Making Business Trips a Pleasure
October 2003
If you have ever traveled on business, you know that it is not glamorous – in fact it can be downright awful. During one period of my career I was traveling to multiple offices, announcing an unpopular new initiative. I remember standing outside yet another airport, waiting for my baggage. I realized, as I stretched and breathed in the chilly October air, that I had the canned announcements (“There is no parking or standing on the airport drive….”) memorized at about eight West Coast airports. I chuckled to myself, and thought, “So much for glamorous travel. I wonder how it could get worse than this?” When I walked back in to baggage claim, my question was answered. Christmas Muzac had begun, and I had four more weeks of traveling to go. I nearly wept.
Here are some ways I’ve learned to reduce the stress of business travel:
Keep some basics pre-packed. At a minimum, have a toiletries kit and basic business clothing ready to go. If you are 90% packed, any trip is easier. Just make sure that you get the other 10%. I have ended up in places with three tubes of toothpaste and no toothbrush. That is easily remedied, but some things aren’t. A list is always prudent.
Have all the names, addresses and phone numbers that you need – in two places. It’s free insurance – when your plane gets delayed twice, your luggage never makes it, your hotel name has slipped your mind, and it’s midnight – you’ll be mighty glad you have a duplicate. I exaggerate, but over-preparation has consistently made my life easier. While under-preparation has led to some great stories, they were no fun to live through at the time. For example…
Make sure you know how to fully use all of your presentation materials and devices. This sounds obvious, yet one of my own most horrific work memories is of a disastrous presentation to an office of nearly a hundred people. Attendees ranged from bewildered to angry and downright hostile. My boss and I were showing how our new (and unwelcome) group was going to revolutionize the use of technology in the organization. In a huge room, with a full-screen presentation, we couldn’t make some auxiliary software work. First couldn’t find it, then couldn’t open it. Naturally, the projection software worked fine, so all this was visible to the entire room.
In our own defense, the hardware had arrived much overdue, multiple software packages had been loaded over the weekend by our long-suffering chiphead, who even met us at six a.m. Monday at the airport with the unit. There had been no time whatsoever to test anything. We knew all the software, but this was a different computer. None of that mattered as the silence built while we struggled.
Our credibility dropped by the second. I cannot emphasize enough how excruciating and long those moments were, and how pointless the next 45 minutes of our presentation was. We’d already lost everyone in the room. We’d have done better to skip the meeting entirely and say we’d been abducted by aliens.
We knew better, but circumstances combined to make it very difficult to test things. Do not allow this to happen to you. In retrospect, I would have rather stayed up all night. Make sure it all works, and that you have all the pieces you could conceivably need. There isn’t always an extra power cord or overhead projector bulb where you’re going. If you really need it, bring two.
Don’t work all evening at the hotel. Travel is already an inconvenience; you don’t owe anyone 24 hours a day. It can be tempting, as there is always something to do for tomorrow, or to check on back at the office, and and and. Don’t. Relax, read a book, watch a movie. Do whatever it takes to sleep well. It takes an extra amount of energy to do even routine work tasks in a different place, with different people, and a usually hectic schedule. Take care of yourself. Take a hot bath, call home and talk to your family. Go to bed early if you can.
Remember that for the most part, you will not be flitting about the city. You will be flitting about office buildings and gritty industrial districts. The insides of cabs and airplanes look the same everywhere. When I first started to travel for work, I would get all excited. “Oh, I’m going to San Diego for a conference! I’ve always wanted to see San Diego.” I soon discovered that if I wanted to actually see anything of where I was going, I needed to wrap-around a day or two or a weekend of my own. Do this if you can; frequently by staying over you can save on the airfare. Many employers are willing to foot the difference, and that can pay for the extra night(s) at a hotel. Even if they don’t, you still get a mini-vacation with free airfare.
If you can’t do this, at least make time to have a nice dinner somewhere or in some way get a sense of where you are. I’ve had this be as small as getting outside as often as I could during the day to breathe in the crisp Denver air, or as large as having my husband fly to meet me in San Francisco for a weekend in a hotel that was much more luxurious than I would ever pay for!
When you are out-of-town meeting a potential new client or supplier, of course you want to be at your best. Being relaxed and refreshed makes you more able to enjoy and appreciate what is special about where you are visiting. Most everyone enjoys showing off where they live and what they do. Your appreciation for your potential client as well as your own competence will come through much more clearly if you aren’t frazzled, harried, and missing one shoe. Travel can be profitable and fun, if you handle its challenges well. And that’s good business.
Ramona Abbott helps businesses maximize their efficiency, effectiveness and group dynamics. She utilizes proven techniques that are fun and affordable to help you improve your workplace in a variety of ways. She welcomes inquiries at 360-398-2606 or ramona@EssentiallyProfessional.com
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