Going Paperless in the Workplace

1. Reduces waste and conserves our natural resources

All the steps involved in creating paper including wood extraction, processing, production, transportation, use, and disposal have significant impacts on the environment. Reducing paper use is the most effective way to lessen these impacts.

2. Reduced operational costs

Digitizing internal paper-based systems reduces printing costs such as paper and ink cartridge purchases and the overhead costs associated with printing devices.

3. Regained time for productivity

When content is stored centrally and correctly indexed, it’s quickly and easily accessible. Less time will be wasted searching for files, and documents can be quickly shared across the organization.

4. Better security and compliance

Physical documents are hard to track – reams of paper can get lost, misfiled or destroyed without anyone noticing. It can also be difficult to monitor the access, printing and copying of sensitive files.

Electronic security systems employ access controls which specify viewing privileges and audit trails reveal who accessed what documents, when, and exactly what changes were made.

Having a central repository for digital files, rather than rooms of shelving will also ensure you are better prepared should disaster strike.

5. Saves space

Paper takes up a lot of space – as do filing cabinets.

6. Eases transfer of information

With colleagues working together on projects it is much more efficient to access and collaborate using digital copies of documents, digital documents are easily accessible to multiple employees across multiple locations.

Step 1. Start with a Vision

Get buy-in from top leadership and make sure everyone in the office is on board. This is achieved by ensuring everyone can see the benefits to them individually as well as the organisation as a whole.

Step 2. Audit paper consumption.

In order to understand how to target reduction efforts and how to measure and communicate success, you will need to know how much paper is currently being used and on what applications.

P&F’s paper purchasing information and printer records were accessed and a staff survey was conducted to determine how paper was being used within the division.

Step 3. Set a Deadline

Now that you have a plan and have everyone on board, it’s time to get serious. You will need to define a goal within a reasonable deadline. 

P&F’s goal is an 80% reduction in 2019 paper level by June 2021.

Step 4. Digitize: convert your existing documents from paper to digital.

Before you begin the process of going paperless, you also need a plan for what to do with all your existing paper. It’s one thing to move to a paperless work environment for the future, but what about all the old documents you have now?

P&F’s paper documents were scanned as part of the paperless transition process.

Step 5: Arm yourself with the right technology and tools and embed paperless best practices.

Going paperless at work will be much easier if you have the technology and tools in place to support your efforts. However, tools and technologies are useless if you don’t feel confident in using them.

Step 6: Review and Digitize your business processes 

Ask yourself, are there areas where your team is using paper to get things done when they could just as easily do it electronically?

Step 7. Track results over time and celebrate

Maintain momentum by celebrating your little paperless victories along the way.

Paperless collaboration 

Online programs and platforms allow you to store, access, sync and share files across your personal and UQ devices, including desktop computers, laptops, tablets, and phones. 

• Through CloudStor, you can store files in the cloud and share files with others in the UQ community.
• Use the online collaboration tools  OneDrive to share documents
• Use TRIM for storage and full lifecycle management of UQ documents
• In Outlook, you can create, share, and assign tasks to colleagues. 
• Within word documents, encourage use of "edit" and "comment" options instead of printing and marking pages. Use Adobe Reader to help you read, highlight and annotate PDF documents or share PDF with colleagues.
• Use Microsoft teams to allow group members to co-author documents, and for group discussions about documents.
• Consider using online organisational tools to organize tasks centrally.

Meetings

• Circulate materials in advance and let participants know you will not provide hard copies. 
• Use a projector and laptop or electronic display to project the agenda and other important documents. 
• Consider holding a remote meeting via video conference, using Zoom or Microsoft Teams. 
• Switch from a paper notebook and pen to paperless note taking. Consider using digital notetaking or brainstorming tools.
• Encourage participants to use their laptop or device to take to take and refer to electronic notes and emails.
  • Tip: Use a network drive, CloudStor or OneDrive to share files, so meeting participants can access relevant files on their laptops during meetings. You can edit notes and documents in CLoudstor in real time.

Paperless forms

• Use electronic signatures to minimize the need for printing, signing, and mailing documents. A guide to creating a digital signature or electronically signing a document can be found here.
• Create online intranet forms and/or updateable forms in tools such as Microsoft Word.
• Update and email forms instead of printing.

Events

Event planning and management tools make paperless events easy!

• Attendees can register and submit payments for conference fees online. 
• With mobile apps, attendees can view agendas, download session content, and interact with other attendees. 
• Conference organizers can communicate with attendees prior to the event (e.g. to send agendas and info) and after the event (e.g. to conduct online surveys).
• Tip: For detailed information on how to hold a green event, check out our Sustainable Events Guide.

Newsletters and Communications

• Consider using an e-newsletter program with customizable templates and drag-and-drop editing, which can also manage email distribution lists, integrate with social media sites, and analyze results (e.g. track opens, clicks, forwards, and more). 
• Yammer is a UQ-specific social networking platform that facilitates discussion between community members. Create “groups” through Yammer for tips and idea-sharing. A UQ email enables you to join groups, receive notifications, and follow topics.

Reduce paper flow with vendors and suppliers

• Communicate your goals to your vendors, and enlist their support in switching to electronic solutions such as:
  • Electronic order processing
  • Paperless invoices and statements for customers
  • Electronic invoicing from and payment to vendors
  • Internal online routing of documents for approval
  • Sharing electronic documents and publications with vendors

• The Library offers classes (workshops) in software, research skills, and publishing and research management
• LinkedIn Learning is one of the largest software and skills training websites and is free for UQ students and staff. LinkedIn learning provides courses and video training for key software applications used at UQ including:
  •   Word
  •   Excel
  •   PowerPoint
  •   Outlook
  •   Adobe Acrobat DC
  •   Illustrator
  •   Premiere Pro
  •   Photoshop
  •   R
  •   Python

• For more information on going paperless please contact the Sustainability Office.