ProblemPaper
Everything in our organisation is still on paper
Paper is cheap, needs no electricity and everyone knows how to use it. It fails at three things: finding, counting and being in two places at once.
Paper works until you need to find a record quickly, add records up, or see them from somewhere else. Do not start by scanning everything. Start with the one form that is filled in most often, and move only that to a phone or computer, first with a free form tool. If that sticks and the volume grows, a small record system built around the same form starts at N$6,499.99.
What you see, and what it usually means
| What you see | What it usually means |
|---|---|
| “Wait, let me find the book” | A record exists in one physical place and one person knows where. |
| Month-end means days of counting | Totals are added by hand from pages, so they are slow and sometimes wrong. |
| The same details are written on three forms | Each department keeps its own paper and re-asks the customer. |
| A page was lost, or got wet | There is one copy and no backup. |
| The owner cannot check anything from another town | Paper cannot be read from a distance. |
What you can do yourself
These cost nothing but time. Do them before paying for software, including ours.
Pick the one form used most
Count how many times each form is filled in a week. Start with the busiest. Leave the rest on paper for now.
Rebuild it in a free form tool
Google Forms or Microsoft Forms cost nothing. Use the same questions in the same order, so staff recognise it.
Let the answers fill a sheet
Both tools drop every answer into a spreadsheet, with the date and time. That sheet is your first digital register.
Run paper and digital side by side for two weeks
Compare them at the end of each week. If the digital one is missing records, find out why before going further.
Photograph, do not scan, the old books
If old records must be kept, phone photos in dated folders are enough for most purposes.
Decide who owns the account
Use an organisation email address for the form and the sheet, not a staff member's personal one.
Today, and with a system
Today
- One copy, in one cupboard
- Found by asking the person who filed it
- Counted by hand at month end
- The same details written again on each form
- Lost if the page is lost
With a system
- Found by name, number or date in seconds
- Entered once, used everywhere
- Counted automatically
- Visible to the owner from anywhere
- Backed up every day
- The free form works, and now records must be edited, approved or followed up.
- People must only see their own records.
- Entries are needed where there is no signal, such as in the field.
- The numbers are reported to a board, a funder or a ministry.
What we would build
We start from your paper form, because your staff already understand it. The first version keeps the same fields and the same order, adds search and totals, and prints the form when a signature on paper is still required.
A first record system starts at N$6,499.99. If it must work with no internet, that is an extra the estimator prices for you.
Common questions
Our staff are not good with computers. Will this work?
That is the main design question, and it is why we copy the paper form first. People who use WhatsApp can use a well-made form on a phone. We test with your least confident user, not your most confident one.
Do we need to buy computers?
Usually not. Most first versions are built for the phones staff already carry. If you do need devices, ADA Tech can advise.
We still need signatures on paper. Is that a problem?
No. The system can print the completed form for signing, and store a photo of the signed page against the record.
What happens to the old books?
Keep them. For most organisations it is not worth capturing years of history. Start clean from a date, and photograph the old books if they must be consulted.
Describe the problem. We will send back a scope.
Say what is slowing the work down and who is affected. You get a one-page scope in plain words: what would be built first, how long it takes and what it costs. It is free, and you owe nothing if you do not go ahead.