PDF Format: Remote Employee's Secret Weapon

From the year 2005 onwards, the number of individuals who work from home has increased at a rapid rate. This is not shocking news when we consider the benefits of working from home. The work-from-home strategy offers great advantages like greater autonomy, a more flexible schedule, and freedom from the allocated time frames, etc.

However, remote working has also created some complications. Such as the collaboration tools that your team is using for communicating with you may not be compatible with your device. Or you may not receive a response till another day due to the time difference. Maybe your audio or video call got stuck during an online meeting. The collaboration system needs to be very effective for supporting the remote work which is why such challenges should be addressed.

Almost all of us know that video conferencing software and messaging programs are one of the most powerful tools for communicating with other employees but there is another secret weapon to which most of us do not pay much heed. It is the PDF format. PDF is one of the best and widely used document formats around the world. It can help remote workers in increasing productivity. In this article, we have mentioned the five ways in which the PDF format improves the collaboration of remote workers. Let’s read the five unique ways:

1) No Formatting issues

No matter what kind of document you are sending to your colleague; either it’s a form or a graph-filled report, the formatting of the file will not be altered. The PDF format has the ability to preserve the unique formatting and layout of the document. Whenever you share the PDF file, be sure that the file will look in the same manner on all devices. This is an important element to consider when you are sharing the files across multiple platforms. The PDF files do not depend on any software, hardware or the operating system, so the layout of the file remains the same. PDF files can be converted to around 300 other file types and vice versa. These file types include Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, JPG etc; such as by using JPG to PDF converter, the users can convert the JPG files into PDF.

2) Enhanced Collaboration 

According to recent research, more than 50 percent of IT leaders face challenges that arise from inconsistent workflows and collaboration processes. Whereas, about 35 percent face the lack of visibility into document activity, such as sharing, viewing, and editing the files. Remote working needs an effective collaboration environment. So, in the case of remote work, inefficient collaboration results in reduced productivity. You can eliminate this issue by using a powerful document productivity tool which allows you to edit, markup, and comment on the documents. Moreover, the PDF tools also allow you to combine all comments into a single PDF file so that you can read the file easily. You can also compare the two versions of the PDF file in order to spot the differences.

3) 24/7 Connectivity

The working patterns have been changed. The people do not work on a 9-to-5 basis anymore. There are many factors that have pushed the companies in providing productivity beyond the office table such as the remote employees, differing time zones and irregular schedules. Hence, keeping in view all these elements, the companies need to provide 24-hour connectivity to their employees. It is an important requirement of the companies to choose PDF software that includes a cloud component so that the employees can connect at any time and anyplace. By using the cloud connecting features of PDF software programs, the employees can convert, combine, or edit PDFs from any web browser. Moreover, they can also save, share, and review the documents in a secure manner. The PDF software programs allow real-time notifications and activity tracking, which helps the team to stay connected and track important documents. Hence, there is no fear of losing any confidential data as you can keep track of your documents.

4) Cost-efficient

The office expenses can increase for remote employees such as the maintenance of the hardware or restocking paper and other supplies require money. This cost can be eliminated by shifting to the paperless office system. In the paperless office system, the need for printing, scanning and copying the documents is reduced; hence the cost also reduces. When the companies apply the digital transformation process, they cut off the costs related to the paper-based process such as the cost of the printer maintenance, paper, ink, and toner, etc. Furthermore, the paper-based system is inefficient and time-consuming. A lot of time and effort is wasted in managing the paper files. Paper-based offices are more problematic for the remote employees as if any error occurs in a printer as there is no in-house IT team which can resolve the issue. Hence, by removing all this stress and frustration, you can boost the productivity of the company and can reduce the cost.

5) Better Security

Data security is the top-most concern of all the organizations. On a daily basis, we hear news of data breaches. Security is the foremost concern especially when the files are shared back and forth. In remote work, a lot of sharing is required. By using PDF format, you can prevent your data from getting misused. PDF is a secure file format which cannot be edited without leaving an electronic footprint.

Do not communicate with your employees over non-secure platforms like email. The best way is to use the PDF format for sharing files. Even if your files are in any other format then you must convert the files into PDF before sharing. Such as if you want to share a file with your colleague which is in PNG format then use any good online PNG to PDF converter and then share the document.

Hence, PDF files are the best weapon for remote employees. If you work from home then start using this file format and let us know how it has helped you.