As the global economic environment continues, its volatility. Laserfiche users must maximize the effectiveness and efficiency of all their automated documented business processes. However, if you don’t have access to a tech person, here are some things you can do.
Are your templates correct and current?
Template management is critical to accurate document management and record keeping. When we conduct a Sys Check for clients, we inevitably recommend a template update as we can run reports on which fields get missed, are not filled out correctly, or aren’t mandatory but should be. Compliance is another area that can be supported via template data.
Foundationally, documents are routed by making changes to the template field. Similarly, we sometimes find the wrong template is applied to a document. So regarding your business processes, having accurate field data is critical.
Consolidation is effective
It's easy to see where systems become burdened with too many templates or how it slows searching. Another frequent recommendation we make is to consolidate templates and leveraging multivalue fields for document types.
Other best practices include using dynamic fields to pull data from other documents and systems, decreasing the likelihood of errors. List fields may contain so many different values it is difficult for the user to select the one they need.
Consider change
Implementing document automation is a project that will require some change within your organization. If you didn’t have it before, the difference could be for staff to move from manual drafting to automated drafting. The change for those already using document automation is getting people to learn a new application.
There are different types of users. It’s best to have a plan in place to persuade people to move to a new document automation tool. How will you get those resistant to change to adopt the new tool? How will you make sure people use the tool?
Document automation platforms like Laserfiche offer superior, client-facing functionality for easier data capture. This type of functionality requires a shift in the established process or way of doing things, and therefore another example of a situation where a change plan is needed to maximize the potential fully.
Check out this recording if you need more advice on change and communications.
What are your requirements?
Now that you’ve ensured your templates are as ready as they can be for automation—and that you’ve considered some of the people and process aspects of implementation—the next step is to determine your requirements for document automation. How can document automation ultimately optimize the efficiencies you’ve made with people and processes?
Consider integration requirements. If, during your review of processes, you saw that employees were taking information from one application and retyping it in another, then you may want to avoid that in the future with integrations. Examples include integrations with CRM, document management systems, SSO, and e-signing applications.
