Add You - If You Don't Produce Your Forms on Demand, You're Wasting Money

When I last worked for a firm that restructured, my staff identified thousands of dollars worth of personnel forms that became obsolete overnight. I hate waste. I couldn't bear the thought of sending all that paper to the dump to be unceremoniously burned.

I gave a heap of paper to kindergartens, primary schools and anyone else who could use it. I took home several reams to use for draft copies from my laser printer. But, at the end of the day, I had to send a huge pile of good quality paper to the dump simply because it was out of date.

You know what? I learnt from the experience and decided it wouldn't happen again.

After the new organisation formed and I took up my Human Resources Management role in the same office, on the same salary, but working for a different organisation (can you believe that?), I made a management decision to use print-on-demand media for as many of the forms and documents used in my department as possible.

Out went the need for a four colour corporate logo and reams of letterhead paper; out went the dozens of forms nicely filed away waiting for someone to request an application for this or that, or something else.

I had my staff convert all of our documents into Adobe PDF format and file them on our server. For example, when a new starter needed to be signed up there was a plethora of forms relating to the Official Secrets Act, Internet Use policy, superannuation benefits, taxation, dependants and so on. In fact there were nearly 50 pages including the employment contract of four or five pages. Quite a collection.

Previously, these forms packs had been held in a suspension file and when needed, we'd simply pull one out ... nicely stapled, and get new employees to complete it.

Now, when I knew someone was coming in to sign up, I'd simply go to the folder on our server where our forms were filed, highlight the appropriate forms file, right click and send it to the laser printer. Within three or four minutes I had the collection of forms I needed. Most of the taxation and other government forms I needed I could download in PDF format from the respective Internet sites, so it was easy to add these to the packs.

With responsibility for five offices, it was very efficient to use this system by sending the download link details to the office administration staffs who had forms completed on my behalf. They didn't need to know which form went with which type of employment contract and the opportunity for errors vanished almost overnight. Better still, when there were updates to various forms, I could simply change the original file and know for sure that every office would have access immediately.

The change from hardcopy to softcopy had many benefits other than the reduction in waste. It improved our operational efficiency noticeably, especially in rework requirements since nobody submitted obsolete forms. We could use the filing space previously consumed by forms for other, more important documents. And of course, we could email forms or form packs anywhere.

Every organisation has a cornucopia of forms and information documentation that can be placed online and printed on demand. If your organisation hasn't yet explored the benefits of printing on demand, perhaps it's a good time to review your work practices now and see whether it may provide you with reduced costs and greater efficiency. Alternatively, if your organisation has the capacity to set up HTML online forms, that might be the way to go.

You know what? I learnt from the experience and decided it wouldn't happen again.

After the new organisation formed and I took up my Human Resources Management role in the same office, on the same salary, but working for a different organisation (can you believe that?), I made a management decision to use print-on-demand media for as many of the forms and documents used in my department as possible.

Out went the need for a four colour corporate logo and reams of letterhead paper; out went the dozens of forms nicely filed away waiting for someone to request an application for this or that, or something else.

I had my staff convert all of our documents into Adobe PDF format and file them on our server. For example, when a new starter needed to be signed up there was a plethora of forms relating to the Official Secrets Act, Internet Use policy, superannuation benefits, taxation, dependants and so on. In fact there were nearly 50 pages including the employment contract of four or five pages. Quite a collection.

Previously, these forms packs had been held in a suspension file and when needed, we'd simply pull one out ... nicely stapled, and get new employees to complete it.

Now, when I knew someone was coming in to sign up, I'd simply go to the folder on our server where our forms were filed, highlight the appropriate forms file, right click and send it to the laser printer. Within three or four minutes I had the collection of forms I needed. Most of the taxation and other government forms I needed I could download in PDF format from the respective Internet sites, so it was easy to add these to the packs.

With responsibility for five offices, it was very efficient to use this system by sending the download link details to the office administration staffs who had forms completed on my behalf. They didn't need to know which form went with which type of employment contract and the opportunity for errors vanished almost overnight. Better still, when there were updates to various forms, I could simply change the original file and know for sure that every office would have access immediately.

The change from hardcopy to softcopy had many benefits other than the reduction in waste. It improved our operational efficiency noticeably, especially in rework requirements since nobody submitted obsolete forms. We could use the filing space previously consumed by forms for other, more important documents. And of course, we could email forms or form packs anywhere.

Every organisation has a cornucopia of forms and information documentation that can be placed online and printed on demand. If your organisation hasn't yet explored the benefits of printing on demand, perhaps it's a good time to review your work practices now and see whether it may provide you with reduced costs and greater efficiency. Alternatively, if your organisation has the capacity to set up HTML online forms, that might be the way to go. Employees, Get Used to Working under Surveillance
Let's face it. Monitoring employees' e-mail, tracking their Internet use, logging everything done at keyboards has become the norm in Corporate America.With computer monitoring software so cheap and easy-to-apply it's no wonder that workplace surveillance becomes more and more widespread.Here are some figures from the 2005 Electronic Monitoring & Surveillance Survey made by American Management Association and the consulting firm ePolicy Institute:76% of companies of our documents into Adobe PDF format and file them on our server. For example, when a new starter needed to be signed up there was a plethora of forms relating to the Official Secrets Act, Internet Use policy, superannuation benefits, taxation, dependants and so on. In fact there were nearly 50 pages including the employment contract of four or five pages. Quite a collection.

Previously, these forms packs had been held in a suspension file and when needed, we'd simply pull one out ... nicely stapled, and get new employees to complete it.

Now, when I knew someone was coming in to sign up, I'd simply go to the folder on our server where our forms were filed, highlight the appropriate forms file, right click and send it to the laser printer. Within three or four minutes I had the collection of forms I needed. Most of the taxation and other government forms I needed I could download in PDF format from the respective Internet sites, so it was easy to add these to the packs.

With responsibility for five offices, it was very efficient to use this system by sending the download link details to the office administration staffs who had forms completed on my behalf. They didn't need to know which form went with which type of employment contract and the opportunity for errors vanished almost overnight. Better still, when there were updates to various forms, I could simply change the original file and know for sure that every office would have access immediately.

The change from hardcopy to softcopy had many benefits other than the reduction in waste. It improved our operational efficiency noticeably, especially in rework requirements since nobody submitted obsolete forms. We could use the filing space previously consumed by forms for other, more important documents. And of course, we could email forms or form packs anywhere.

Every organisation has a cornucopia of forms and information documentation that can be placed online and printed on demand. If your organisation hasn't yet explored the benefits of printing on demand, perhaps it's a good time to review your work practices now and see whether it may provide you with reduced costs and greater efficiency. Alternatively, if your organisation has the capacity to set up HTML online forms, that might be the way to go. The Benefits of Heavy Duty Office Chairs
Heavy-duty office chairs offer comfort as well as extreme durability. Office chairs are an important part of the average office or cubicle. A good ergonomic office chair allows an employee to remain comfortable while sitting for a period of time. It is important that heavy-duty office chairs feature adjustable support mechanisms in order to offer comfort to a large variety of individual body types.Heavy-duty office chairs are typically a good choice for individuals that are or four minutes I had the collection of forms I needed. Most of the taxation and other government forms I needed I could download in PDF format from the respective Internet sites, so it was easy to add these to the packs.

With responsibility for five offices, it was very efficient to use this system by sending the download link details to the office administration staffs who had forms completed on my behalf. They didn't need to know which form went with which type of employment contract and the opportunity for errors vanished almost overnight. Better still, when there were updates to various forms, I could simply change the original file and know for sure that every office would have access immediately.

The change from hardcopy to softcopy had many benefits other than the reduction in waste. It improved our operational efficiency noticeably, especially in rework requirements since nobody submitted obsolete forms. We could use the filing space previously consumed by forms for other, more important documents. And of course, we could email forms or form packs anywhere.

Every organisation has a cornucopia of forms and information documentation that can be placed online and printed on demand. If your organisation hasn't yet explored the benefits of printing on demand, perhaps it's a good time to review your work practices now and see whether it may provide you with reduced costs and greater efficiency. Alternatively, if your organisation has the capacity to set up HTML online forms, that might be the way to go. Desperate Architects: Want to Know a Secret About Architectural Drafting?
It’s about twenty after 9, on a Tuesday morning, Mike Johnson is an architect and he's thinking that life is bed of roses. But it wasn’t like that a year ago…This time last year, the revenues of his practice were shrinking at an alarming 15% annual rate… he was trying everything in the book to pull those revenues out of tailspin, primary of which was outsourcing most of his CAD drafting offshore. That exercise failed miserably, and he couldn’t even start to figure out why.its other than the reduction in waste. It improved our operational efficiency noticeably, especially in rework requirements since nobody submitted obsolete forms. We could use the filing space previously consumed by forms for other, more important documents. And of course, we could email forms or form packs anywhere.

Every organisation has a cornucopia of forms and information documentation that can be placed online and printed on demand. If your organisation hasn't yet explored the benefits of printing on demand, perhaps it's a good time to review your work practices now and see whether it may provide you with reduced costs and greater efficiency. Alternatively, if your organisation has the capacity to set up HTML online forms, that might be the way to go.

Copyright 2005 Robin Henry

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