The way business is done is always adapting and today’s technology has lead to all sorts of revolutionary changes across the workforce, both throughout the U.S. and the rest of the world. Despite all the recent workforce changes, businesses still struggle with all sorts of document challenges. According to a U.S. Bank study, 82% of organizations that fail do so because of cash flow problems, but losing track of essential documents can lead to all sorts of organizational failure.
Approximately 7.5% of all documents get lost; 3% of the remainder get misfiled. Additionally, according to a global survey of knowledge workers and IT professionals, document challenges account for 21.3% of productivity loss.
“Information and the speed at which it flows throughout an organization is a key determinant of business success,” said Greg Milliken, senior VP of marketing at M-Files. “The faster your staff can find and leverage information, the better your chances will be for achieving a competitive advantage.”
According to IDM, more than 80% of workers across the globe are forced to recreate lost documents already in existence.
Here are some additional statistics that a worldwide survey found:
- 45% of organizational staff worldwide find searching for documents, files, and information both time consuming and challenging.
- 96% of all tech employees face some sort of problem when searching for the most recent version of a file or document.
- 80% of IT professionals need access to corporate documents on mobile devices.
“We see a large variety in requirements for and adoption of solutions in different locations — even in core functions for document management,” added Milliken. “Vendors with a flexible platform that also offers strong core capabilities find the most success in providing value to customers with diverse teams and locations.”
Document scanning services can help small businesses and large corporations track every important file and store them safely for decades. However, worldwide adoption of enterprise content management (ECM) solutions remains quite low, only at 24% on average worldwide.
“I used to have 13 filing cabinets of invoices. Now I just have one,” said Bill Dress, a knowledge worker who recently made the switch to a document filing service. “Every invoice is scanned. After that, all the information I need is found with software, not hand-searching and sorting through thousands of pieces of paper.”
Although document storage services are great for improving company efficiencies and preventing many of the issues associated with file loss, there are a few additional ways that businesses and individual workers can improve on these aspects, as well.
- Clear off your workspace — Whether it’s an entire office floor or an individual desk, getting rid of unnecessary items can provide all kinds of productivity benefits. Anything that isn’t needed and simply taking up space, get rid of it.
- Focus on time management — In today’s fast-paced world, it can be even more difficult to manage your time than it is to manage your files. Keeping a running to-do list will help you stay on top of things like document filing and other essential daily office tasks.
- Ritualize your work day — You can’t just clean off your desk and expect to be fully organized. In order to keep up with the influx of files, projects, documents, emails, and requests, you need to stay on top of everything. Make a habit of looking at your to-do list at the beginning of every day and devote around 10 to 15 minutes to updating your to-do list at the end of your workday.
- Recycle paper documents — Today, more than one-third of new paper is made from recycled materials. Not only that, but Americans are more likely to recycle paper products than to send them to landfills. As your company looks for document management solutions, don’t forget that recycling should be an important part of any managed document service.
A recent survey found that 72% of business owners report that improving customer experience is their top priority. When important documents go missing or important company procedures go haywire, it’s ultimately the customer who suffers. In order to prevent serious organizational problems and improve company efficiencies, start focusing more on taking better care of your paper documents and digital files.