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That’s the perception the media portray with dramatic headlines like Sydney Morning Heralds’s “Mobile phone mania” and “Australia becoming smartphone addicted” by the ABC implying the fabric of society is fraying due to the mobile phone. For a time I agreed, being a Digital Immigrant (over 30) I was slow to adapt to mobile and social because they seemed to be distracting, invasive and anti-social.
I came to realise I was missing out on work efficiencies, stronger relationships and better connections with family and friends. I dreamt of being unshackled from my desk. The solution was right in front of me. Mobile was converging with cloud computing, social media and information (what Gartner coins the Nexus of Forces), creating huge opportunities to run your personal and professional lives more productively. I wanted in. I needed to learn and adapt fast.
All I needed to do was learn from the Digital Natives (aka Millennials, Gen Y’s and Z’s) who grew up using digital technologies, who naturally manage their personal and professional lives via 'micro-moments’ (10 to 60 second bursts) of mobile productivity.
Before joining System Partners I managed the development of Vodafone Australia’s Salesforce instance. In 2011 their Digital Native staff convinced me that smartphones really can increase business productivity. We implemented Salesforce Chatter to 5000+ employees. Chatter quickly became the conduit connecting experts to operational and customer-facing staff. When Vodafone’s much-publicised network failures in late 2011 caused a customer care crisis, our staff hammered the Chatter mobile app to rally, respond to customers and inevitably help rebound the company. The Chatter mobile app has evolved into Salesforce1 now and its capability to manage micro moments is even greater today.
This experience urged me to embrace mobility and social media and my day became more digitally productive. I began to follow influential people on Twitter and LinkedIn to gain great information and amazing human connections and in turn I shared articles, my insights and opinions with my new network.
I now use my mobile phone throughout the day to keep me connected, efficient and organised in both my work and personal life. A typical day in my digital life starts with the sound of my mobile phone alarm then I might:
Check out the 5 Must Have Mobile Apps for Small Business blog for more micro moments.
Mobile and cloud have finally enabled the effective capture, collation, retrieval, use and analysis of customer-related data. Social has added the element of discussing, solving and learning. It’s this Data Optimisation that significantly improves business efficiencies and capability. You must embrace mobile to be competitive.
You are never too old and it is never too late to embrace mobility (I’m the living proof). It is possible to transition to being digitally literate and capable even if you are a Digital Immigrant. Are you over 30 and thought (or still thinks) living on your mobile is bad? Sure, you are an experienced professional and could teach the Natives a thing or two about business but here’s your wake-up call!
We now need to work into our 60’s or 70’s so slow adoption to mobile, social and cloud technologies could be career limiting. If you run a business, slow adoption may significantly impede your chance of success against companies pushing the boundaries of traditional business.
Seeking guidance from trusted Digital Natives will help you to survive and succeed in the digital age and mutual mentorships are a great way to learn and grow. Remember if you’re concerned your mobile phone will take over your life, micro moments are the key. Micro moments will allow you to run your life and your business on the phone but won’t let your phone run your life.
Download the 100 Ways to Run Your Business From Your Phone for 100 more micro moments
About the Author
Murray is a Principal Consultant at System Partners and provides companies strategic and tactical guidance on cloud-capability and sculpts solution delivery roadmaps to achieve their goals. For over 15 years Murray has managed leading-edge technology initiatives for many of Australia’s key Financial Services and Telecommunications companies, helping them differentiate themselves in challenging markets. Prior to joining System Partners, Murray evangelised and delivered Salesforce solutions at Vodafone Australia. There, he helped transform their internal Collaboration and Social Care capability to respond to their much publicised crisis period and then rebound.
