With the recent proliferation of social media and digital revolution, the country has turned a new leaf, giving a complete new meaning to the term workplace productivity. More and more people are opening up to the idea of being able to perform tasks on a more convenient and portable device they can lay their hands on, wherever they are and whenever they want, says Varghese Thomas
The personal computers (PC) have been around for a few decades now and have been a craze since the first time it was made available to the general public, back in the 80s. As time progressed and as newer technological advancements came through, PCs penetrated deeper into our lives becoming an integral part of our lives, transforming the way we live, think and work! From a business point of view, it revolutionised the way we work and collaborate.
It was at this moment that the ‘workplace productivity’ discussions started and PC applications caught up on their popularity like a fire. Some of the office suite applications like computer office suites changed the way we made our presentations, edited documents and populated data.
With the recent proliferation of social media and digital revolution, we’ve turned a new leaf, giving a complete new meaning to the term ‘workplace productivity.’ With the global uptake for smartphones and ‘handheld computing devices’, the idea of getting ‘work done’ at a traditional desk, on a traditional desktop is rendered redundant.
Of course, we continue to rely on our traditional technologies to perform a range of business tasks. However, more and more people are opening up to the idea of being able to perform tasks on a more convenient and portable device they can lay their hands on, wherever they are and whenever they want!
Our recent global survey conducted in conjunction with GfK suggests that Indian professionals feel that smartphones are enablers of productivity by saving time, enhancing communication and collaboration with colleagues and employees and provide more flexibility. The survey further revealed that one-third of working professionals felt their devices helped them save five hours during an average working week.
An alternative school of thought brings with itself a preconceived notion of smartphones being distractive and that they hinder employee productivity. However, in an era of hyper connectivity and cut throat competition, can organisations and HR managers afford to disregard technologies that can help them in adding value add to their products and services in many diverse waysIJ In fact one of the startling findings of our survey has been that 63 per cent of the working professionals believed that smartphones provide assurance to their customers and clients of quality and best service.
In other words, a mobile device virtually can do everything your laptop or desktop can do, albeit with an added advantage of being handy and portable. let’s take a look at how can smartphones therefore create an efficient workforce —
Multi-functional
A smartphone very effortlessly syncs to your e-mails and smartly notifies you in the form of push notification when you’ve a meeting scheduled or an important task that needs to be completed. At work, a smartphone helps in multitasking and thereby enhances your productivity to a very large extent. It helps you list your task for the day, schedule meetings and also take notes during a meeting.
Work on the move
Employees no longer have to rely on their desktops and bulky laptops to deliver a quick sales forecast or an annual marketing plan. Even if on the move, employees can use their smartphones for a quick Power Point Presentation (PPT) and present it remotely through the device.
Work the ‘appy' way
Apart from being a ‘one-in-all’ large screen device that eliminates the need of carrying bulky laptops on business trips or meetings, smartphones also support ‘enterprise mobile applications’ that helps employees manage work efficiently. Apps such as Evernote and Wunderlist on mobile devices help you store your ideas during brainstorming sessions, to-do lists, research, meeting notes, capture images and text from business cards, etc., thereby eliminating the need of paper, books and pens.
Interestingly these days, having recognised the way in which corporates use their devices, smartphone platforms and app developers exclusively offer features and apps on the mobile devices that offer one-one-one or group conversations, exclusively for ‘power professionals’ who are ambitious and want to make their mark in their careers. For e.g. - There are mobile messaging apps that enterprises can use, with the IT manager being able to monitor and control critical company information, which otherwise might be at the risk of being misused or leaked.
Stress free organisation
A recent report from Kansas State University suggests that a short break to text a friend, play a game or check Facebook on your smartphone can actually make an employee productive and happier during the workday. Smartphone microbreaks are similar to other micro breaks throughout the workday. Such breaks are important because they can help employees cope with the demands of the workplace. By interacting with friends and family through a smartphone or by planning a short game, employees can recover from some of their stress to refresh their minds.
To sum it up all, smartphones can benefit organisations and businesses by promoting autonomy, strengthening professional relationships and enhancing the knowledge sharing, thereby ultimately driving efficient and a happy workforce!
The writer is director, corporate communications, India and SAARC region.