On The Road
The Best Ways to Stay Connected With the Office While Traveling
by Suzanne Bates
According to the Travel Industry Association of America, the average American takes 5.4 business trips per year. Some of my clients take ten times that number. Corporate travel has certainly bounced back since 9/11, and reward points and online booking make it more convenient than ever to get up and go.
Anyone who travels regularly knows that wireless technology has been both a blessing and a curse. People expect that you will be able to return a call or email within hours, even minutes. They rarely consider the fact that if you’re away, you’re probably away for a reason, and that considerable stretches will be spent on airplanes and in meetings.
You need technology to work for you…to be able to stay in touch without allowing email and voice mail to run your life. It’s good business to be responsive in a high tech world, which means keeping tabs on what’s going on back at the office, and responding to clients and customers. However, you want to be sure it doesn’t distract you from your primary purpose while traveling. If you’re attending a conference, the down time should be spent networking, not just answering email. Why go, if you aren’t going to be there and make the most of the opportunity to have face to face interactions?
My own travel schedule has picked up considerably in the last year or two, so I’m probably more sensitive than ever to the plight of my clients.
A reporter asked me to provide some tips on how to maintain business as usual when away from the office. This is what I shared with him:
• Check in. Schedule it. Early to mid-morning and again mid- to late afternoon, check
in for messages, client updates, meeting changes. You can let your office know when
you’ll be calling so they can be ready with an update.
• Set Guidelines: Communicate what you want your team to let you know right away
and what can wait. If they know you’re calling in, they will hold the less urgent
messages, and they’ll also have a sense of when to break silence and get in touch
immediately. This way you ensure that you’ll hear the important things without fear
of constant interruption.
• Decide how you want to be copied: While being copied on email correspondence
can fill up your box, it does help you keep your finger on the pulse of the office,
especially on important projects. It also sends a subtle signal that you expect work
to go on even if you’re not there… deadlines can still be met whether you’re in Tokyo
or Tewksbury. Decide what type of correspondence you want to be copied on, such as
important notes about projects or communication with prospects. Personally I like this
because then I don’t have to remember to ask.
• Empower people to help. Let your key people know where you will be and when you
will be available. I also suggest turning authority over to an executive assistant to
schedule calls or meetings with clients at his or her discretion. This is a personal preference, but a good assistant should think the way you do and be empowered to make appointments.
• Be judicious about vacation messages. I am personally not a fan of those automatically generated email messages. They come across as very impersonal.
And don’t tell me you’re on a cruise ship in the Caribbean. It annoys me that I’m at
work and you’re out having fun. Only use these messages if you do not have an
assistant or someone who covers your phone and email. When you do, please give
an alternate contact so they can talk to somebody if they need to. And of course, get
back to them as soon as you can.
• The “Sundown Rule.” One of our clients, an investment bank, insists that everyone
in the organization return calls before 5 p.m. that same day. One of my mentors
returns calls within 90 minutes. Now that’s impressive. Personally it is one of the most
challenging rules for me to follow, but it’s a goal. Whatever you decide is your standard, a prompt response tells each person they are important and builds their confidence in your company and services.