Let us take a moment to ease your worries. To start with, scanning may be a big task, but it's getting easier every day. Now, rather than carefully placing every single document on a scanner, you can simply snap a picture with a smartphone and the software can do the rest.
And yes, it may be true that changing how you store documents will also change how you reference them, but rest assured plenty of other firms, old and new, have already successfully made the change from paper to an online document management system (DMS) and are now reaping rewards of speed, convenience, and security.Finally, addressing perhaps the biggest misconception of all, your whole staff wants the firm to upgrade. It's 2017, they store their personal files on the cloud at home, and they know how to handle digital files. If your staff were telling you why they would appreciate the digital transformation, here's what they would say:
When everything you do is done in physical paperwork, not having the right form or client's file with you on a remote job, meeting, or even during a work phone call can be disastrous. Having to drive across town to 'swing by the office' and pick up the needed paperwork costs valuable time and money for the trip. Whether that's paid by your staff or the company, it still inconvenient and inefficient.
How many places in the office are files stored? How many more locations could they have ended up while in active use? When an important file or original form goes missing, this can trigger a scavenger hunt for the ages. Inside and under desks, every single filing cabinet and sub-folder, and even the backs of employee cars wind up being searched. This is never necessary with an online document management system.
When people think 'law office job', back injuries hardly occur in the same thought, but they happen anyway. Businesses that store their archived files and backup documents in big file boxes subject their employees a surprising amount of medical risk. Hefting these boxes onto and off of shelves and hauling them from office to office has thrown out many a lower back, sprained wrists, and even caused a few nasty falls. Digital documents weigh nothing, so aren't dangerous to move around.
Whether it's the account files for an important client or a stack of original copies, a single clumsy move with a coffee cup could destroy nearly irreplaceable information and at the very least cause everyone to desperately blot the papers until they can (hopefully) be read again and copies made. This could be terrible, possibly a career-ruining mistake that no one wants to risk.
Many companies that deal in paper documents have a few days a year set aside just for file organisation. A time to find misplaced files, make backup copies, and possibly create a more optimised filing system. These are many paid staff hours spent doing mind-numbingly boring literal paper pushing, something a DMS could do instantly, all the time.
Living on paper documents means constantly making copies. Everything needs a fresh copy and even if you make a hundred copies every time, you'll eventually run out and need to make a new set. With digital documents, a fresh copy of a blank form or even an editable copy of a partially fillled form is only a click away.
When an employee needs to reference a specific file that could be stored in one of three or four different places, depending on who filed it and what they were thinking, finding it can take minutes, sometimes hours. With a document management system, an intuitive search system could find their file in seconds, no matter who made it or how it was organised.
The amount of money, human work hours, and effort that goes into maintaining a paper document system is epic. Desks are covered in inboxes, out boxes, folders, and stacks of paper. Between paper clips, staples, folders, dividers, pens, and boxes, you're spending thousands every year just on paper accessories. Believe us when we say your employees wouldn't mind seeing that all go, along with their annual collection of paper cuts.
Making a mistake with a paper document is irritating, inconvenient, and always ends up looking a little messy. You either have to start over on a fresh page or break out the liquid paper 'white-out', wait for it to dry, and try again. With digital documents, you can make as many edits as you need to until a paper is complete without wasting fresh sheets or dealing with the white-out hassle.
Finally, your staff members want to keep private documents secure just as much as the firm as a whole does. With paper documents, this means locking everything away at night and worrying about desk security during the day With a document management system, you can rely on all the most advanced cloud-based security protocols to keep your documents safe and ensure that curious office visitors can't simply peruse the documents on someone's desk.
Here at LawMaster, we want your document management solution to be convenient not just for your law firm, but every single staff member and client who might work with even a single cloud-hosted file. From quick and easy document scanning to sharing and getting digital signatures, LawMaster has everything your company needs to not only go paperless, but enjoy becoming a digitally organised firm.