The workplace has changed for both large incumbents and smaller businesses. Flexibility and mobile working are now key ingredients for success, especially for business leaders aiming to grow their business. As technology evolves and improves as well, the means to achieve these new ways of working has led to a significant increase in competition; moving from an idea to a product or business has never been more achievable and the existence of hundreds of billion dollar companies today compared to only a handful 10 years ago is testament to this. Most of these businesses started with a small number of talented employees, such as Instagram or Rubrik, before they were either acquired by larger entities or experienced tremendous growth and became the now not-so-fabled unicorn. Technology is the enabler and is empowering creativity, collaboration and success.

The modern workplace is one of opportunity, but it needs modern solutions to turn those opportunities into success; solutions which can help eager founders work on-the-go and champion their business, while also enticing the very best talent who want to work flexibly in an environment that reflects their ideologies and requirements.

The facts support this. According to the Steelcase Global Workplace report, 2017, 88pc of highly engaged workers –– those who are going to make a business profitable –– want to choose where to work, depending on the task at hand.

Mobile working

The nature of business has changed significantly and if the owner or employees are not mobile, then the business will struggle.

Individuals must be able to work anywhere and have the tools to stay in communication with the rest of the business; for the business owner of a small or growing business this ability is imperative, allowing them to be responsive to all stakeholders, customers, suppliers and investors. Effective mobile working means these figures –– the face of the business –– can be productive while on the move and focus on the difficult tasks that matter.

In short, CEOs, founders and directors can’t run a successful business without being on the move and so they need the tools to support that ability.

‘The mobile worker is on the rise. According to Deloitte, of the 32.3 million people in work in the UK, the majority (51%) spend some time away from a fixed location for their role’

Flexible working

Flexible working is as important as mobile working. And, it is now almost a prerequisite of the modern workplace, an expectation of the incoming workforce. It’s important, therefore, that businesses have the tools and policies in place to support this new working trend.

Finding, retaining and enabling talent is one of the biggest challenge’s businesses face and it is one that can be overcome with a change in culture to one that embraces flexibility, mobile working and modern technology-led business tools.

A new solution for the changing workplace and world

There is no doubt the modern workplace is on the move. And to improve employees’ satisfaction and productivity levels businesses should equip them with the best in mobile technology.

So, how can businesses embrace the modern workplace and adapt to the shrinking world? The Microsoft Surface Pro 7 for Business* is up to the challenge.

Let’s take just one example of how this solution can equip a mobile and modern workforce: OneNote.

OneNote is a digital notebook for capturing, storing and sharing all kinds of information. Full integration with the cloud means employees of all levels can free their files from their desktop hard drive, save them and make them searchable wherever they go, on nearly any mobile device, tablet, or browser.

With Surface Pro 7 and OneNote:

• Craft notes and annotate content using the Surface Pen (which is sold separately.
• Easily scroll through content and tabs via Surface Pro 7’s touchscreen capabilities.
• Take your notebook anywhere via Surface Pro 7’s lightweight, versatile form factor.

The range of Surface Pro 7 devices also means that it’s viable for any role:

Embracing the modern workplace and equipping the modern workforce with the necessary tools does have some challenges; there needs to be some element of control. Microsoft offers several solutions to support this, including the Windows 10 Mobile Device Management (MDM) support. This allows users to access cloud-based management services to control business and personal devices. With this, employees can get access to corporate applications, data and resources from virtually anywhere on almost any device, while IT gets help keeping your business information secure.

Ultimately, the Microsoft Surface Pro 7 helps put people at the centre of a business. And this is the key. For businesses to thrive and grow, employees need to be; engaged, which requires a change in culture, allowed to work remotely and flexibly, all the while being enabled by technology.

*Disclaimer for the battery: 1 up to 10.5 hours of battery life based on typical Surface device usage. Testing conducted by Microsoft in September 2019 using preproduction software and preproduction Intel® Core™ i5, 256GB, 8 GB RAM device. Battery life varies significantly with settings, usage and other factors. See Microsoft.com.