{"id":53786,"date":"2022-05-18T11:53:12","date_gmt":"2022-05-18T15:53:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mrisoftware.com\/uk\/?p=53786"},"modified":"2022-10-12T12:23:23","modified_gmt":"2022-10-12T16:23:23","slug":"the-paperless-tenancy-why-and-how-to-cut-out-paper-from-social-housing-offices","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mrisoftware.com\/uk\/blog\/the-paperless-tenancy-why-and-how-to-cut-out-paper-from-social-housing-offices\/","title":{"rendered":"The paperless tenancy \u2013 why and how to cut out paper from social housing offices"},"content":{"rendered":"

Before I joined MRI as a Product Manager, I worked as a housing officer as part of front-line service delivery in the social housing sector. During that time, I gained a wealth of experience in most areas of the job – I would visit properties, deal with anti-social behaviour cases, carry out void inspections, and manage the re-letting of properties.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

One abiding memory I have of that time is the hours at work I spent carrying files, folders, and papers around with me- there was a piece of paper for everything.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I remember always writing in pencil because pens didn\u2019t work as well in the rain. I would be speaking to tenants and colleagues while simultaneously shuffling papers and struggling to keep them all in order, for the route around the estate. My back would ache after long weeks of carrying large ring binders back and forth from the office.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Nowadays, the social housing sector is moving towards embracing more digital alternatives to the vast amounts of paperwork I used to deal with, but it\u2019s still trailing behind private-sector landlords. COVID-19 has compelled many organisations to move to more hybrid models of working, meaning that the amount of paper in offices has reduced significantly, and initiatives such as the Government energy efficiency targets are raising \u2018green\u2019 to the top of the agenda. However, it\u2019s still commonplace for housing officers to take paper out to visits, write up their notes, and then return to the office or home to type those up.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As well as being inconvenient, the amount of paperwork being carried around presents several risks for organisations as a whole.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Many documents housing officers store personal information including contact details and financial records, posing a significant threat to data security and GDPR risk.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In addition to these risks, carrying large amounts of paper can hamper officers\u2019 abilities to connect with tenants and move unburdened around properties and estates, affecting the quality of the work they are able to do.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Time spent travelling to the office to collect papers, and returning to type up notes, represents considerable inefficiencies within a housing officer\u2019s workflow, not to mention the added cost of travel.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Organisations rely on copies being made in case any of the paperwork is lost, or lose the document forever, and dealing with a lot of paper presents obstacles to meeting environmental targets.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0Moving towards a paperless office, therefore, promises benefits and mitigates the risks associated with paper-based working.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A paperless tenancy<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

At MRI we\u2019ve created a number of solutions to make a paperless office a more efficient, streamlined working environment. Key areas that social housing organisations should consider are document management systems, mobile working, and customer communications.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Document Management\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

Managing papers and physical files not only costs time and increases the risk of documents going missing or being misfiled but also takes up large areas of office and storage space that can be used more productively. As a housing officer, I remember looking at all our filing and thinking there had to be a better way.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n