Digital checklists are the first step any business takes towards automation in the 21st century. For physical businesses, it’s the first step in the virtual world. And for remote or online businesses, it is the heart of their systems.
In this post, we’ll share a detailed insight into how digital checklists are helping businesses all around the world. But first, let’s get on the same page about our understanding of a digital checklist.
What are digital checklists?
Generally, a digital checklist works the same as a to-do list. But instead of a pen and paper, it uses the software. You do not have a physical copy of these checklists.
It is a notebook-like tool that allows you to list tasks, stages, or milestones concerned with a particular project and check them off when you’re done. Currently, several apps and websites are offering this functionality.
But note that a good checklist maker offers the following features:
- Create cards for task assignment
- Update task status
- Collaborate with the team and assign tasks to specific members
- Keep track of task completion
- Push notifications for upcoming deadlines
- Schedule tasks for different dates
- Organize due tasks by urgency
It should also support tagging feature. And it should support media files, so you can refer to relevant pictures or documents when necessary.
Benefits of Using Digital Checklists
Here comes the part of the post that most company owners and manager stress about; why do you need a digital checklist?
Paper checklists take a bit of effort to compile, but that’s alright. But since your company is accustomed to the methods, it shouldn’t be a problem.
That’s true. However, a digital checklist can help you with more than what appears on the surface. Let’s check out some hidden benefits of using a digital checklist for your business:
icon-angle-right 24/7 Accessibility
Perhaps, the most prominent benefit of a digital checklist is that it’s always just one click away. You don’t have to ask your assistant, manager, or accountant to fetch the list and wait for hours until they do so. Instead, you can simply log in to the app on your mobile or laptop and access the list.
It is particularly useful for remote workers. Even for physical businesses, it comes in handy when the records/checklists are deep into your storerooms. Or when it’s a holiday, and you need immediate access to a list as you make plans or work on a due project.
icon-angle-right Transparent Goal Tracking
Digital checklists also contribute significantly to increased productivity.
How so? Well, it eliminates the room for excuses.
You can upload a list of tasks due and notify the relevant individuals. If necessary, you can even set a deadline. And that means the countdown has begun. You can even set milestones for a single project so that you and other members of the team are well aware of their progress on the project.
You or your team can no longer blame miscommunication or mismanagement as all of it becomes automated and generally shared. The magic of automation and accountability kicks in, which, in turn, increases productivity.
icon-angle-right Reduced Errors
Along with boosting productivity, digital checklists assist with enhancing accuracy and precision tremendously. When you create a list of due tasks, you can take notes about what’s to be included and what’s to be avoided. It helps with remembering all the necessary stuff until the very end.
Similarly, if it is a collaborative project, you can exchange opinions with your teammates in comments. You can ask for their feedback and update progress. This is particularly helpful with creative and diverse projects.
Say you’re renaming your business. Now, there are tons of things to consider and keep track of. You can involve your C-suite employees and create a checklist of things to consider when changing your business name. They can give their input, and you can easily cross-check all necessary elements at each stage of the process.
icon-angle-right Cost Effective
Multiple surveys have been conducted to demonstrate how businesses spend a massive amount on paper alone. It is not only an unnecessary expense. But it is also very harmful to the environment.
According to a survey conducted in 2020, a business can save a massive amount of up to $48000 simply by going paperless. And digital checklists can help you begin this journey to saving. Instead of using paper to list down your to-do for day-to-day tasks, and weekly and monthly goals, use checklists apps. They save paper and stationary costs.
icon-angle-right Better Skill Management
Does your company have an integrator? Highly likely.
Integrators are basically operations managers. Although big companies do need integrators to keep everything running smoothly, hiring an integrator for a startup is a bad idea. Why? Well, that’s because you’re spending your precious budget in the wrong direction.
Your team operations can be easily managed by digital checklists.
Instead, you can use the valuable skills of an integrator in other aspects of your company building. Usually, integrators have a wide range of skills, which is why they’re capable of handling the entire company. Instead of burdening them with a role that digital checklists can handle, for now, you can have them work on business development and marketing.
The same applies to your general manager, project manager, and team manager. You don’t need to waste human skill, time, and effort on manual tasks that can be easily automated.
icon-angle-right Big Time Saves
Lots of companies waste time in the approval stages. If you process it via email, there is a high chance, emails get delayed for weeks. If you process it via paper, there’s a high chance that applications sit on your table for approval for months.
Digital checklists cut down this inefficiency. When there’s a task due or an update, and someone needs your approval, you receive an instant notification. You can digitally access it in seconds and approve or disapprove with a click.
If you forget to get back to the notification, most digital checklists apps will send a reminder notification so that you can look into it. In this way, there’s no halt in the workflow.
Plus, if you wish to refer to an old checklist, you can do so in minutes. You and your team won’t spend hours looking around the office or in registers for that one task you completed months ago.
You can even save the files relevant to each task with it. So, when you access it anytime in the future, you can easily access all the related material.
icon-angle-right Pre-made Checklists
If you’re completely new in the digital or business world, here’s a piece of good news for you: there are lots of premade templates available for almost everything on the internet. The same is true for digital checklists.
If you do not know:
- How to keep track of your employees?
- What metrics to track when optimizing a site?
- What operations to manage in a team?
- How to keep track of your business account?
- How to improve company branding online?
Or literally anything else. You can easily find a pre-made checklist template for that. You don’t have to think or design a checklist for the relevant subject. Just download the template and use it to improve your business efficiency. Most checklist makers offer their own templates too. So, the good news is they’re free.
icon-angle-right Less Paperwork
Digital checklists reduce manual labor from your employee’s workload. They do not have to create neat and fancy lists, and you do not have to sign each document. Instead, both parties can take it to clicks in digital checklists. Plus, you won’t have to hire additional administrating staff that can look after your company’s papers.
So, overall digital checklists save your human resources as well as financial resources from waste.
Are there any downsides to using digital checklists?
Yes. Like everything else, digital checklists have their cons too. These are:
- You lose your data if the internet goes down
- You cannot access your data without a device
Considering today’s tech-equipped world, it is highly unlikely that either of the two will happen. But there is still a possibility that we mustn’t ignore it.
We recommend keeping a hard copy of your foundational checklists, such as brand identity. But other than that, digital checklists are relatively safe, time-efficient, and cost-efficient.
Bottom Line
All in all, digital checklists are here to stay. For now, we have text-based digital checklist maker apps. But soon enough, we’ll see these apps equipped with text-to-voice or voice list features too. AI might further improvise their performance. But the core idea is going to stay.
It’s best you embrace it as soon as possible and scale your business even further.
Another prominent benefit of using digital management in your business is that it makes simple tasks super fun and engaging. Most of the checklist apps available today are equipped with a brilliant interface. The colors, fonts, and designs boost employee work morale and enthusiasm.