Paperless office Paper (Redundant) People Problems
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I agree with what Marc Clifton has said and I totally disagree with the premise of "...Proving that people, not information technology is the reason why paperless has not succeeded." Paper has far greater utility than the technology that is trying to replace it. The ubiquitousness (SP?) of paper and ease of transmission of paper (in the local sense as in handing a piece of paper to someone) far outweighs the technology substitutions available. Even the internet with all of its advances proves that paper is sometimes just easier. I have often needed to view a document with a diagram and had to scroll the page to see it all which is difficult to do and makes the content difficult to fully grasp. Also, the cost of paper makes it of much greater utility since I can tear a piece of paper out of a notebook and tape it to a server rack for later reference. Also, while the cost of extranous paper (i.e. printing a document of 20 pages multiple times due to a simple change) is easy to see, the cost of the extra power needed to run computer systems, cost of recycling, environmental impact of disposing of older computer equipment, are much harder to see and at the very least seem to be ignored by the "paperless office" pushers. Another key people aspect of paper is that it is simply easier to read than modern computer screens, both CRT and LCD. Yet another people aspect is the need for "multi-tasking" of documents. I often have several printed documents on my desk (design documents, coding guidelines, spec sheets, reports) that I need to refer to while working with consultants or staff while using my computer. As of today, there is no technology that makes it easy to do this, or cost permissive. Tablet PCs seem to be a step in the right direction, but the cost of a tablet PC is simply prohibitve to utility. I suppose that at some point in the future, intelligent paper will be invented that is cheap enought to replace current paper products. It will be able to be printed on, written on, torn in pieces, etc. This intelligent paper will be re-usable, thin, foldable and look much like paper does today. It will be suffeciently cheap that handing a piece of it to someone will not involve a financial transaction. I have a hard time seeing what benefits intelligent paper will be able to deliver at such a price though.
Matt Gullett wrote:
I suppose that at some point in the future, intelligent paper will be invented that is cheap enough to replace current paper products.
But I don't think this is really doing anything to move towards a paperless ideal. Lets get a good grasp on the idea as to what 'paperless' really means. I don't WANT paper, smart or other wise. Personally the mear thought of paper brings on hives. Lets take a look at what paper gets us. - It has made possible the ability to do a few minutes of dumpster diving and end up being able to steal a persons identity. - It has helped bring about mountains of garbage that need to be dealt with every year, and the number as far as I can find so far, is not dropping. - Fills our houses with useless copies of records and documents that can get lost or stolen. - Makes business processes move slower because it relies on the ability to physically move it from one location to another. - Slows communication, again because it has to be physically moved from point a to point b. - Makes it more difficult to communicate because it is not in a format that is easily translatable between languages. I am sure I could come up with many more ways if I kept at it here. The entire idea is that paperless is exactly what it means. Less paper. Not just a different type. You want me to sign a contract then send me an electronic copy and I will digitally sign it and send it back. You want me to read something and comment on it? Send me a link and I will go there and do what I need to do. While I don't ever think we will get to a completely paperless society I would like to see it get to the point where people look at paper the way teenagers of today look at vinyl records.
George Carlin wrote: "Don't sweat the petty things, and don't pet the sweaty things." Jörgen Sigvardsson wrote: If the physicists find a universal theory describing the laws of universe, I'm sure the asshole constant will be an integral part of that theory.
My Blog[^]
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I don't know about paperless, but I do know that some people are too lazy to reduce paper. The main printer that we have allows for double-sided printing without manual feeding, but most people still use one-sided printing even though I emailed the instructions on how to set it up. Also, when I went on job interviews last year, I had my resume printed double-sided. Even though my resume was 3 pages and the two front pages were obviously unrelated, I had to tell plenty of recruiters to turn the first page over. A lot of them commented that a lot of their hiring people will not check and it may cost me a job. I can only assume that all this is because we're used to one sided printing for so long, even though books and magazines that we read are double-sided. "If only one person knows the truth, it is still the truth." - Mahatma Gandhi Web - Blog - RSS - Math
I completely agree. People are so wasteful. It drive me crazy to see the lengths that people go to just to waste. Laziness on some people's part is an understatement. I love to double side, "needed reports". Recently, I was required to print an online manual, because they wanted it printed. I double sided all of the copies, and they still complained. (1) Because I double sided them (they were in a binder) Hello!. and (2) because I only made six copies, when there are twelve people that need the training. We have three different training sessions, they would probably never use the information again. Share!!! I don't want to waste paper. Then, My supervisor wanted a copy, and she won't even be using the program, and she is not attending any of the training! She just wanted it for her shelf, just in case! In case what! It may take a whole minute to download another copy! Maybe 15 minutes to reload a backup! ARGH! It is not a complicated program! At most some only need two or three pages of it, and using the program with help on demand, is way more efficient. How about a little effort! I do use paper, it is a job requirement, but I think there are a lot of people out there that make excuses to not become paperless (not absent of paper, but less paper). I try so hard to disseminate the information to as many people are required electronically, and the satellite offices love it. Before they had to ask for faxes, or have physical copies mailed to them. Now I weekly send e-mail updates, and quarterly Cd's with the backup information they might need to view. (we don't have VPN :() Do they print, I don't know, but the data is there, and I was willing to share it. Joanne Cassick Current Accountant Now, IT Student
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JCassick wrote:
people working in these organizations are doing everything in their power to resist the change
I disagree with this, simply because it makes the assumption that people care. They don't. We, as people who work in an office, care only about accessing, processing, sending and storing information in as easy a manner as possible. Everyone's made the comment about paper being easier to read. I'm not sure I agree with that. - It's easier to hold a piece of paper and shuffle it around because CRTs are heavy and resist shuffling. - It's easier to compare two pieces of paper than two documents on the screen because screen size and resolution isn't equivalent to my 5' x 3' desk. (mmm...imagine a 3' x 5' 300dpi screen as a desk...Homer drool...). - It's faster to open a book and read it than boot up a PC, find the document, load it, then start reading. Much, much faster to pick out a piece of paper from a binder. As others have said. I don't think the problem is one of old-school types not willing to let go their tree pulp. I think it's simply a problem of screen real-estate, user interface and convenience. You cheers, Chris Maunder
CodeProject.com : C++ MVP
I totally agree with you Chris. If I had an easier way to port around my documents without having to save them to a new device I would do it in a heartbeat. Almost everytime I use paper it is to jot down notes quickly, or to take something home to review. Give me a small device I can write on that I can send and synchronize my documents to and I'd buy it (if its cheap). "For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks."
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I am asking for some help from people in business. I am working on a paper for school, and would like to know your thoughts and ideas about the paperless office. The focus of my paper is not that technology is ill equipped to handle this, but that the true reason for the paperless office not succeeding is that the people working in these organizations are doing everything in their power to resist the change. I am having trouble locating sources of information to prove my point, and would like to ask permission to site people as sources. The have a main outline, and would just like a personal advantage point from people in the know on if they have experienced or been involved in these areas. I am looking at this from the perspective of a psychological standpoint only. Let me share my outline so far, and if you have any relevant information, please feel free to post back, or e-mail me directly. In advance I am very appreciative of any insight anyone might have to help me in this endeavor. (1) The power of paper. People hording information and unwilling to disseminate it, or let others access it. This is because of intellectual property issues, the value of knowledge, and that keeping paper makes you appear smart, because you are the only one with access to it. (2) The physical aspects of paper. The ease of paper printing and the availability of multiple duplication. The ability to take notes, and highlight. (Sometimes in the absence of ability to do this on a computer screen.) Manipulation, tactile and workability. (3) The trust of paper. There is a physical presence of paper that cannot be denied. Paper provides comfort to a user. It cannot be simply deleted by the stroke of a few keys. Paper cannot be overridden or cleaned. Network administrators can simply move the file to a archive file, without notifying the user. If a person has the physical paper, it must be ripped out of their hand, or moved in the physical presence of the owner. I am trying to focus on only the reasons that the paperless office does not succeed because of users, not because of legal or authentication reasons. I am a new user to code project. I was directed to this group because of my husband, Ray Cassick, who suggested that with the wide variety of people in this group, I just might get some very good responses, that would help me in this focus. I am looking at this solely from the prospective of people (users), because I am trying to p
I blame old age and technofear It's mostly the old fogies where I work who print off every email they get. The other (smaller) group are those unfamiliar with PC's and either they dont trust the PC with their info or just dont know how to do certain things (like forward that email to someone instead of printing it and then walking over to the office to hand it to them). This second group can contain people in their 20's or younger, which always suprises me.
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I am asking for some help from people in business. I am working on a paper for school, and would like to know your thoughts and ideas about the paperless office. The focus of my paper is not that technology is ill equipped to handle this, but that the true reason for the paperless office not succeeding is that the people working in these organizations are doing everything in their power to resist the change. I am having trouble locating sources of information to prove my point, and would like to ask permission to site people as sources. The have a main outline, and would just like a personal advantage point from people in the know on if they have experienced or been involved in these areas. I am looking at this from the perspective of a psychological standpoint only. Let me share my outline so far, and if you have any relevant information, please feel free to post back, or e-mail me directly. In advance I am very appreciative of any insight anyone might have to help me in this endeavor. (1) The power of paper. People hording information and unwilling to disseminate it, or let others access it. This is because of intellectual property issues, the value of knowledge, and that keeping paper makes you appear smart, because you are the only one with access to it. (2) The physical aspects of paper. The ease of paper printing and the availability of multiple duplication. The ability to take notes, and highlight. (Sometimes in the absence of ability to do this on a computer screen.) Manipulation, tactile and workability. (3) The trust of paper. There is a physical presence of paper that cannot be denied. Paper provides comfort to a user. It cannot be simply deleted by the stroke of a few keys. Paper cannot be overridden or cleaned. Network administrators can simply move the file to a archive file, without notifying the user. If a person has the physical paper, it must be ripped out of their hand, or moved in the physical presence of the owner. I am trying to focus on only the reasons that the paperless office does not succeed because of users, not because of legal or authentication reasons. I am a new user to code project. I was directed to this group because of my husband, Ray Cassick, who suggested that with the wide variety of people in this group, I just might get some very good responses, that would help me in this focus. I am looking at this solely from the prospective of people (users), because I am trying to p
Welcome to CP, Joanne! :cool: Many are the times when I wish I could combine the advantages of paper with the advantages of computer technology. In most cases, I find the advantages of computer technology to be much more compelling than those of paper, but it must be said that there are advantages that paper has that are not matched by computer technology: [Some of the ones I will list are already covered at least indirectly by your points above.] Paper is thin, lightweight, and physical, which means I can shuffle it, bend it, stick it to a wall or bulletin board, fold it and put it in my pocket, etc. I can carry it with me with no hassle, and read it anywhere. Each piece of paper is its own 'viewing device', so I can easily compare pages side-by-side. I can physically sort/reorder/group the pages in an intuitive physical way. When I want to transfer information to someone, I can just hand them a paper at a moment's notice. I don't have to worry about what media it is on or transferring it - paper is dirt cheap. I don't have to worry about whether the person has a compatible device handy to view it with or to transfer it to - paper is self-contained. Then there are other advantages, which are available in today's high-end devices, but which the average person (including me) doesn't have access to. For example, I can instantly and directly draw and anywhere on a page - highlight, cross out, and circle things, put notes in the margin of a document, draw, doodle, or sketch, all with excellent intuitiveness and ease. This is available with Tablet PCs, but it is limited by their availability to the average worker (price, etc) and how well supported pen input is in various programs. Also, more and more in recent days, I've printed something out so that it would be easier to read - I've got a CRT still and it strains my eyes. But that's becoming a lot less common these days - I just haven't been able to upgrade yet. :| All that being said about the virtues of paper, guess how much I currently have on my desk? Only 2 folders worth. ;-) Technology really has changed the way I work. Now, if only I could afford one of these[^]... :sigh:
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At the MVP summit, Steve Ballmer was doing this talk and was talking about Vista, Pocket devices and Smart devices for close to an hour. At the end of the talk, when he was answering audience questions, he suddenly took out a small notepad from his pocket and wrote down notes on it using his pen. An MVP stood up and asked him why he didn't use his Pocket PC or his Tablet PC or some such device - he didn't have an answer, so he just smiled that smile of his :-)
Nishant Sivakumar wrote:
An MVP stood up and asked him why he didn't use his Pocket PC or his Tablet PC or some such device - he didn't have an answer, so he just smiled that smile of his
He probably can't afford one small enough to fit into his pocket. :-D But for taking quick notes on the move, nothing beats a notepad and pen. I always carry one around with me. I've tried PDAs but they were just too much hassle. I'm willing to give a Tablet PC a go, if somebody will lend me the cash.. I feel a Tablet PC would probably be a good investment for formal meetings as I always take lots of notes. Also, the built in microphone will be great for recording the entire meeting for play-back later. Michael CP Blog [^] Development Blog [^]
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Nishant Sivakumar wrote:
An MVP stood up and asked him why he didn't use his Pocket PC or his Tablet PC or some such device - he didn't have an answer, so he just smiled that smile of his
He probably can't afford one small enough to fit into his pocket. :-D But for taking quick notes on the move, nothing beats a notepad and pen. I always carry one around with me. I've tried PDAs but they were just too much hassle. I'm willing to give a Tablet PC a go, if somebody will lend me the cash.. I feel a Tablet PC would probably be a good investment for formal meetings as I always take lots of notes. Also, the built in microphone will be great for recording the entire meeting for play-back later. Michael CP Blog [^] Development Blog [^]
Michael P Butler wrote:
I'm willing to give a Tablet PC a go, if somebody will lend me the cash..
That seems to be the general consensus, doesn't it - very cool, but still not within budget range of most folks. Hopefully they will come down in price enough not too long from now.
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I am asking for some help from people in business. I am working on a paper for school, and would like to know your thoughts and ideas about the paperless office. The focus of my paper is not that technology is ill equipped to handle this, but that the true reason for the paperless office not succeeding is that the people working in these organizations are doing everything in their power to resist the change. I am having trouble locating sources of information to prove my point, and would like to ask permission to site people as sources. The have a main outline, and would just like a personal advantage point from people in the know on if they have experienced or been involved in these areas. I am looking at this from the perspective of a psychological standpoint only. Let me share my outline so far, and if you have any relevant information, please feel free to post back, or e-mail me directly. In advance I am very appreciative of any insight anyone might have to help me in this endeavor. (1) The power of paper. People hording information and unwilling to disseminate it, or let others access it. This is because of intellectual property issues, the value of knowledge, and that keeping paper makes you appear smart, because you are the only one with access to it. (2) The physical aspects of paper. The ease of paper printing and the availability of multiple duplication. The ability to take notes, and highlight. (Sometimes in the absence of ability to do this on a computer screen.) Manipulation, tactile and workability. (3) The trust of paper. There is a physical presence of paper that cannot be denied. Paper provides comfort to a user. It cannot be simply deleted by the stroke of a few keys. Paper cannot be overridden or cleaned. Network administrators can simply move the file to a archive file, without notifying the user. If a person has the physical paper, it must be ripped out of their hand, or moved in the physical presence of the owner. I am trying to focus on only the reasons that the paperless office does not succeed because of users, not because of legal or authentication reasons. I am a new user to code project. I was directed to this group because of my husband, Ray Cassick, who suggested that with the wide variety of people in this group, I just might get some very good responses, that would help me in this focus. I am looking at this solely from the prospective of people (users), because I am trying to p
I worked on a project where we implemented a new system that was supposed to drasticall reduce the amount of paper work in a company. Basically, you scanned a document in, it did some OCR on it and extracted the info it needed. Then it created a work item and sent it to the people that needed to work on it. From there is was sent from person to person and into a document management system. The problem was that the people were used to getting a folder with all the documents in, working on them and then physically taking the folder to the next person. The couldn't get their heads around the idea where work would just "appear" on their pc and the "vanish" when they finished. They also prefered going to the file cabinet to trying to find the document in a document management system.
The man who smiles when things go wrong has thought of someone he can blame it on. If you tell a man there are 300 billion stars in the universe, he'll believe you. But if you tell him a bench has just been painted, he'll have to touch it to be sure.
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I am asking for some help from people in business. I am working on a paper for school, and would like to know your thoughts and ideas about the paperless office. The focus of my paper is not that technology is ill equipped to handle this, but that the true reason for the paperless office not succeeding is that the people working in these organizations are doing everything in their power to resist the change. I am having trouble locating sources of information to prove my point, and would like to ask permission to site people as sources. The have a main outline, and would just like a personal advantage point from people in the know on if they have experienced or been involved in these areas. I am looking at this from the perspective of a psychological standpoint only. Let me share my outline so far, and if you have any relevant information, please feel free to post back, or e-mail me directly. In advance I am very appreciative of any insight anyone might have to help me in this endeavor. (1) The power of paper. People hording information and unwilling to disseminate it, or let others access it. This is because of intellectual property issues, the value of knowledge, and that keeping paper makes you appear smart, because you are the only one with access to it. (2) The physical aspects of paper. The ease of paper printing and the availability of multiple duplication. The ability to take notes, and highlight. (Sometimes in the absence of ability to do this on a computer screen.) Manipulation, tactile and workability. (3) The trust of paper. There is a physical presence of paper that cannot be denied. Paper provides comfort to a user. It cannot be simply deleted by the stroke of a few keys. Paper cannot be overridden or cleaned. Network administrators can simply move the file to a archive file, without notifying the user. If a person has the physical paper, it must be ripped out of their hand, or moved in the physical presence of the owner. I am trying to focus on only the reasons that the paperless office does not succeed because of users, not because of legal or authentication reasons. I am a new user to code project. I was directed to this group because of my husband, Ray Cassick, who suggested that with the wide variety of people in this group, I just might get some very good responses, that would help me in this focus. I am looking at this solely from the prospective of people (users), because I am trying to p
To work out why people are printing things out it might be useful to you to know what is being printed out by whom - why not download a trial version of a printer monitoring application (such as my own offering[^] ) to see what is really being printed. '--8<------------------------ Ex Datis: Duncan Jones Merrion Computing Ltd
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I am asking for some help from people in business. I am working on a paper for school, and would like to know your thoughts and ideas about the paperless office. The focus of my paper is not that technology is ill equipped to handle this, but that the true reason for the paperless office not succeeding is that the people working in these organizations are doing everything in their power to resist the change. I am having trouble locating sources of information to prove my point, and would like to ask permission to site people as sources. The have a main outline, and would just like a personal advantage point from people in the know on if they have experienced or been involved in these areas. I am looking at this from the perspective of a psychological standpoint only. Let me share my outline so far, and if you have any relevant information, please feel free to post back, or e-mail me directly. In advance I am very appreciative of any insight anyone might have to help me in this endeavor. (1) The power of paper. People hording information and unwilling to disseminate it, or let others access it. This is because of intellectual property issues, the value of knowledge, and that keeping paper makes you appear smart, because you are the only one with access to it. (2) The physical aspects of paper. The ease of paper printing and the availability of multiple duplication. The ability to take notes, and highlight. (Sometimes in the absence of ability to do this on a computer screen.) Manipulation, tactile and workability. (3) The trust of paper. There is a physical presence of paper that cannot be denied. Paper provides comfort to a user. It cannot be simply deleted by the stroke of a few keys. Paper cannot be overridden or cleaned. Network administrators can simply move the file to a archive file, without notifying the user. If a person has the physical paper, it must be ripped out of their hand, or moved in the physical presence of the owner. I am trying to focus on only the reasons that the paperless office does not succeed because of users, not because of legal or authentication reasons. I am a new user to code project. I was directed to this group because of my husband, Ray Cassick, who suggested that with the wide variety of people in this group, I just might get some very good responses, that would help me in this focus. I am looking at this solely from the prospective of people (users), because I am trying to p
I was jotting some notes down on a pad of paper the other night when my mobile rang. Without a thought I tossed the pad to one side and picked up my mobile. It struck me then that I would never, could never, toss aside a laptop or even a tablet PC. One has to carefully place them down. This is actually a general problem with electronic devices I find, that we have to baby them so much and that we fit around them rather than them fitting around us. As for your statement I think there is an element of truth in it but that information technology (hardware and software) is simply not good enough yet. regards, Paul Watson Ireland Colib and ilikecameras. K(arl) wrote: oh, and BTW, CHRISTIAN ISN'T A PARADOX, HE IS A TASMANIAN!
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I was jotting some notes down on a pad of paper the other night when my mobile rang. Without a thought I tossed the pad to one side and picked up my mobile. It struck me then that I would never, could never, toss aside a laptop or even a tablet PC. One has to carefully place them down. This is actually a general problem with electronic devices I find, that we have to baby them so much and that we fit around them rather than them fitting around us. As for your statement I think there is an element of truth in it but that information technology (hardware and software) is simply not good enough yet. regards, Paul Watson Ireland Colib and ilikecameras. K(arl) wrote: oh, and BTW, CHRISTIAN ISN'T A PARADOX, HE IS A TASMANIAN!
Paul Watson wrote:
Without a thought I tossed the pad to one side
That's fine so long as you remember where you tossed it!
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This is why my paper is an argumentative paper. Although I do agree that computers are not always perfect. Paper tends to have many more problems that people do not address. For instance, I am am accountant. If my computer system does not show a discount on an invoice. Then there was a problem with the billing process. My system does show these things. The back end of my payroll, the process of calculating, the reporting, and even the W-2's paperwork has been greatly reduced because of technology. No longer do I have to hunt in a secured file cabinet, hoping a secretary filed my paperwork correctly. Because a reprint would be costly to my company. I now have, one secured drawer in a file cabinet, that contains Dvds with what used to be boxes of paper in them. I think there are many issues in the business world, where paper is a huge waste. To quote my source. Abigail J Sellen & Richard H R Harper in the book "the myth of the paperless office" "Businesses spend about $1 billion dollars in designing and printing forms. However they spend $25-35 billion a year filing, storing, and retrieving those paper forms." I have see it for myself. People wasting countless time trying to find information in a filing cabinet. And I don't just mean the old paperwork. They spend time going through records in say accounts payable. To find what? Information on how many pieces of paper we bought and at what price. Mis-filing is a big issue that also has to be addressed. Me personally, I just bring up the information in the accounting program. Bam! It is there in all it's glory. The detail, which was downloaded from the vendor. Item numbers, part numbers, and even price per item. I do see your point, about the poor guy at the dock, not getting an e-mail. But if he owns a boat with a waste system, it is not a little paddle boat, and he probably has on board e-mail. Does he have a post office box. He must of earned the money some how to get that boat. I would (snail) mail it to him. Paper will not dissapear. I just want it to decrease. I never said that paperless was perfect. I just think that there are a lot of people out there that are not willing to share information. They hoard it. They also WASTE it. Lots of it. I have a supervisor, that prints out every e-mail before he sends it, to spell check it. Sometimes there are several revisions. Is that a good use of resources. Then it has to be shred. I have another co-worker who prints everything. And I do mean everything, and
JCassick wrote:
that contains Dvds with what used to be boxes of paper in them.
I have a shoebox of 5 1/4" floppies with some really cool code on them that I'd like to view. I haven't seen a 5 1/4" floppy drive in years. The paper printouts... Well, you get the idea.
JCassick wrote:
However they spend $25-35 billion a year filing, storing, and retrieving those paper forms."
I'd be curious to know what the comparible cost of a paperless office is. In many ways, I think it would actually be more, not less. Because a lot of what you're talking about are the processes for managing information, not information medium itself. I've spent countless hours trying to find documents that have never seen the white of velum.
JCassick wrote:
They are restricted to asking key people for copies, and having to have someone to get them information.
Well, when the company uses technology, won't the documents be password protected, and you'll have to ask a supervisor to come in and type in the password? What I find really amusing is how management creates rules that don't really solve the issue, and the worker bees find ways to circumnavigate them. Again, completely technology independent.
JCassick wrote:
And my paper is a simple argumentative paper to discuss that attitudes of these wasteful, backward thinking, technophobic people, with nothing better to do than blame something else for their problems.
It's definitely something that needs to be addressed and that people need to be educated. But the most important question of all regarding your paper--are you submitting it on paper? ;P Marc VS2005 Tips & Tricks -- contributions welcome!
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At the MVP summit, Steve Ballmer was doing this talk and was talking about Vista, Pocket devices and Smart devices for close to an hour. At the end of the talk, when he was answering audience questions, he suddenly took out a small notepad from his pocket and wrote down notes on it using his pen. An MVP stood up and asked him why he didn't use his Pocket PC or his Tablet PC or some such device - he didn't have an answer, so he just smiled that smile of his :-)
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I am asking for some help from people in business. I am working on a paper for school, and would like to know your thoughts and ideas about the paperless office. The focus of my paper is not that technology is ill equipped to handle this, but that the true reason for the paperless office not succeeding is that the people working in these organizations are doing everything in their power to resist the change. I am having trouble locating sources of information to prove my point, and would like to ask permission to site people as sources. The have a main outline, and would just like a personal advantage point from people in the know on if they have experienced or been involved in these areas. I am looking at this from the perspective of a psychological standpoint only. Let me share my outline so far, and if you have any relevant information, please feel free to post back, or e-mail me directly. In advance I am very appreciative of any insight anyone might have to help me in this endeavor. (1) The power of paper. People hording information and unwilling to disseminate it, or let others access it. This is because of intellectual property issues, the value of knowledge, and that keeping paper makes you appear smart, because you are the only one with access to it. (2) The physical aspects of paper. The ease of paper printing and the availability of multiple duplication. The ability to take notes, and highlight. (Sometimes in the absence of ability to do this on a computer screen.) Manipulation, tactile and workability. (3) The trust of paper. There is a physical presence of paper that cannot be denied. Paper provides comfort to a user. It cannot be simply deleted by the stroke of a few keys. Paper cannot be overridden or cleaned. Network administrators can simply move the file to a archive file, without notifying the user. If a person has the physical paper, it must be ripped out of their hand, or moved in the physical presence of the owner. I am trying to focus on only the reasons that the paperless office does not succeed because of users, not because of legal or authentication reasons. I am a new user to code project. I was directed to this group because of my husband, Ray Cassick, who suggested that with the wide variety of people in this group, I just might get some very good responses, that would help me in this focus. I am looking at this solely from the prospective of people (users), because I am trying to p
The ability to print from a computer is relatively new technology. However, we've been writing on paper, parchment, bark, etc. for several hundred years. It's obviously going to take time for people to feel comfortable with such a major paradigm shift. JCassick wrote: I see to many times when people make one change to a twenty page document, then reprint all twenty pages. I see far to many times, reports printed for meetings, then discarded, or reprinted in several different ways. This has to do with either lack of training/knowledge, or just flat out not caring since the paper ultimately belongs to the company. Now if people had to supply their own paper, rest assured we'd be paperless in no time!
"Take only what you need and leave the land as you found it." - Native American Proverb
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I worked on a project where we implemented a new system that was supposed to drasticall reduce the amount of paper work in a company. Basically, you scanned a document in, it did some OCR on it and extracted the info it needed. Then it created a work item and sent it to the people that needed to work on it. From there is was sent from person to person and into a document management system. The problem was that the people were used to getting a folder with all the documents in, working on them and then physically taking the folder to the next person. The couldn't get their heads around the idea where work would just "appear" on their pc and the "vanish" when they finished. They also prefered going to the file cabinet to trying to find the document in a document management system.
The man who smiles when things go wrong has thought of someone he can blame it on. If you tell a man there are 300 billion stars in the universe, he'll believe you. But if you tell him a bench has just been painted, he'll have to touch it to be sure.
Nic Rowan wrote:
They also prefered going to the file cabinet to trying to find the document in a document management system.
Maybe this has the most to do with it. People like interacting with other people. We are humans after all and interaction is part of being human. It is how we evolved, developed language, learned things, perpetuated the stores of our culture, built civilizations, and grew to be the dominant species on this planet. File cabinets, just like water coolers; lunch rooms and walking around handing other people paper, give people an opportunity to congregate, talk, discuss ideas, vent, blow off steam, say hello, and other wise generally interact. Could it be that the real reason why the paperless office paradigm may never really take off complexly is because people are very afraid of becoming disconnected from live interaction? They fear not HAVING to deal with paper because it will remove their daily opportunities to interact with others as part of that, sometimes critical, business process. Picture this for a second. The perfect world (form the standpoint of a paperless office person) is a place where you never have to leave your desk to go to a file cabinet or exchange paper with another person. Kind of a cold place really if you think about it. I am a firm believer in the paperless office concept myself and I know that to achieve it we (developers and implementers alike) are going to need to look far down into the souls and psyches of the USER before we can be successful. Sure, there are technology issues that many of you have touched on here but I really think if you look hard at the reasons given there are some underlying physiological ones too. People like to compare documents side by side. Why? We have differencing tools that can do a far better job and are far faster than a human at doing that job. Why do we feel the need to place two sheets of paper side by side and use a highlighter to compare them? People like to be able to crawl into bed or curl up on a comfortable couch and read stuff. Why? There is study after study that has been done indicating that you should only use your bed for two things (sleeping and… ehem.. you know) because doing things like reading and working in bed confuse the mind about what the bed is used for and this can lead to sleeping disorders. People like to go to books shelves and file cabinets to get information. Why? These constructs take up so much space and cost so much mon
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I am asking for some help from people in business. I am working on a paper for school, and would like to know your thoughts and ideas about the paperless office. The focus of my paper is not that technology is ill equipped to handle this, but that the true reason for the paperless office not succeeding is that the people working in these organizations are doing everything in their power to resist the change. I am having trouble locating sources of information to prove my point, and would like to ask permission to site people as sources. The have a main outline, and would just like a personal advantage point from people in the know on if they have experienced or been involved in these areas. I am looking at this from the perspective of a psychological standpoint only. Let me share my outline so far, and if you have any relevant information, please feel free to post back, or e-mail me directly. In advance I am very appreciative of any insight anyone might have to help me in this endeavor. (1) The power of paper. People hording information and unwilling to disseminate it, or let others access it. This is because of intellectual property issues, the value of knowledge, and that keeping paper makes you appear smart, because you are the only one with access to it. (2) The physical aspects of paper. The ease of paper printing and the availability of multiple duplication. The ability to take notes, and highlight. (Sometimes in the absence of ability to do this on a computer screen.) Manipulation, tactile and workability. (3) The trust of paper. There is a physical presence of paper that cannot be denied. Paper provides comfort to a user. It cannot be simply deleted by the stroke of a few keys. Paper cannot be overridden or cleaned. Network administrators can simply move the file to a archive file, without notifying the user. If a person has the physical paper, it must be ripped out of their hand, or moved in the physical presence of the owner. I am trying to focus on only the reasons that the paperless office does not succeed because of users, not because of legal or authentication reasons. I am a new user to code project. I was directed to this group because of my husband, Ray Cassick, who suggested that with the wide variety of people in this group, I just might get some very good responses, that would help me in this focus. I am looking at this solely from the prospective of people (users), because I am trying to p
We have quite a good record in IT of not printing too much. We only have two printers on our side, and half the time they aren't working, but nobody complains or even notices. I often print, but try to always recycle. We have a recycling bin next to the printer. The DJ's took pills to stay awakwe and play for seven days. - Jim Morrison, Black Polished Chrome.
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I am asking for some help from people in business. I am working on a paper for school, and would like to know your thoughts and ideas about the paperless office. The focus of my paper is not that technology is ill equipped to handle this, but that the true reason for the paperless office not succeeding is that the people working in these organizations are doing everything in their power to resist the change. I am having trouble locating sources of information to prove my point, and would like to ask permission to site people as sources. The have a main outline, and would just like a personal advantage point from people in the know on if they have experienced or been involved in these areas. I am looking at this from the perspective of a psychological standpoint only. Let me share my outline so far, and if you have any relevant information, please feel free to post back, or e-mail me directly. In advance I am very appreciative of any insight anyone might have to help me in this endeavor. (1) The power of paper. People hording information and unwilling to disseminate it, or let others access it. This is because of intellectual property issues, the value of knowledge, and that keeping paper makes you appear smart, because you are the only one with access to it. (2) The physical aspects of paper. The ease of paper printing and the availability of multiple duplication. The ability to take notes, and highlight. (Sometimes in the absence of ability to do this on a computer screen.) Manipulation, tactile and workability. (3) The trust of paper. There is a physical presence of paper that cannot be denied. Paper provides comfort to a user. It cannot be simply deleted by the stroke of a few keys. Paper cannot be overridden or cleaned. Network administrators can simply move the file to a archive file, without notifying the user. If a person has the physical paper, it must be ripped out of their hand, or moved in the physical presence of the owner. I am trying to focus on only the reasons that the paperless office does not succeed because of users, not because of legal or authentication reasons. I am a new user to code project. I was directed to this group because of my husband, Ray Cassick, who suggested that with the wide variety of people in this group, I just might get some very good responses, that would help me in this focus. I am looking at this solely from the prospective of people (users), because I am trying to p
You are looking at things from a very narrow perspective - that of an accountant. I work for a medical clinic. We are trying to develop systems to at least reduce our paper. The obstacles are profound. How do you conduct an efficient interactive medical interview with a person without the use of paper to jot down information? You certainly cannot sit down at a computer or even use a tablet for that matter - it is not appropriate, efficient or even practical. This is not a unique case - in many different businesses there are many people whose jobs are heavily involved with communication with others - face to face, on the phone. The most useful tool is still a notepad and pen to jot down the salient points. It's not about paper, it's about people. When you have two or more people and you try to put a computer in the mix, it just does not work in many cases. Paper and pen does. Also, another issue - for most any business. When you try to go paperless, what do you do about the possibly years of legacy information that the business has accumulated on paper?
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You are looking at things from a very narrow perspective - that of an accountant. I work for a medical clinic. We are trying to develop systems to at least reduce our paper. The obstacles are profound. How do you conduct an efficient interactive medical interview with a person without the use of paper to jot down information? You certainly cannot sit down at a computer or even use a tablet for that matter - it is not appropriate, efficient or even practical. This is not a unique case - in many different businesses there are many people whose jobs are heavily involved with communication with others - face to face, on the phone. The most useful tool is still a notepad and pen to jot down the salient points. It's not about paper, it's about people. When you have two or more people and you try to put a computer in the mix, it just does not work in many cases. Paper and pen does. Also, another issue - for most any business. When you try to go paperless, what do you do about the possibly years of legacy information that the business has accumulated on paper?
That's odd. My family doctor does all of his medical records on the PC. He has this cool voice recording software that allows him to talk what he wants written down. I think it is cool and I can see and hear what he is saying. So I know he isn't writing something down that he shouldnt' be. Also, he doesn't do this until the very end of the appointment so most of his time is spent talking to patients and not writing down information. This lets him see more patients during the day and gets me in and out of the office faster. All in all, I love the way my doc does business with his computer. Brett A. Whittington Application Developer
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That's odd. My family doctor does all of his medical records on the PC. He has this cool voice recording software that allows him to talk what he wants written down. I think it is cool and I can see and hear what he is saying. So I know he isn't writing something down that he shouldnt' be. Also, he doesn't do this until the very end of the appointment so most of his time is spent talking to patients and not writing down information. This lets him see more patients during the day and gets me in and out of the office faster. All in all, I love the way my doc does business with his computer. Brett A. Whittington Application Developer
Perhaps I should clarify. You are an adult. This type of system works fine. I work for a pediatrics clinic. The logistics are much different. You have a parent involved, and often you are seeeing two siblings that have the same problem - both kids have the flu, Mom brings in both kids together, the doctor often sees them together. And you have kids sitting there talking, screaming, crying. We've tried voice systems, they just don't work in our environment.