In writing a post last week about Evernote’s cross-platform ability I posted a thought that I feel like I should expand upon. The ability to be mobile is king in our current business environment. In case you’re wondering by “mobile” I don’t mean that you can physically move your office anywhere, but more you have access to your office anywhere in the world so you really don’t have to move it. Your ability to work as efficiently as possible is now dependent on your ability to access your systems no matter where you are.
Gone are the days where you were required to go into the office to work. With what most information management systems are capable of now, we have the ability to set up world-class offices on our laptops. Instead of having corporations with armies of employees pumping out product, now we can set up global organizations with a dozen or so people. The ability to be mobile is critical going forward not only because people are becoming more mobile. The office world is changing and so must the equipment we use.
Why is mobility important?
1) The world is your office – The whole concept of “going to work in an office at the 9-5 job” is becoming more and more distant concept. with the full utilization of the internet and mobile apps, we have the ability to work in an office, or not. the beauty of mobility is that allows you the freedom to work where you want when you want.
My own limited mobility is due to the nature of the place where I work (a.k.a. they want my butt in the seat) but I am still able to utilize a level of mobility in my work life. I have access to virtually all of our systems from my iPhone and am able to work from it anywhere in the world. On more than one occasion I have been walking home and received a phone call to my office line that I was able to pick up from my iPhone, and I found last year I was able to take care of some business through e-mail while on the deck of a boat in the south of France. When you set up your ability to be mobile properly, you are not tied to a desk, you can still work at one, but it’s no longer a requirement.
2) You don’t need to be tied to a location you don’t want – The increase in mobility over the past dozen or so years has definitely made it so that if you don’t like your physical location then you aren’t stuck with it (I’m assuming you don’t have a lease in place). However, with the concept of Shared Space offices becoming much more commonplace, have “an office” is a much more fluid concept. the concepts of mobility and a portable office has given rise to a group of entrepreneurs who have shed the traditional 9-5 Monday to Friday office job for an existence where they seem to work anywhere but. I typically find these vagabond entrepreneurs in coffee shops and restaurants, taking over a booth in their work area, but that is only for those who choose to stay in one city. Certainly, there are those who are constantly on the move, getting new clients, discovering new areas and opportunities.
3) You can be more productive on the go – This one sounds a little counter-intuitive but bear with me here. For me personally, I get some of my best Ideas about work and this blog while I’m literally on the move. I walk a lot and sometimes I get an idea for a new initiative or program at work or I get an idea for a blog post. Without the mobility that I have with my various different programs, I wouldn’t be able
I would like to be clear. While I believe that this level of mobility can work for some people, this level of freedom is a double-edged sword. If you want the ability to work anywhere you want you to have to have the capability to work anywhere you are. from both a motivational standpoint (a.k.a the ability to get out of bed in the morning and do your work) and a technical standpoint (a.k.a IT support) you are quite literally on your own. I like the fact that, working in an office, I have the ability to work anywhere, but at the same time I get to get up and go to work for live people who I get to interact with.
Being mobile is great, it has given people the ability wor work where they want when they want, and how they want. The critical factor however is to ensure that you continue working at the same pace. the venue may have changed, but the work must continue.
I usually like asking questions to get a conversation going, so in this case (as the title suggests) how mobile are you? Would you like to be more mobile?Let me know in the comments section below. Also if you like this blog post and want to see more. You can follow me on Social Media (LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook @jasonlovefiles) and Subscribe to my blog to get new content delivered directly to your mailbox.