Forget the paperless office, start with the paperless meeting

While the "paperless office" has been generating buzz for years, many enterprise users have found it difficult to shake their reliance on printed, physical documents and records.

Now, the Financial Times reports, some organizations are setting their sights a little lower and promoting the paperless meeting. By starting small, the companies should be able to instill a cultural change across the workforce that will translate into more widespread changes later.

The key to the process, according to the Financial Times, is the rise of the tablet computer. The device is portable enough to be taken from an employee's office to the conference room, yet still offers the ability to quickly and easily type up notes during a meeting.

Professionals can also load presentations on their tablets and bring the work with them wherever they go. They'll no longer have to print out copies of their slideshows and text. Instead, they can simply share the data with co-workers and business partners and have them follow along on their own devices.

The administrative offices of Canyon County, Idaho, have taken a step-by-step approach to the paperless office, the Idaho Press-Tribune reports. The county's human resources department is working to phase out paper, most notably when accepting job applications.