, I don’t use very much paper. So much of what I do IS done on computer and I’m able to submit stories and article via e-mail or by uploading, so I’m not printing and mailing hard copies. I do all my banking and bill-paying online so that’s really cut down on the paperwork–although I’m still getting statements in the mail. I don’t even really save hard copies of most of my computer files like I used to (remember in the beginning when we didn’t “trust” computers and everything we created on a computer also had a hard copy, paper trail?).
The businesses I work for, however, seem to still be very paper-reliant. My theory is that the more employees and departments, the more likely it is that things will still need to be passed around on paper. For some reason, there is the assumption that there needs to be a piece of paper that gets passed from person to person and touched by everyone, before being filed away, just to “make sure we cover our bases.” While the “memo” has become an e-mail, paper still seems to be king in most traditional businesses.
I’m still all for the “paperless office.” I’ve seen the changes I’ve been able to make in my personal business and home life. What do you think? Are you working in a “paperless office” or do you even think it’s possible?