The Impact of Mobile in Business

The business landscape is going through major change as remote work has become the normal and a four-day working week could be on the horizon in the first major change to working hour structure since the five-day week was first introduced in the 20’s, but the catalyst that has helped bring this change about is within technology – more options can be found for remote work and digital nomads relying on mobile options, and business is continuing to embrace all things mobile too – but what has the true impact of mobile been on business?

Work and access, anywhere, anytime – This has come part and parcel with the rise of cloud storage as a whole, but mobile has been key here for workers on the go looking to access and make changes to current projects and current tasks too. Google tools have been helpful here too as mobile devices can access Drive for Word and Sheets and even more specialist tools too. Mobile devices have become more purpose made for working purposes too, and the size certainly helps here too with larger devices being capable of more tasks to boot.

(Image from theguardian.com)

Employees reachable at all hours – This is something that has recently been changed in Belgium with a law put in place to ban the practice, but mobile has also allowed employers to reach out to employees at all hours of the day – last minute adjustments that may be needed on a project or emergency contact with a client has become the normal thanks the mobile. Whilst considered to be a downside by many, it has changed the typical 9-5 into an all day anytime practice, with some finding themselves answering their phones at all hours of the evening for work related purposes.

Better bonds amongst staff – It often used to be that once work was done for the day, an individual may not catch up with their work mates until the next day if there wasn’t a trip to the pub or out for a meal after work, but mobile has managed to bring employees closer together with group chats and social media which has been particularly impactful for roles where having a stronger team bond is more important. It also goes hand in hand with the previous entries too, allowing work files to be shared amongst colleagues and discussed much easier, and for employers to also reach out using these same platforms and tools.

It’s important to take the good with the bad, and whilst there are downsides to the increased reach offered by mobile, there come a lot of positives too – and whilst these look to be more restrictive as is the case with Belgium, still a vital part of work around the world.