It’s time once again to re-organize my office, file paperwork and get rid of all the unnecessary things which have been cluttering my work space. I’m not a big fan of doing this frequently as new files, invoices, requests, propositions and notes will come across my desk again and again, so I figure what’s the point. However, I’m aware that if I haven’t been going through this potentially futile exercise every so often I’m sure that I would have no place to put my laptop and actually do some more interesting work. I see it as one of those so called “necessary evils”, you hate doing it, but you need to in order to get some other things done and move along.
On the other hand, while going through some of the paperwork I kept asking myself do I really need to keep this? It’s online, I can get a copy when I need it, but yet again somehow most of those papers found their way into neatly organized folders where they will be filed away until I go through this “infinite loop” again.
I understand the need for some documents to be printed, especially the ones requiring signatures, or exam questions, but most of those can be computerized as well (i.e. digital signatures, online testing). In any event, I have started to move everything that can be moved at this time online in order to reduce paper use as well to enable myself (and others) to search for files and have access to them from anywhere. A good portion of our faculty have also started to post majority of their materials on Blackboard (our CRM system), but there’s room for improvements on that front as well. Bottom line, going away from paper is slowly happening, but there’s still much work to be done.
Besides the green initiative and desire to save trees which are extremely important in our Ecosystem, what is your take on paperwork you have to deal with; is it necessary (all of it?); can it be replaced somehow and how often do you go through your piles of papers to get them down to a more manageable size?
Comments 3
In my office we have 3 network printers and they never, ever stop. We usually go through 2-3 reams of paper per day, and replace toners every other week. In fact we buy paper and toners in bulk.
We have these 30-40 page audit reports (accompanied by another 30-40 pages of excel worksheets) that we do, review and send to clients. These things get printed out at least 3 times before they go out. First time the reviewers like to print it so that they can make corrections using pen, pencil and highlighters. Then they go back and edit it, and send it for a second review. It gets printed again. The final version gets stored on the network drive, then printed and filed in a paper file cabinet. Also some clients like to receive paper copies of these reports via snail mail in addition to electronic copies (probably so that they don’t have to print them themselves). We are so far away from being green or paperless it is not even funny.
Also my desk is considered an avalanche danger zone due to the stacks of papers, boxes and CD cases that are piled up in there. I clean it up every once in a while but it gets messy really quickly.
Author
That seems like way too much paper being wasted. It will take a while for most places to actively work on reducing this waste…maybe even a whole generation change.
Do you attribute that to the industry you are in or the age/experience/habits of the staff? Do younger staff members print less?
I do as much as possible online as well. I just don’t like having to keep track of all the paperwork when I can keep it organized in digital format in less time and space anyway.