Saving Trees Through Better Knowledge Management

Ever noticed the incredible waste in the office recycling bin or even worse the trash bin? Are you tired of resubmitting the same 50 page document 10 times after small changes? The average office worker in the United States uses about 2lbs of paper per day. This cuts down about 30 acres per year of trees in order to feed the paper industry.

These trees and office headaches can all be saved by using better knowledge management. Traditionally people have used complicated document management systems or inefficient repetitions of emails. These systems have limited abilities to capture, organize and retrieve information shared to allow for research and strategy development. For instance, ever tried searching through your email for the latest copy of that document you sent one of your clients a year ago? This lack of data management leaves companies unable to communicate with certainty over past transactions. Or worse, unable to respond to current litigation over past contracts.

So how to resolve this knowledge management problem? The future takes us to software like Google Documents or Wiki sharing. This allows transfer of information to both internal and external customers. Multiple people can modify the document at the same time while watching the changes live. This leaves a forum for communication and information transfer that saves paper and headaches. It eliminates lost revisions, documents times of information transfer and even records what changes were made by who. There is no need for multiple paper revisions or arguements over who sent who what and when it was sent.

Assuming a culture can be created to ensure modifications to the information fits with company branding, this can be implemented easily and effectively. This is a environmentally friendly solution that saves trees while reducing company expenses. This is the future of knowledge management and early adaption is the key to improving operating efficiencies!

http://newtools.pbwiki.com/Sharing+files