Have you ever thought your company should go paperless? We’ve seen the potential of a paperless office grow over the past few years, but you’d be hard pressed to find an office that is truly paper-free. Is a paperless office even possible? The simple answer? No. We’re moving that direction, but it will take us quite a while.

The advantages of paper

Digital copies of documents and communications are nice, but paper continues to be useful in many cases. Even those who work at the most eco-friendly offices, with reduced paper use policies, find a need for paper. Paper can be extremely portable and quick. You can easily write down a telephone number on a sticky note and slip it in your pocket or leave your cubicle neighbor a quick note saying the boss stopped by. If you’re responsible for going over important documents prior to release, hard copy editing can be much easier than editing on a computer screen. Sometimes it is easier to spot small typos on a physical copy.

Less paper than ever

Paper isn’t disappearing, it is becoming steadily less important. While we still need paper for certain tasks,  most offices are using less paper than ever before. Most writing is performed on a word-processor and correspondence is done via email or Skype instead of fax or letters. Meeting notes, company schedules, and whole marketing campaigns are stored digitally on our computers and smartphones.  So while paper is not yet obsolete, the sticky note is no longer king of the workplace.

The future

Clearly the future of the workplace is using less and less paper, but will it ever be really paperless? Will notepads and sticky notes go the way of the milkman? Potentially. Let’s look at the milkman: some still prefer to have their milk hand-delivered to their homes, but the majority of us just pop out to the store and pick some up when we want it.

Paper will likely end up the same. As we turn to business solutions like the cloud, smartphones, and computers for invoicing, writing and spreadsheets, there will always be those who prefer the physical  feel of pen and paper.