Smartphone and tablet technology is still maturing, but it has already managed to establish a foothold in the office, and this trend is moving forward fast.  Mobile devices have several obvious advantages to workers, including convenient access to company resources, better collaboration and more, but a couple of  recent studies also reveal that connected workers, even the ones that slack off, are more productive workers than their average traditional counterparts.

A report called “Impact of Cyberloafing on Psychological Engagement”  by Don J.Q. Chen and Vivien K.G Lim of the Academy of Management in Texas  claims that workers who surf the web, specifically visit their favorite websites during work, are more productive than those who don’t.

“The reasons behind the positive effects of browsing the Internet are logical,” Dr Lim said .  “People usually choose to visit only the sites that they like – it’s like going for a coffee or snack break. Breaks of such nature are pleasurable, rejuvenating the web surfer.”

Replying to emails on the other hand is not as relaxing, the report reads,  and actually reduces productivity.

Overall, the mobile worker faces far more distractions than the rest of the workforce, but the return is worth it to employees. iPass released its  quarterly Mobile Workforce Report on Tuesday, a study that surveyed  3,100 mobile workers across 1,100 enterprises.  It revealed that 75 percent of them worked more than eight hours a day, and 79 percent reported that they are feeling more productive thanks to their flexible schedules.

Looking into more specific numbers, 55 percent of the respondents said they worked  at least 10 extra hours a week, and 12 percent are working an additional 20. That adds up to an average of 240 extra hours  a year according to this infographic, which in turn claims that  59 percent of CEOs and presidents say wireless services are “essential” to their business.

One of the reasons that’s true is that a flexible work environment proves to be a major bonus for mobile employees. In fact many of those who  participated in the iPass survey, 33 percent, said they may even consider quitting should this be suddenly disallowed.  This has powerful implications for the cloud, as more companies and end users rely on connected devices to enhance both their work and personal lives.  Flexibility is key in the future of the enterprise, at least as far as its employees are concerned.  Connected devices give us the freedom to work from anywhere, anytime, and this growing demand will only increase pressure on companies to accomodate a mobile workforce.

The social enterprise also comes into play, as it will replace many of the inter-office interactions that currently take place in the physical realm.  Sharing documents with change logs and update alerts makes entire teams more responsible and productive, adding value to these social interactions that ultimately benefit the enterprise.