Benefits of a digital organisation

“Is there a way to reduce paper in here?” Mr Musana, a registrar, astonished by the volume of paper staff marched into meetings with at the Muduma Education Health Institution wondered.
The files of paper were needed to go over admissions and students exam performance. Normally corrections necessitated more rounds of printing.
To minimise the usage of paper, Mr Musana investigated how other institutions were handling the matter. He found that all were facing the same problem but one organisation - Kakeeto Education Health Institution (KEHI) was different. KEHI had invested heavily in ipads for all staff and had a paperless meeting policy. Initially, some older staff resisted but later, they all gave in.
Impact
Modern organisations are driven by two major factors: Use of time and management of cost. Such organisations worry less about paper, ink and tonner, and there is more room for space. However, many organisations are still reluctant to embrace digitisation, claiming lack of resources and know-how.

Success story
When the new Board Chair decreed that meetings would be conducted on personal computers, there were protests as majority of members still viewed computers as a move by aliens to control the world. But the Chair insisted on use of laptops and there were specialists to guide reluctant members. Today, all meetings are conducted without any trace of paper, saving a lot of time and money.

Martin M. Lwanga is a management consultant and dean Faculty of Business & Administration, Uganda Christian University, Mukono.
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