Three Ways Content Management Can Boost Your Productivity

The business world operates at an ever-increasing pace and every day more and more information is being created and handled. This presents both challenges and opportunities for companies seeking to boost efficiency. A large volume of the efforts involved in office workflows are not linked to the professionals’ tasks but instead pertain to the administration and planning of projects as well as searching for information.

With this in mind, being able to streamline these efforts allows for a more efficient workflow and ultimately a faster-paced business. Content Services provide the ultimate archiving tool and look to use information to optimise workflows and drive efficiency gains.

1. Automatic task allocation

The designation of tasks is a task in itself, and one that is both time-consuming and, in part, avoidable. Rather than team members using valuable time assigning documents to particular workflows, content management services can provide an overview of everyone’s tasks and responsibilities, and the required information at any stage of the process.

A key feature of a Content Services solution is that they can allocate tasks and stages of a workflow directly to the relevant individual, team, or department. In this way, the efforts of these individuals can be focused on the specific task, saving time and driving efficiency. What’s more, if members of staff are out of the office or unavailable to perform a task, the task can be reassigned, streamlining workflows and avoiding delays. In order to leverage the efficiency gains of Content Services, workflows must be clearly defined.

2. Make decisions in a second

Technology can not only be used to allocate tasks, it can also approve decisions automatically. This feature allows for quicker reviewing, purchasing, and signing-off within the workplace. The reviewing and approving of a document are common tasks within a workflow which involve a number of individual tasks and correspondence between various individuals.

Getting a document printed, scanned, and signed by more than one individual could cause delays that businesses would rather avoid. A Content Services solution can allow for documents to be reviewed or approved automatically based on business rules defined by the customer.

In addition, purchases within a certain value band can be processed instantly instead of relying on managers’ signatures that can take some time. The automation of these processes means that time-consuming, minimal-value tasks can be avoided, thus freeing up time for personnel within the workflow to achieve business objectives which might be of higher priority.

3. Find the information you need quicker

Finally, Content Services can actually speed up individual stages of an automated workflow. This speed primarily comes from faster information retrieval. Searching for and retrieving information are both tasks that reduce efficiency within the workplace. Offices still stuck in an analogue environment often have to physically search for documents which could, with the use of Content Services, be found within seconds.

Rather than hunting through filing cabinets, emails, or folders on your desktop, technology can allow users to enter key words and apply filters to narrow down the range of documents in a significantly reduced time. It allows processes to be realised quicker and with greater clarity whilst unifying document formats and versions in order to avoid the arduous and inefficient task of handling conflicting document formats. When professionals can retrieve information quicker and have access to compatible files, a more streamlined workflow will inevitably follow.

In the modern business landscape, optimising workflows and seeking efficiency gains are both attractive and necessary. Speed and efficiency allow businesses to keep pace with an ever-changing landscape. With Content Services, these benefits can be realised without the need for time-consuming and costly restructuring programs. Perhaps the focus should be less outward and more inward; less external and more internal. These platforms allow businesses to streamline internally in order to face challenges and take advantage of opportunities externally.

Building upon the findings of Kyocera's Business Digitalisation in Europe Outlook 2019, this whitepaper provides analysis of some of the key challenges that organisations face as they invest in digital transformation.  Such commitments present not only new opportunities, but also difficulties as part of a long process of adaptation to bring workplaces into an increasingly digital world to ensure true productivity.