The Scan Dock: An E-BizDocs Record Management Blog

Going paperless is a buzzword in environmental circles, but it’s also spoken amidst discussions that focus on improving efficiency. It’s important to realize that if efficiency of workflow is your goal, then make sure your decisions move you toward that goal.

Consider your goals when developing a process.

One popular technique in reducing paper use is to print on both sides of a piece of paper. This is a great idea as long as certain considerations are taken. Generally, it would be most useful for individuals to manage themselves. If they collect paper they print and choose to print on the backside for other things for them to read, they’ll go a long way to reducing their paper use. But what happens if they print two unrelated documents on opposite sides of the page and hand it off to someone else to read? Are they going to get the wrong information? Is an important memo going to be discarded because it wasn’t clear what the message was?

Also, consider that paper that has been printed on and stored somewhere may have a few more problems running through the machine than new paper. Moisture, folds or bends, or other factors can make jamming a much more common occurrence in your office and cause an uptick on maintenance costs.

Keeping the objective in mind when developing a process is important, because while a technique might accomplish one goal, it may set back another.

Source: LifeHack.org