Operational teams often talk about digital transformation and digitization in holistic terms for their companies.
Totally right. It’s a company lifestyle change, not a marketing campaign.
It’s a vital sum of all parts that makes this become a reality, so there are a ton of components involved.
Digitizing your content approval process is a prime example of one of them.
We’re seeing an influx of requests for advice on how to connect teams together to approve content digitally - and sustainably. And these are coming in from all types and sizes of companies, so it’s clearly an issue that’s being considered by everyone.
If you're collaborating from home on marketing and creative work, as most of us are right now, then digitizing your approval process is one of the most important contributors to an openly accessible, more sustainable culture.
A great place to start with your general research is to read our free ebook 7 Top Tips for Proofing Sustainably from Home.
This will give a real grip on the context of working as a team outside of the office - maybe not just for yourself but also for those in your team who have never worked from home in their lives. It will be a weird experience for them, for sure.
So you have the background from the ebook, now let’s look at how to actually do it using GoProof.
The main concept to get clear in everyone’s minds is that online proofing software is both a paperless environment and a single place to communicate.
No pens, pads or phones needed and everything happens inside the system.
It’s a shift of mental application for many to think that their team’s marketing work, which previously may have been in a folder on someone’s desk with scribbles and signatures on it, is now on a website, so you always need to go there instead.
A quick chat with the team to express this shift of mind helps.
Sending proofs out and getting reviews moving in GoProof is a massive timesaver compared to non-digital processes.
Talk about the expectation that work will arrive with them through an email or app push notification before you start, so they know what to expect.
On receiving proofs, they simply click the link provided and view the proof in their web browser or GoProof app and are guided through the reviewing process.
No separate PDFs or disconnected email threads to worry about, so it will be much easier to manage.
There are a number of digital engagement mechanisms built into GoProof to help the review process.
You can nudge people that haven’t opened or seen the proof yet, set deadlines and reminders and trigger actions to take place if work gets stuck in a bottleneck.
Next, here’s how digitizing your approval process can replicate existing offline workflows or create brand new, previously unachievable ways for who sees the work and in what order.
Using automated proofing workflows, proof senders can route work to move through individuals or groups of people one-by-one, as if it was physically being passed around the office building.
Effectively, work can be passed around the world in any order you choose, which is a huge step forward and brings a whole new dimension of inclusion to your proof routing. Comments can be locked out from one to the next to protect confidentiality, too.
One of the great features of GoProof is the 10+ proofing tools available to use. So if colleagues are used to drawing on proofs they still can, they just use their mouse and keyboard instead of red penning it.
Everyone can see annotations instantly - and they can delete them instantly without leaving a total mess and having to print a new version off and start again.
Here, it’s about instilling confidence in the team to express themselves openly and not to be afraid to share their thoughts and opinions. This positivity leads to better collaboration and ultimately, amazing work.
Markups are made on the proof, whilst the comments appear down the side in a conversation thread so it stays clean and tidy for users to easily understand. This means there should be a high level of adoption with the minimum of resistance, as it makes their lives easier.
Old versions of proofs are in the History tab next to the current one with all the previous comments and markups still visible and comparable, making it easy to trace back through the creative journey and see where things changed.
You don’t get that luxury with print-offs or even PDFs or Dropbox folders.
Once your team and collaborators have submitted their first reviews, stepped through the stages and reached a team agreement to approve work for publishing, the feel-good factor of working digitally will spread.
They will be more tuned into the process and will start expecting - and hopefully wanting - notifications to come in at any time.
The new digital approval process will become second nature. Deeper tools and workflow options will be embraced by everyone as they strive to get more out of it.
Best of all, the enjoyment of collaborating on work together online will grow into a bond of trust, uniting your team, company, suppliers and all global stakeholders in a way that just couldn’t be done through offline procedures.
---
Digitizing your approval process is a simple challenge that can be delivered fast and smoothly using GoProof.
Sign up for a free trial and discover for yourself or talk to our customer success team to hear some real-life customer transformation stories.
