Archive for the ‘Cross Country Business’ Category

The odd thing about business travel is to some extent, it is a mixture of what you know the very strange.  The business you are going out to do you know how to do.  Whether it discussing a new business project, developing a software product or attending a seminar or conference, the business part of your business trip is probably not the hardest part.

But if you are new to business travel, there are some aspects to it that are very different from travel for leisure and ways to prepare for the trip that will make or break whether it goes well or you come home frustrated in your efforts.  Just like any business venture, the key word for success in this venture is preparation.  Above all, have your business program well organized and ready to use when you get there.  If you are giving a presentation, have it finished, the PowerPoint slides prepared and tested and all of your equipment ready to go when you set out.  The sheer fact that you are prepared for the work you are going to this new city to do will relieve your tension tremendously.

But preparation doesn’t stop just in planning for a successful business effort.  Do your homework about the place you are going and how you will handle the trip once you get there.  Here are some key things you should think well in advance about to assure your trip goes well.

*    Your plane flight.  As soon as you know your destination, book that flight.  The earlier you nail that down, the more you know you will have a flight and that your choice of seats is assured.  This can make business travel by air much less stressful.

*    Driving in a new town.  If you are going to drive in a new town, be sure you have maps and know how to negotiate the roads.  It’s a whole different world to drive in Boston compared to driving in Kansas City.  If you can avoid driving, make sure your ground transportation is arranged ahead of time.

*    Accommodations.  Obviously, book your hotel well in advance to assure you will have a room when you get there.  Only in situations where you are not sure where you will end up should you put this off.  The last thing you want would be to need a room at 11 p.m. and everything in town is booked up.

*    Extraordinary needs.  If you have medicines or other needs that are going to require special planning, get out ahead of that too.  If there are business needs you will require upon your arrival, you can ship things ahead for yourself so that equipment is waiting in your destination office when you arrive.

*    Dealing with security.  Remember that homeland security at airports is tight and the rules change from time to time.  You can usually find the current restrictions and ways the airlines will allow you to travel on the internet.  By knowing this in advance, you can avoid a lot of heartache when you get to the airport.

*    Money.  You don’t want to have wads of cash with you when you travel but think ahead about how much cash and other monetary needs you should have.  Travel with plenty of credit at your disposal.  Emergency situations on the road can be defrayed with good credit or you can find yourself in a real jam without it.  If you are traveling overseas, become familiar with the monetary system you will be using there.

*    Things you take for granted.  Little things mean a lot.  If you have creature comforts you need in the hotel room, think about them and pack such things so you can feel as at home as possible.  Something as small as your favorite pillow or a scented candle to relax you can make all the difference in your ability to rest and be ready for business the next day.

By doing plenty of good planning, you can assure yourself that you have what you need on the trip and nothing more.  This will become more natural as you travel more.  But take the time to prepare well and prepare early so as you venture forth on this big adventure, you know you have covered every base before you left home.

Business travel can be a productive, enjoyable and even exciting experience.  The time you spend doing business in other locations expands your business reach and scope and broadens you as a person as well.  Getting skilled at business travel is a solid business goal because there are skills related to business travel and being productive on the road that are impossible to learn if you don’t get out there and travel.

Many of the skills associated with business travel have to do with how to live productively on the road.  This is especially important if you find yourself on a lengthy business trip.  The life of moving in and out of hotels, traveling by car or airplane and the stresses of the work can wear down even the most robust and experienced business traveler.

Maintaining a healthy diet while traveling for business is a serious challenge and one that really can only be accomplished with some serious planning.  You will inevitably find yourself eating in a lot of restaurants on the road and that kind of food does not lend itself to a diet that is designed for weight loss or for a diet you must maintain for health reasons.

The first but biggest step forward to achieving diet goals while traveling is to communicate your desires to your traveling companions.  In a business setting, there is often a lot of encouragement to eat and drink well.  Everybody is on the expense account so it is easy to overdo it.  But if you let your coworkers and clients know you have compelling reasons to maintain a disciplined diet, most of the time they will respect that and find ways to help you be successful.

Another trick of business travel is not to depend on restaurants for your meals entirely.  If you can get out to a market early in the trip and purchase some fresh fruit and vegetables, you can prepare some healthy food in your room to fill you up and keep you on track. Then if you find that you must eat in a restaurant to discuss business with coworkers or build relationships with the client, your appetite will be low so you can get by on much less.

You can also be a voice for moderation in the selection of eating establishments for your meals.  Obviously, fast food is not going to be a good choice for you.  So if there is discussion about where to stop, you can vote for a place that serves a good variety of meal choices including some healthy choice menu options.  In that way if you must eat in a restaurant, you can find items to order that can be prepared in accord with your diet needs.

You will be surprised how many allies you will find both in your travel associates and with those you are doing business with at your destination who have diet goals but have not been successful because of the temptations of the life on the road.  Your open statement of intent to stick to your diet in spite of the rigors of business travel can be a tremendous inspiration to them.  Moreover, by building partnerships in your intent to live healthy, it is entirely possible to take your business to a healthy restaurant or deli and allow the rest of the party to go to a place of their liking.  As long as this is done without animosity, everybody wins.

Avoiding alcohol and snacks can be a huge challenge on the road as well.  Very often in a seminar setting or during a long day of discussions, the host company or office will provide cookies or other snacks to help the meeting go well by keeping everybody’s blood sugar up.  These snacks are going to be hard to resist.  One way to help yourself in that situation is to be prepared with your own snacks in your brief case to bring out to substitute for the unhealthy food being provided.

By thinking ahead about your diet needs and how you will provide for yourself while traveling, it is possible to sustain a healthy lifestyle even during business trips.  By supplementing theses steps with exercise and rest, you may find that your weather the trip much better than those who abuse their bodies and find yourself more productive as a business person as well because you made the effort to eat well on the road.

When you are booking a business trip, there are a lot of important decisions to be made.  Obviously, the important issue is your business objectives and that everything you need so the business you will do when you arrive comes off well.  So you will spend the majority of your efforts on those preparations or so you are well equipped for the trip.

But to use the old phrase, it’s the little things that mean a lot especially when you are enduring the inconvenience of business travel.  You put up with a lot of inconvenience and having to accommodate the needs of others in airports where everybody wants to be comfortable.  Little things mean a lot on a long business flight from how well you eat to the kind of car you rent on the other end.  Just a small surprise or accommodation along the way can set put you in a good mood on the trip and that mood could even influence the outcome of the meetings you will conduct when you make your business contacts at your destination.

Some people do not have a preference where they sit during the plane flight.  But there are a number of issues that can become significant during those hours where you are essentially immobile as you fly cross-country.  Some of those are.

*    If you are claustrophobic, having a window seat isn’t about sight seeing.  It can be a sanity saving necessity to keep you from focusing on the enclosed airplane space.
*    If you wish to work, you need some space to spread out.
*    Some medical needs might require easy access to the privacy of the laboratory, if for no other reason than to take medicine without being observed.
*    If you have close connections and are on a tight deadline, sitting near the front of the plane helps with getting off quickly.

To get some control over the variable of where you are sit en route to or from your business trip, put some thought into the issue up front and see if you can reserve the seat that suits your purposes before you ever get to the airport.  If you use online reservations, you can get a map of the plane, which will show you which seats are open.  This gives you excellent ability to move your seat so you can sit just where you want before you go to the airport.

Some factors to take into consideration are the room you need and whether you need to recline your seat or not.  The seats on the exit row are almost always more roomy.  In exchange for being willing to open the door in an emergency, you can gain twice as much room as you might have had which pays off when you want to work during the flight.

The last row of the airplane does not recline.  The upside of that row is that you don’t have anyone behind you to kick your seat back or bounce the tray table as they do whatever it is they are doing back there.  By the same token, the first set in the section does not have seats in front of it so it can be roomier.  But you may not have a tray table to use to set your laptop on for work.  These are trade offs worth thinking through in advance.

You can have your travel agent know your preferences when they book your flight.  But don’t miss the chance to make changes as late as the day of the flight.  You might spot a row that is not full and be able to grab a seat and have the row to yourself.  And that, in airline travel economies, is pure gold.