Information Management and Home Working: Streamlining Your Business Processes

Managing content chaos, with information coming from multiple sources, can be a challenge at the best of times. But, considering the impact the Coronavirus pandemic, it’s even more important for businesses to look at how to streamline business processes and provide users with secure access to information – regardless of their location. 

Office to Home Office 

In order to stay healthy, we are all being advised to physically distance ourselves from others as much as possible to prevent the further spread of COVID-19. This means that for many of us, we are not just avoiding unnecessary shopping trips, but we are now also working from home. 

This new way of working means that businesses must re-think how employees can continue to securely access and process information in their home office, without the resources usually available in the office. Clearly businesses have several challenges to consider: How can we ensure consistency across information capture, process, and distribution with remote employees? What can we do to maintain regulations and compliancy such as GDPR without an audit trail? How can we continue embracing digital transformation to streamline business process, speed up information retrieval, and remove time consuming manual tasks like document sign-off, for example?  

If we consider a typical office environment, employees are generally able to interact face to face, have access to hard copies of documents, and direct access to technology. Processes such as invoice approval can be manually facilitated, with hard copies being transferred from desk to desk. However, when working remotely, business documents can only be accessed if they are in a digital format. We cannot access our paper documents in office storage locations such as filing cabinets and we can no longer casually stroll over to our colleague’s desk to ask for a status update on a project or process. 

With this in mind, it’s important that we begin to consider:  

• How is existing paper-based information being accessed? 
• How is the post being distributed to recipients?   
• How are invoices being approved? 

• How are documents being signed? 

Often, existing processes involve inefficient manual intervention with little control or visibility. If information is not electronically stored securely in a central repository, then access to it becomes a significant challenge and business processes can become even more time consuming. Essentially, if it is not online, it basically does not exist for an employee in the home office. Businesses need to adapt. 

Information Management is a Challenge 

Information management is a challenge for everyone. Even prior to the COVID outbreak, an AIIM survey in 2019 showed both mobile enablement and document management as some of the most important digital workplace strategies for an organisation. 

With the current situation, many companies around the world are adapting to a remote workforce and it is easy to see that these strategies are now even more important. However, not only is remote work now a necessity, but also a long-term strategy that has real benefits for companies and employees.  

Essential Home Office Tools 

Ensuring you’re set up for success to work remotely is important. A good internet connection, a dedicated workspace, self-motivation, and discipline are all important for anyone working from home. As is access to business systems, secure communications and the ability to conduct meetings remotely. 

Additionally, secure access to important business information – regardless of location – and being able to share and collaborate is vital. Digital workflows and digital signatures are also important tools to enable the remote worker to participate in key business processes. 

Manage all Information from a Single Platform 

So where to start? Look for an information management solution designed to help businesses with their digital transformation strategy. A single platform solution will help to bring structure to content chaos and streamline business processes as well as: 

• CAPTURE and utilise paper and electronic information 
• SECURE the data within a central, digital repository 
• MANAGE the information as a strategic asset 
• ACCESS their data anytime, anywhere 
• AUTOMATE and optimise core business processes and 

• ANALYSE all kinds of information throughout their business and react to key performance indicators.  

In summary, there is a lot of information in an office environment which must be processed, filed, and easily found again. But with employees working remotely the need to be compliant, save costs, keep employees happy, and quickly respond to customer’s requests, are ever more important. Businesses must work to evaluate how they can utilise their digital transformation journey to streamline business processes and remain ahead of the curve when it comes to information management for home office workers.  

Maintel Document Solutions forms part of the Maintel Digital Workplace pillar, helping to make your people more effective and efficient, transforming communication and collaboration with digital workplace technology. Our cloud-based solution can be remotely installed, comes with pre-configured options and the ability to tailor to the customers’ requirements. 

If you’d like to more on how Maintel’s Information Management solutions can help your business, click here. If you’d like to be the first to receive the latest updates and insights from our team here at Maintel, sign up to our newsletter by clicking the banner below!