Paper is probably part of almost every process you have. It’s possible that you’re sat with paper on your desk right now; notepads, documents, memos etc.

There’s nothing quite as disheartening as staring at a desk full of paper.Which pages matter? Which need to be binned? How much of this stuff needed to be reproduced in the first place? 

Surprisingly, answering some of these questions can be part of the first step towards digitisation along with realising that paper exists in two forms - ‘good’ and ‘bad’.

What is ‘good paper’?

‘Good paper’ simply refers to documents that have a valid reason for having been reproduced in hard-copy form.

There are typically three reasons good paper might exist:

1) The origin

If documents originated on paper, they obviously have a legitimate reason to be used and stored in that format.

Examples of this might include a researcher’s notes, a handwritten letter from a customer or a workbook containing detailed notes from a meeting.

2) The stakeholder

Some stakeholders may prefer to use paper. 

Equally, they may only transact on paper, making the existence of any documents they deal with entirely valid in that format. It may seem a little old fashioned but you can't always do much about it. 

3) Legal requirements

There are still many legal forms and processes that require hard-copy documentation to be reproduced.

Known as the requirement for a ‘wet ink’ signature, this will either relate to a legal requirement or where perceptions lag behind the law.

What is ‘bad paper’?

‘Bad paper’ refers to documents that have been reproduced in hard-copy form but have no compelling reason to exist in that format.

For example, this might include a document that originated in digital format and has been printed at some stage but was never re-digitised.

Here are some other examples of ‘bad paper’:

• the printed material had ‘always been that way’, and no one had considered digitising it;
• the documents fell into the habit of being shared, stored and transported with physical systems; or
• legacy business processes that required the use of paper and which were either earmarked for change or are in the process of being changed.

For many organisations, bad paper will be a normal part of day-to-day business, but by identifying the documents that have no reason to exist in hard-copy form, you can make plans to digitise.

It’s also worth bearing in mind that the difference between good and bad paper is often subjective. For instance, if a customer prefers to make commercial arrangements with you in hard copy form, it probably makes sense to let them do so, even if it doesn’t align with your internal digital or sustainability goals.

In such cases, it’s still sensible to at least capture hard-copy documents sent by customers and digitise them, in order to minimise the existence of bad paper.

Take a look at that stack of paper on your desk. How much ‘good’ and ‘bad’ paper can you identify?