Top 4 Office Tasks to Digitize in 2024

Introduction

Company leaders are constantly looking for ways to boost efficiency, as are many employees. It means you can increase productivity, client satisfaction, and profits.

While there are many ways to take efficiency to the next level, digitizing routine office tasks is ideal. These are often the repetitive to-do items you or your staff do every day.

Office tasks can also include processes customers and employees perceive as barriers to their end goals.

Think of steps that slow everything down, such as emailing files back and forth. Other examples include manually filling out paperwork and writing down minutes from important meetings.

Digitizing processes and tasks like these will eliminate your headaches while giving everyone their time back. To ensure your office runs more efficiently in 2024, here are four tasks you can digitize.

1. Capturing Signatures

Contracts, estimates, and approval forms require signatures. So do documents like tax withholding forms, direct deposit authorizations, and PTO requests. Yes, some organizations still use manual time clock adjustments and PTO forms. It becomes even more time-consuming when these docs get passed around for multiple signatures.

Why not digitize it? With the right software and integrations, transitioning to online document signing is a snap. Customize the document templates you need, automate the exchange process, and capture signatures electronically. You can also set up email reminders so those who need to sign don’t forget.

From start to finish, it’s easier to get the signatures and approvals everyone needs. Processes like onboarding employees, securing vendor contracts, and new business are smoother for all parties. There are fewer chances for delays, forgotten milestones, and misplaced paperwork. And no one has to go through the cumbersome process of printing, manually signing, scanning, and resending a document.

2. Calendars

Data shows inefficient processes are causing some organizations to lose $1.3 million a year. Those losses can come from employee turnover and customer churn. However, less-than-desirable profit and loss statements may also stem from unenthusiastic feelings about your company.

Employees might feel ho-hum about their jobs, including the obstacles they face. Clients pick up on this and experience inefficiencies themselves. They may also encounter subpar service, whether it’s face-to-face or behind a screen. Another example where slowdowns can occur is with calendars and scheduling.

How many times have you had to play phone tag to send out a meeting invite or schedule an appointment? It would be much simpler if you could access an online calendar that shows open slots. Armed with this information, you could schedule meetings and appointments while automating the invites. No one has to wait for the game of back and forth to end. Plus, calendars update in real time, reducing the possibility of overscheduling and broken promises.

3. Invoice Payments

Have you noticed more mail delays recently? It’s not your imagination. The United States Post Office’s recent on-time track record is declining. In the beginning of 2024, 83% of First-Class mail was delivered on time.

While this figure may sound OK, it was down three percentage points from 2023’s first quarter. The percentage drop was also down eight points from 2023’s fourth quarter. Mailing invoices and billing statements increases the risk of missed or late payments. It can also prompt unnecessary phone calls to your office staff.

Say you’re managing an HOA and sending statements for quarterly dues in the mail. If these statements consistently arrive late, you’ll have frustrated residents. They’ll also have a stronger case for arguing why they shouldn’t be charged late fees. Instead, you can send these statements electronically with a link to pay online that doesn’t require a login. Received payments could also sync with your accounting software, reducing manual entries.

4. Meeting Summaries

Not everyone who needs to be in the loop can always attend a meeting. Absences and schedule conflicts are typical reasons someone might miss a critical discussion. Summaries of discussions and action items are what most people rely on, even attendees. It’s impossible to remember what you need to do if you don’t write it down.

Nonetheless, capturing notes from meetings and distributing them quickly becomes a chore. If one person is responsible for this task, it can prevent them from addressing other crucial responsibilities. However, office productivity tools now have generative AI to lend a helping hand.

For instance, word processing and collaboration software has the ability to automate summaries. When you hold a meeting in your collaboration software, automated transcripts can be accessible to everyone on the invite list. They’re stored in the cloud for easy access. An admin assistant doesn’t have to retype each person’s action items and key takeaways. In addition, there is less confusion about what transpired in a meeting.

Digitizing Your Office

Once you get used to performing processes in specific ways, it’s easy to get stuck in a rut. Your organization has always worked through tasks using proven steps and tools, so why would you want to change it? Yet this mindset prevents your team from achieving greater efficiency and may lead to lower client satisfaction.

Moving away from manual office tasks and processes helps reduce the time it takes to complete them. It also removes frustration, confusion, and potential miscommunications. Start with the simple or routine responsibilities, such as document signatures and meeting summaries. You’ll be surprised how much time you can save your customers and employees.