Despite many businesses having gone digital in almost all areas of their work, many continue to operate with outdated, impractical and inefficient document workflow management that ends up costing them in time and money.
The problem is, many companies make the mistake of thinking document workflow will take care of itself, but nowadays, organisations require a lot more than just capturing and converting paper into PDF.
In order for a business to run effectively, they need to find ways to lower costs, automate workflows, reduce their carbon footprint and improve their security and regulatory compliance. All of this can be done by implementing an effective document workflow management strategy, and here’s how...
What Is Document Workflow?
First of all, let’s take a look at what document workflow actually is. Document workflow is a management system used to capture, generate, track, edit, approve, store, retrieve, retain and destroy any documents that are associated with the business processes.
How Can Document Workflow Help Reduce My Business’ Carbon Footprint?
With so many businesses going paperless and trying to reduce their carbon footprint, digital document workflow can be a great asset. By taking any existing outdated methods and transferring them all digitally, you can cut back significantly on the amount of paper your business uses.
Not only does this mean you’ll have a better workflow system in place but it also means there will be far less waste. After all, it’s not uncommon for people to use an entire sheet of paper for a small note that just ends up screwed up and in the bin a few hours later.
How Can Document Workflow Save Time and Boost Productivity for My Business?
One of the biggest savings you can make by implementing a document workflow management strategy is on time. Businesses that still operate using paper and outdated workflow methods can end up spending hours more each day doing large amounts of paperwork which use up staff resources and significantly slow down day-to day operations.
By making the process more efficient, you can boost staff productivity and save time by cutting out unnecessary menial tasks that can be managed digitally instead. This also leads to happier employees as they no longer have to carry out boring repetitive tasks.
How Can Document Workflow Help My Business to Save Money?
A paperless business is a cost-effective one. Not only can you save thousands of pounds each year by buying significantly less paper, but you’ll also make great savings by reducing the cost of document storage.
Not to mention, by saving a great amount of time using less staff resources to carry out menial tasks and boosting productivity, you’ll be saving and making more money.
How Can Document Workflow Improve Collaboration?
You can improve collaboration by being able to share documents with multiple users across different sites, meaning information can be accessed at any time, anywhere- almost like a virtual office.
This also enables working from home more effectively too, something which is expected to continue even after the coronavirus crisis has passed, as it allows teams to work seamlessly together without being in the same room.
How Can Document Workflow Help My Business to Comply with GDPR?
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is a legal framework that sets guidelines for the collection and processing of personal information from individuals living in the EU. In order to comply with the regulations, you’ll need a strong document workflow management system in place as the seven key principles are:
Lawfulness, fairness and transparency
Purpose limitation
Data minimisation
Accuracy
Storage limitation
Integrity and confidentiality (security)
Accountability
For the most part, this means you need a good reason to store someone’s data and should only store it for as long as is necessary on a secure database that can easily be edited to maintain accuracy.
With a document workflow system in place, you can better manage individuals’ data in line with GDPR regulations thanks to the ability to retrieve, edit and delete information more easily.
Why Choose DMS for Your Document Workflow Management?
DMS offers comprehensive yet flexible document workflow management, tailored to your business’ specific needs. At the core of our offering is our undivided support, meaning we do everything we can to ensure your business has an effective workflow system that benefits you every day.
Choosing DMS for your document workflow helps you reduce the complexity of going digital, boosting your productivity and reducing your business’ carbon footprint, allowing you to do your part for the planet.
Why not get in touch with a member of our helpful team today to discuss how we can optimise your document workflow?