Paperless working: why is it still so rare? [research]

[jrineakter]

Every two years, Viadesk conducts a survey on paperless working in companies. Employees at all levels in organisations are asked what they think of working without paper and to what extent they already put this into practice. The 'Paperless Working Monitor 2015' shows that paperless working has not yet reached everyone. This is remarkable, since we are working more and more mobile and therefore need less paper. Moreover, a paperless office offers many advantages!


Paperless pessimism
In the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany, printing is still very common and it is expected that this will continue for the time being. In comparison with the 2013 study, 'paperless' has also become less popular. The figures of the Dutch indicate more 'paperless pessimism' than two years ago and Germany and Belgium have only become slightly more positive.

Remarkable, since the technical possibilities to eliminate paper from the workplace do exist. Digitalization of processes, cloud computing and business software make it increasingly easier and safer to do your work without paper. Documents are theoretically available from any location and on any device and collaboration is easy online. Some companies have already 'converted' and are completely digitalizing. However, the adoption of 'paperless' does not seem to be going at the same pace as technological developments.

The manager finds the paperless office attractive. And yet they print a lot more than their staff.

Results
The most interesting results of the Paperless Working Monitor 2015 at a glance:

To the statement ' A paperless office is a very attractive prospect ', 43 percent of the Dutch answer 'somewhat agree' or 'completely agree'. In Germany and Belgium, this is 46 lebanon telegram number list and 52 percent respectively. In all three countries, slightly less than half of the respondents find a paperless office a realistic prospect: in the Netherlands this is 42 percent, in Germany 43 percent and in Belgium 50 percent. These are not shockingly high figures. You could say that about half of the respondents find a paperless office attractive and realistic. Limited optimism, then, regarding the possibility of doing your work without paper.


Next to this moderate enthusiasm there is a considerable amount of A4's that are still printed daily : 16.1 pages for a Dutch person and 18.3 for a Belgian. The German takes the crown with 31.9 prints. Although it remains questionable whether people estimate these numbers correctly, especially the German seems to exaggerate a bit with almost 32 sheets, the perception of employees about their paper use also says something. In any case, paper has not yet left people's minds, and it is still a prominent part of their office environment.
In Germany, employees work the least mobile, with the desktop as the most popular device (84 percent), where the Dutch and Belgians work more often on a laptop. These figures seem to correspond with the paper use in the three countries. The German says he prints the most, and that may be true if you have fewer possibilities to work mobile from any location (such as at home). The German apparently still has the most traditional workplace.
An overwhelming majority of respondents still find printing necessary (71 percent) and paperless not suitable for every project (70 percent). In itself, these high percentages are understandable. If you think long enough, you can always come up with a project where paper is really necessary. Although this also says something about the mindset of the office worker, who may find it difficult to imagine his work without paper. After all, almost everything can be digitalized, including making and sharing notes.
The manager generally finds the paperless office more attractive than the other respondents (53 percent compared to 43 percent), but he does print a lot more: 29.4 prints per day for the manager compared to 17.8 for non-managers. This will undoubtedly have something to do with the nature of the work that a person in a managerial position performs. The fact that he finds 'paperless' more attractive than average may be the visionary side of his job. In theory, a paperless office is cheaper, more sustainable and more efficient. For many managers in high positions, these are objectives. However, in practice it turns out to be more difficult, because these people themselves still use a lot of paper.