Britain’s failure to realise what was once thought inevitable – the paperless office – has done the property industry no favours. Although complete abolition of hard copies was always an unattainable vision, reducing our dependence on paperwork would bring significant advantages.
Paper gets mislaid, misfiled, borrowed and not returned. It burns, it gets wet and it fades. And it takes up an ever-increasing amount of space. How many expensive office moves have their roots in the need to store the paperwork created by years of growth?
The other thing with paper is that it never seems to be there when you want it. Remember the last time you had a client on the phone and needed a certain document there and then? Of course, it was nowhere to be found. Or the last time you needed to research a deal concerning a particular street, but couldn’t find the relevant retail letting details?
If these problems were not enough, the government requires property companies to keep all sorts of records, just as it places similar requirements on lawyers, doctors – and even journalists.
Electronic files
And it is not just paper. Electronic files also take up disproportionate amounts of space. E-mails clog up inboxes; and letters, faxes and other important documents are filed by individuals on their network drives. A great deal of information is simply lost when people move on.
The result is an inefficient service for clients, the inability to meet exacting new disclosure rules and missed opportunities to leverage the value of information already held.
So when leading law firms discovered the electronic equivalent of feng shui, they adopted it and have never looked back.
If anything, their paper burden was even worse than that of the property industry. But today, information management saves them time – and time is money, especially in their game. Briefly, document management is the cataloguing and filing of electronic documents in an easily searchable computer system.
For some years, the legal arena has been employing document management software. And, more recently, prudent property companies have been taking a leaf out of the lawyers’ book and adopting a more proactive approach to dealing with paper.
Property deals of all kinds rely heavily on paperwork, and that is not set to change. But managing the mountain of files, particulars and contracts is easier with the help of technology.
Real estate IT consultant Nick Matthews, director of Real Decisions, suggests that the property industry should follow the example set by law firms such as Masons, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Norton Rose.
Computer-generated
He says: “Of course businesses are making use of technology but, like any resource, it becomes less and less efficient if it isn’t managed properly. Today’s property business is conducted electronically over e-mail, using computer-generated documents and models. It is crucial for any business to be able to store and retrieve these documents and messages easily and reliably. That’s what document management systems achieve.”
Real Decisions has already advised several major property companies on information management strategies, in conjunction with software supplier Interwoven. Matthews says that each has its own particular challenges but the main problems are repeated time and again.
These are: e-mail management; workflow; security; filing; and resistance to change. Of these, perhaps the last is the most important.
The property sector tends to be very traditional – things just do not change that quickly. So when faced with the prospect of a company-wide upheaval brought about by the introduction of a document management system, it is vital to understand how individuals will react.
The key to successful adoption is to establish a strategy early on for getting the message across to staff. People are often frightened of change and worried about their role within the organisation. Surrendering even part of their control over the creation, storage and access to information is a difficult step for many. The company is taking control over one of its main assets, information, and staff can often take exception to this. But, as Matthews says: “The reality is that DM is empowering for all staff. The ability to retrieve information accurately, reliably and without risk of loss is of value to everyone.”
By bringing together and controlling previously unmanageable information sources such as e-mail, DM provides a single, centralised repository. Matthews says: “Within months, even the strongest critic is normally won over and, when people leave to go to other companies, they become the greatest advocates of DM in their new roles. We have seen it over and over again.”
Accessed centrally
DM is simple. Instead of those e-mails clogging up inboxes, they are stored centrally in a DM folder structure; instead of those letters and faxes being filed by individuals, they are stored and accessed centrally. Each document is given its own profile, basically an index card, allowing it to be retrieved by various search criteria.
Unlike a network filing system – or a paper filing system – DM provides the ability to search and retrieve documents, even when they have been misfiled. The power of content searching is impressive – even in a DM system containing millions of documents, one can be located in a matter of seconds.
This is a most valuable tool where property is concerned. The ability to pull up that lease document and find a particular clause immediately is vital when dealing with a telephone enquiry from a tenant, as is the ability to find retail letting particulars at a stroke.
Different companies approach the introduction of DM in different ways. It does not have to be a “big bang” implementation – it is often better to introduce a system gradually, starting with areas of particular pain. E-mail is one example – so much valuable information is held on e-mail, but it is seldom accessible to everyone who might need it.
Legal requirements
Solving this one problem alone may be enough to justify the introduction of DM, particularly when the legal requirements on businesses to retain information are considered. The burden of full disclosure sits firmly with the directors of any business; DM provides the comfort and support of knowing that the new regulations can be fully satisfied.
One Real Decisions client started with document scanning. All legal documents relating to its portfolio were scanned and stored as electronic copies in a DM system. This process allowed people to get used to the system by using it simply as a library. The benefits of not having to find file copy leases or, worse, having to go back to the lawyers every time, were soon clear to everyone. Within a few months, staff asked for the system to be expanded – for example, to store investment details.
Now the same firm has one of the most efficient information management systems in the sector and is reaping the rewards. Key achievements have included the reduction of office storage space and document reproduction costs and high user satisfaction levels. People like the system, appreciate its benefits and are not afraid to develop new uses for it.
Another important contribution to the success of a DM project can be the selection of knowledgeable consultants who understand the business and are able to canvass views and win support from staff. They need to be able to create an inclusive environment that takes many views into account when designing the document management strategy.
This solution will differ from firm to firm, and may include a variety of ancillary products and services that can help to ease the conversion to a fully electronic DM culture, such as specialist scanning services, template development and management, and PISCES-aware intelligent document authoring solutions (Vision, p149).
In a world full of paper, the need for document management has never been more acute. So can you afford not to consider ways to manage your information proactively?
