Business decision makers are missing out on important
networking opportunities because they feel guilty about being out
of the office, it was claimed today.
Some 81% of SME business leaders said they willspend less time
out of the office during the party season because they feel guilty
about doing so. This is despite 76% believing that networking is
more important than ever during an economic downturn.
A survey of 500 SME business leaders by Vanson Bourne, sponsored
by T-Mobile, revealedsome of the challenges they face as the
economy slows down."SME business owners believe face-to-face
contact is more important, reducing business networking in a
recession could impact their ability to reinforce existing
relationships and cultivate business leads," said the report.
Oliver Chivers, head of business marketing at T-Mobile, said
businesspeople should not feel guilty about networking, and mobile
technologies mean that
workers can continue to
do office work when out of the office.
"Blackberries, PDAs and mobile broadband technologies enable
employees to work on the move and remain in touch with colleagues
and customers wherever they need to be, so there is no reason for
business owners or their staff to feel guilty about being out of
the office," he said.
Entrepreneur James Caan of Dragons' Den fame and CEO of private
equity firm Hamilton Bradshaw, said the concept of mobile
technology by default makes your people more productive and more
available. "I actively encourage my team to get out and meet
business partners and prospects as much as possible, as I know this
will not impact productivity or mean we are any less available to
make important business decisions," he said.
Flexible working is also good for staff moral.
Findings from a survey of 1,080 people by The Work Foundation
and Microsoft last year showed that 50%would be happier if there
was a greater element of mobile working in their jobs and 16% said
that they would leave their jobs within six months if their boss
was not open to flexible working.