Paperless office – could it be a reality?

Background :-

• Paperless office means optimization of working place by switching to e-document management, electronic archives, and electronic communication.
• The term ‘paperless office’ goes back to 1970’s. In those days, idea was more of prediction that would be reality after 40-50 years.
• Today we can see how development has taken place in fields of digital technology. Nowadays it is being mentioned often. Many companies and environmental protection activists support and promote the idea of a intelligent future office where operations will be done by the computers with maximum efficiency which will allow them to save time, trees and money.

In Favor :-

• Provides access to required information at any time and any place which will help to speed up the work.
• The work can be saved in efficient way lessening the chances of loss of data.
• Carrying the papers everywhere with us can get hectic. Digitalisation will help to solve this problem.
• It promotes teamwork even when employees are out of the office.
• It allows the remote management of tasks, assignments and projects. It also allows managers to track the progress in real time.
• Technology has become part of the everyday life. So using technology for office would make everyone feel easy and simple.
• Paper work reduces the space in the office. So in paperless office, more space would be available to use.
• We can preserve important documents by scanning and storing it in cloud storage.
• Because of paperless work, even if office caught fire, all the important data will be safe. Even if hard disk crashes, we can still retrieve it from the main server.
• If company has strong data integrity and security, even hackers can’t do anything.
• It will also save accommodation expenditure done for making and maintaining store rooms in office.
• Today, global warming is a pressing issue in front of us. Deforestation is a major reason for it. So, many governments have started campaigns to ‘save paper’ and thus ‘save environment and trees’. Paperless office will be great step in doing so.
• By going paperless, retrieval of the data becomes much easier and in turn makes office work easy and faster.
• If someone wants to send a important file immediately to another person who is faraway, paperless documents are best solution.

Against :-

• Paperless office completely depends on technology. If your computer breaks or gets some problem, you will be completely helpless unless you have another copy.
• If data is stored on the cloud,then a dodgy Internet connection can curb your business. Instead, papers will have no such a problem.
• Staring at the screen for long time could give the employees eyestrain. They will be likely to suffer from similar health problems like carpal tunnel syndrome which arises due to typing all the day.
• Vast majority of the papers can be recycled easily but while disposing electronics, extra care has to be taken. Else there are chances of release of dangerous chemicals in the environment.
• Physical papers are more easy to protect than electronic files which hackers can get through untraceable ways.
• When a businessman is meeting with his potential new clients, a professional looking printed brochure or leaflet will make a much better impression than a PowerPoint presentation or PDF.
• Though many softwares have made it easier to make notes on computers or even on mobile, still making notes on paper demands our attention as compared to electronic one which is tucked away in some document we have forgotten about.
• Although LinkedIn has presented a new way to gain contacts for business, still business cards are in wide use and are far more effective.
• It is often thought that paperless office is low carbon office, but this is rarely a case. Paperless office uses several digital devices that need to be charged from time to time, thereby consuming electricity.
• Furthermore these devices are built using non renewable or environment damaging materials such as heavy metals, petrochemical products etc.
• How may we try to inculcate digital devices in our lives, writing on the papers gives a different feeling which we could never get by electronic devices.
• Legal work can not be done without papers, because documents should be certified.

Conclusion :- 

Although paperless office is good innovation in business, it will take time to come into existence. It is more likely that use of paper will be reduced to minimum with increase in use of digital products. This includes clerical staff being computer literate and aware about internet use. Paperless office will certainly bring a revolution in our day-to-day life. But it also has some disadvantages. So it must be implemented with precautions.

Afterwords :- What are your thoughts on this topic? Express your opinions in the comment section below.

This article is written by Vaishali Chaudhari. All rights reserved @ Group Discussion Ideas.