By Steven Norton
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. relocated to a new
headquarters in Stamford, Conn. a few years ago. That gave CEO
Frits van Paasschen a chance to get rid of some clutter.
The first thing to go? His desktop computer. "I thought, you
know what, I actually don't use it," he said. Instead, he chose to
go all mobile. "I do all of my work via mobile so essentially my
office is wherever I go, and I can be much more productive."
Mr. van Paasschen, 53 years old, is among a growing number of
professionals to enter the post-PC world, ditching the desktop and
turning to smartphones and tablets as primary work tools. The
former Coors Brewing Co. chief relies on his Apple Inc. iPhone and
iPad for work both at home and the office.
He admits that the transition was easier for him than for the
average employee, since he spends the bulk of his time traveling,
attending meetings, or reviewing documents others have created. But
he is an early adopter, not a fluke.
As mobile devices get faster and add new capabilities, the
chained-to-your-desk PC may begin to fade. Research firm Gartner
Inc. projected in July that the traditional PC market, both
desktops and laptops, was on pace to shrink 6.7% this year, and
5.3% in 2015, based on the number of units shipped. Tablets and
smartphones, on the other hand, are expected to grow.
Eli Lilly & Co., for example, transitioned its entire sales
team away from laptops over the past few years, deploying 18,000
iPads to help improve the way salespeople interact with busy
doctors. Mike Meadows, Lilly's vice president and chief technology
officer, said the switch boosted productivity since the salespeople
no longer had to fumble with bulky computers and poor battery
life.
At Starwood, Mr. van Paasschen's office doesn't have a real
desk, or the tangle of wires that comes with a typical PC setup.
Instead, the room sports a couch and a conference-style table with
some built-in power outlets. His real office might as well be the
black bag he carries with him, which contains his iPad, keyboard
and a large plastic container for chargers.
The Dutch-born Mr. van Paasschen says the mobile shift, paired
with a hectic travel schedule, puts him in the shoes of the hotel
operator's primary customers: digitally savvy business travelers
who expect to be connected wherever they go.
Mr. van Paasschen's working day revolves around mobile, even
when he's not on the road. In the morning, he wakes to his iPhone
alarm, sends a few texts, then heads to the gym in his basement.
There, he whips out his iPad to catch a TED talk or Netflix
documentary between reps. The tablet also joins him at breakfast,
where he "reads the paper" using mobile apps like Zite and
Flipboard before getting back to email and heading to work. After
work, he often finds himself on his phone playing Letterpress,
Scrabble or Sudoku.
He's started texting more, his colleagues say, and he will
occasionally conduct a performance review via Google Hangouts or
FaceTime, Apple's videoconferencing application. When visiting a
property in Portland, Ore., a "luxury soap dispenser" became fodder
for a quick photo to his chief brand officer.
Meanwhile, mobile apps at Starwood have moved beyond standard
productivity tools like email and now include core enterprise apps
built specially for mobile usage. The hotel operator's new "Room
Cataloguing" mobile app, built for global hotel associates who are
usually on their feet helping guests, references 12 million data
points about hotel rooms around the world, such as whether a room
is close to an elevator, or has a full-length mirror.
That data gets filed in a Starwood global reservation system.
Now, if a guest wants that full-length mirror, Starwood can quickly
match them to the right room. It's that agility, Mr. van Paasschen
says, that will pay dividends to Starwood, whose brands include
Westin, Sheraton, W Hotels and St. Regis. "The system also gives
time back to the associates so they can spend more time actually
responding to guests' needs."
Mobile has also boosted productivity, he said. Meetings at
Starwood are paperless, emails are shorter, and Mr. van Paasschen
won't open bulky spreadsheets. "When I get the massive file, the
first thing I'll do is send it back and say tell me the key points
that I actually need to understand."
Chris Holdren, global SVP of Starwood Preferred Guest and
Digital, has taken a note from his boss. His laptop permanently
resides in his New York City office. His iPad and iPhone keep him
connected during the two-and-a-half-hour commute to work each day,
and he no longer needs a PC to work on presentations. "Now I just
use my iPad."
To be sure, mobile isn't a magic bullet yet. Mr. van Paasschen
admits that his travel-heavy schedule makes it easier to ditch the
PC.
"You can work and dress and use technology in the way that most
suits you, and I think that ultimately the result of that is that
we're all more productive," Mr. van Paasschen said.
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