You've probably heard it before; document management is one of the most important elements of a digital workplace strategy. In fact, according to the 2018 State of the Digital Workplace report, for organisations with 500-2000 employees, document management is rated as the number one most essential digital workplace technology.
But why is document management so important?
If your company is set in its ways, and refuses to move away from their internal folder-based filing system, you're probably not actually aware of the time you're losing searching and gathering information. But it's not just about arranging information so you can get your work done faster, it's about revolutionising the way you work and implementing digital workplace processes across the board, and addressing the common pitfalls of digital transformation.
What exactly do we mean by that? Read on.
Decentralised information is a real problem for many businesses. Whether your company is still working with an old school filing system and are physically handing notes out in meetings, or your team still have their own folder on their desktop and a bunch of email threads with attachments - there's huge room for improvement.
Just like a silo, if your documents are built vertically upon each other with many different versions, visibility isn't transparent and due to the placement of the files (desktop, third party software or folder based cloud storage) not everyone has access, you're going to run into problems.
When managing documents, digital workplaces need software that guarantees the right people have access to the most up to date version of a document at all times - or one source of truth.
There's no denying that document management can only be described as chaotic. The recent 'The State of Digital Workplace 2018' found that 20% of employees avoid sharing a document with a colleague because it is difficult to find, while 23% of users say that it takes them 5–10 minutes to find the latest version of the needed document.
We've all been there. That moment when you're frantically trying to recall what a particular document was called, so you can find it buried deep in an old email thread. Plus, it's always just when you need it most that you can't find it, which never looks good in front of a client.
You can almost empathise with people who decide to omit sharing files whatsoever - it's just too far in the too-hard basket.
If you're a part of a digital workplace, you'll already be aware of the importance of collaboration to get the job done, and we don't just mean internally. Often project managers, contractors and clients themselves need access to certain files and the ability to edit the working version of a file.
However, it's near impossible to collaborate effectively if your communication, file sharing and collaboration tools are spread across several apps. That's digital chaos.
A great example of collaborative tools becoming a pitfall for a digital business, is the need for software that can support remote work. As a manager, you want to be sure that when an employee is working from home or out of the office, you're able to manage their workload and keep up to date with their tasks. In other words, full transparency.
To facilitate a top-level view of work in progress, and to maintain effective communication between managers and staff, you'll need a single platform that can do it all, rather than multiple third-party single purpose apps.
Having a streamlined document management system isn't just about making sure that your information is easily accessible and organised - it's about the bigger picture too.
You can't simply roll out new software and expect every single employee to embrace the change (see our blog: Rolling out software? Sort out your own backyard before inviting people to the PIQNIC). You'll need a platform that has the ability to change employee's working styles through helping them get used to working in a digital environment - and that means making everything easier, not harder.
Everything we do at PIQNIC is tailor made for the digital workplace, with proven methods of collaboration, file sharing and communication combined to make the ultimate platform. But we weren't just thinking about the features when we built PIQNIC, we were thinking about the users.
Every aspect of PIQNIC has a smooth user experience, with the goal of full transparency and making your life easier.
Ready to give it a go? Why not book in a free consultation and we'll talk you through the benefits.