File, Act or Toss?

Predictions of a paperless office began over 10 years ago, statistics show that 90% of the world's information is still on paper. Can that change? Will it? After spending more than 25 years in offices of all sizes, from one-person home-based businesses to the offices of the largest corporations in the world, I contend that a more important question is "Can you find the information you need when you need it -- regardless of the form it takes?"

I have yet to find a company that was able to manage its electronic information effectively without first learning to manage the paper. Why? Because we haven't addressed four fundamental questions of information management:

(1) What information do we need to keep or create?
(2) In what form?
(3) By whom?
(4) For how long?

The ability of any individual or organization to accomplish any given task or reach any desired goal is directly related to the ability to find the right information at the right time. Unfortunately, statistics show that the average worker spends 150 hours per look looking for misplaced information.

What Should We Keep or Create?

Research shows that 80% of the information we keep, we never use. Our fear of throwing out paper is enormous. I have heard participants in my seminars say "Every time I throw something away, I need it again!" When I challenge them to elaborate, they often respond: "I can't think of an example right now!"

Whether it's the fear of not being knowledgeable in one's field of expertise, or being asked by one