European business travellers have become mobile ‘just in time’ workers, with 93 per cent completing preparation for meetings during their journey, according to new research published by Hewlett-Packard (HP).
The survey of regular business travellers from nine European countries revealed that 54 per cent spend at least half their journey doing work related to the purpose of travel. British travellers are most likely to work ‘just in time’, with 67 per cent spending more than half their journey preparing for forthcoming meetings, while only 43 per cent of Germans put themselves under this pressure.
By using technology, 88 per cent of business travellers are able to get ahead and remain productive by catching up on e-mail (31 per cent of the time), researching information (24 per cent of the time) and editing content (22 per cent of the time).
However, their greatest barriers to productivity are lack of connectivity (62 per cent) and being unable to get remote access to normal work tools or applications (51 per cent).
“Mobile working has become a fact of life for executives. Our survey illustrates the new style of IT driven by connectivity and it’s creating greater expectations of mobile devices,” said Igor Fiolic, printers and personal systems country manager for Croatia.
“This is why HP recently introduced the first tablet specifically designed for business called the Elite Pad 900, which offers the same functionality and performance users would expect from their standard notebook, combined with battery life that lasts a whole working day rather than just a few hours.”
HP’s survey also shows that the office is no longer where many workers feel at their most productive. Seventy-three per cent of business travellers see journey time as enabling them to catch-up and improve their productivity. A further 56 per cent say they have their best ideas while away from the office.
However, the aspirations of business travellers are beginning to exceed the capabilities of their devices.
Despite prolific use of technology, eight out of 10 feel restricted: 59 per cent find internet connectivity slow or inconsistent; 56 per cent say device battery life is too short; 51 per cent find the performance of their device too slow; while 50 per cent say connecting to the internet or their mobile network is too expensive or difficult.
73%
The percentage of business travellers who see journey time as enabling them to catch-up and improve their productivity
“We’ve seen business travellers come to expect the same ease of use, design qualities and performance they experience with consumer technology,” said Fiolic.
“They’ve been bringing more consumer devices into their working lives, but these don’t always meet the requirements of the IT department.
“The focus of our commercial product innovation is on creating solutions that deliver the best connectivity with the functionality needed for business, while still maintaining the great style of a consumer device.”
www.hp.com
Business travellers feeling restricted
• 59% find internet connectivity slow or inconsistent;
• 56% say device battery life is too short;
• 51% find the performance of their device too slow;
• 50% say connecting to the internet or their mobile network is too expensive or difficult.