Almost every type of organization relies heavily on data these days. Without the essential information to manage your organization, such as financial metrics, marketing demographics, or productivity measures, you’re likely to quickly lag behind the competition.

For this very reason, ‘data capture’ has become a critical yet often overlooked capability of most organizations. Improving your competency in this area can lead to fewer costly mistakes and quicker reaction times to opportunities.

All Around Us

Simply put, data capture is the process of extracting information from a physical source and converting it into a digital format. Digitization allows you to store, organize, search, retrieve, and share information quickly, if not in real time.

For decades, measuring productivity and tracking costs related to the delivery of products or services in many industries was a tedious, manual, and error-ridden task. Pitfalls included double entries, lost or misfiled paperwork, and misinformation attributable to illegible handwriting.

Fortunately, much of today’s organizational information has been digitized already in the form of spreadsheets, electronic documents, PDFs, forms and templates, emails, and so forth. Today’s internet-connected mobile apps also make it quick and easy to collect information.

In fact, you can choose from many solutions that automate data capture. Bar codes and QR codes, for example, help organizations manage inventory and equipment usage — especially if you can scan them with a smartphone. Another example is signature capture technology, which enables electronic signatures to authorize and track contracts and other approvals.

Meanwhile, cloud-based solutions allow remote users to view documents, drawings, plans, and specifications. Smartphones can take pictures and video, which can be quickly uploaded to project management websites or team communication platforms. It’s all data capture. The question is: How can your organization improve?

Basic Steps

When it comes to data capture, what works for one organization might not work for another. First, identify your mission-critical data and where it comes from. Pertinent documents may include employee timecards or worklogs, sales reports, marketing studies, financial statements, and other financial reporting.

Next, train and equip the appropriate team members to optimally capture data. As mentioned, the right software and mobile apps can enable your employees to grab data as it’s generated, record the information, and share it. But be careful not to ‘silo’ data; that is, make it accessible only to a few people. Doing so can inadvertently create bottlenecks that lead to miscommunication and bad decisions.

At the same time, you must secure your data so hackers and unauthorized users can’t corrupt, kidnap, or steal it. Data capture and cybersecurity should go hand in hand.

Getting Better All The Time

The good news about data capture is that, more than likely, your organization is already doing it. The trick is recognizing the importance of this tech-related task, getting your employees on board, and continuously improving at it.