How to improve operational efficiency with digital forms

The old way: paper everywhere

Walk into almost any supermarket, hotel, or restaurant and you’ll still find forms and checklists pinned to a noticeboard or stacked in a binder. Managers tick boxes by hand, employees sign off on tasks, and then the papers are passed around, filed, or sometimes lost.

It works—until it doesn’t. Imagine a safety inspection form getting misplaced, or a shift handover note that never reaches the next team. Small errors like these can lead to miscommunication, frustrated employees, and even compliance risks.

The problems with paper-based processes

Lack of structure
A missing signature or forgotten note quickly leads to back-and-forth communication. For managers, this means chasing employees instead of focusing on their work.
Hard to access
Employees often don’t know where to find the right form. Is the incident report in the binder in the back office or hidden in someone’s drawer?
Slow updates
When a process changes—like adding a new health and safety step—every form has to be reprinted and redistributed. It takes days, sometimes weeks, before everyone is using the correct version.
Inconsistent quality
One location may be using the latest version, while another still works with an old template. That makes it almost impossible to guarantee consistency across sites.
Unclear statuses
Paper forms easily disappear into inboxes or piles on a desk. Nobody knows if a report is pending, completed, or forgotten.
Critical delays
When it comes to urgent processes—like incident reports or hazard checks—paper slows things down to a dangerous degree.

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The benefits of going digital

Switching to digital forms and checklists solves all these challenges. Instead of stacks of paper, everything lives in a central app that employees can access anytime, anywhere.

What this looks like in practice

Consistent processes everywhere
In a retail chain, a customer complaint is handled in exactly the same way in London as in Edinburgh. Every employee follows the same steps in the employee app, no matter the store.
Faster onboarding and updates
When a new hamburger hits the menu at a fast-food chain, employees instantly receive the recipe, price, and prep checklist in their app. No need to wait for printed manuals to arrive.
Clear statuses and accountability
Hotel managers can see at a glance which housekeeping checklists have been completed, which are in progress, and which are overdue.
Lower operational risk
With one source of truth, employees always know what to do and how. This reduces mistakes and ensures compliance with company standards.
Paper reduction
An obvious but important benefit: less paper, less waste, and a more sustainable operation.

Ultimately, all these benefits of digitizing your forms and checklists lead to an increase in operational efficiency and a positive employee experience.

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Creating forms and checklists with Oneteam

Oneteam makes it easy to digitize your forms and checklists. The process is fast, intuitive, and mobile-first, built for frontline teams.

Step 1: Pick a template or start fresh

Choose from 30+ ready-to-use templates, such as vacation requests, sick leave, incident reports, expense claims, or uniform orders. Customize them with input fields like text, multiple choice, sliders, or date pickers. You can also add images, PDFs, or videos to make instructions crystal clear.

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Step 2: Decide who sees what

Use the audience selector to share your form with the right employees—whether it’s everyone in the company, or just one location or department. For example, a shift handover checklist can be shared only with team leads in the kitchen.

Use the advanced audience selector to select all or a selected group of employees

Step 3: Track and communicate in real time

See submissions come in live. Filter them by date, location, or even by specific answers. Employees automatically receive updates as their form moves through the workflow, so nobody is left wondering what’s happening.

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Step 4: Export or integrate

Want to send expense claims straight to your HR system? Or have incident reports automatically emailed as PDFs to your operations manager? With Oneteam’s integrations, that’s just a click away.

Automatically forward submissions to other HR systems via our Webhook integration

Why it matters for the employee experience

Digitizing forms is not only about efficiency. It also directly impacts how employees feel about their work.

Less frustration: They no longer waste time searching for the right document.
More clarity: Everyone knows what’s expected, and what the status is.
Faster feedback: Issues are resolved quickly, and employees feel heard.

That makes processes smoother for managers, but also creates a more positive and supportive experience for frontline teams.

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Beyond forms: the all-in-one app

Digitizing forms and checklists is powerful, but it’s just one piece of the puzzle. Oneteam combines it with all the essentials for the employee experience in a single app: