Drowning in Paper? Try These Powerful Ways to Use Data Collection Forms

When you're living in a paper-based world, most people don't realize how quickly it can monopolize their lives. The phrase stuck under a mountain of paperwork" may be a comedic exaggeration, but you can't say that there isn't a bit of truth to that.

Paper-based documents need to be managed. They often need to be duplicated for multiple parties. If you're collaborating with someone on something, you need to locate the correct record, send it in the mail, and wait for it to arrive - only to start the whole process again when that document gets sent back. Sometimes people spend so much time looking for documents that they can't act on the valuable insight hidden inside.

Thankfully, the era where people have no choice but to find themselves (figuratively) drowning in paper has ended. Modern-day solutions like the data collection form have changed the game at the best possible time. It's not that data collection forms and digital capture methods are a necessary evil." They help eliminate pain points for people with physical forms and disorganized data points. They're powerful time-saving tools for a host of reasons.

The Art of Crafting Efficient Collection Forms

Consider all the variations one form can have from the next, even if they're part of the same basic workflow. Certain pieces of information are contextualized in different ways, leading to discrepancies down the road. A lot of times, especially in an educational environment, this is simply a cost of doing business." You're relying on forms created years ago before current processes had taken shape.

With a data collection form, this all changes. You can quickly build something from the ground up that collects information how you need it. To get to that point, you'll need to design clear and concise questions with answers that leave little-to-no room for interpretation. Obviously, if questions can be answered in a true yes/no" fashion, that would be for the best - but that isn't always possible. Or, if things could be simplified where there is only one or even a few potential answers. Really, what you're trying to do is avoid overwhelming respondents with too many options and too much of an open-ended experience.

Most data collection platforms allow you to set up if-then" contingencies to take things to the next level. Incorporating this into your form can improve data quality by only showing relevant questions and reducing confusion for respondents. This leads to even more complete and accurate data for analysis.

Again, the goal here is to ensure that you're gathering the information you truly need while also eliminating unnecessary information. Collecting the data is only one small part of a much larger story. Once that data is created uniformly, you can then get to work on extracting value from it and using it to make your life easier.

Streamlining Data Collection and Analysis

At this point, you'll be in an excellent position to use modern technology to your advantage.

Think about the old data collection and analysis process. Someone filled out a form and submitted it through the proper channel. The form would then likely be digitized - adding a delay before you can derive insight from it. If that digitization happens largely manually, you're also introducing possible human error.

If someone ever needed to retrieve that form, they would have to find it first. This meant pouring over countless filing cabinets until you found the right one. There would also be a possibility that the original paper copy of the form could be lost, damaged, or even stolen - forcing you to essentially start all over again.

By incorporating online forms or digital versions of paper forms into your online workflows, however, all this changes dramatically. First, the form itself becomes malleable - you can make any changes you want to it in real time. Because the form can be filled out via a desktop or mobile web browser, a respondent's answers to any questions are available in seconds.

Everything is already digital, so there is no manual capture taking place. You don't have to worry about human error because there isn't one. Data analysis can begin immediately, regardless of how many forms you're dealing with.

But the best part is that those records are available instantly, at any time. If you need to refer back to a specific form six months (or six years) from now, you don't have to hope it still lives in the filing cabinet it was supposed to - if it ever made it there at all. The records can be called up instantly, exactly the way it should be.

Harnessing the Full Power of the Digital Data Collection Form to Your Advantage

Overall, using a data collection form in a previously paper-driven process brings with it one major benefit above all others: clarity.

Suddenly, you're not looking for the facts. There is no guesswork or estimation. You know, beyond the shadow of a doubt, exactly what is going on in a situation. More than that, you know immediately - so you can do something about it.

The newfound sense of clarity you get from a data collection form can guide better decision-making across nearly everything you do in your professional life daily. Never forget just how valuable data is. As most industries are cyclical, the more you understand the past, the more you can reliably predict what the future might hold. That insight is hidden inside the data you're already creating and working with. You just need to know how to find it. Using a data collection form in your own processes can help with that enormously.

The post Drowning in Paper? Try These Powerful Ways to Use Data Collection Forms appeared first on The Tech Report.