The Paperless Policy, Step 2

Challenge and Re‐define Processes

‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ – we’ve all heard the saying and many of us believe that it means we should stick with our current processes and procedures because there is nothing wrong with them. It’s a common mistake to make, because most of our current processes have evolved over time, instead of being specifically redesigned. People simply follow the current process ‘because we’ve always done it that way’.

Part of the journey towards less paper is to challenge your current processes to determine if they fit with your paperless policy. Try tackling one process per month – look at the current steps involved with the relevant team members and determine if it can be done better, more efficiently and most importantly, with less paper. Then re‐map and re-define that process (incorporating the new paperless methods) and document the procedure.

It is critical that you involve your team members in the changes required to your processes. You need to consider your team member’s work preferences so that ‘paperless’ is not forced upon them, causing resistance to the changes.