Business travel is back, but prepare for delays
AND SET YOUR OWN LIMITS ON WHEN YOU’RE READY
Workish (not-so-best practices) by Sandy Marshall is FP Work’s take on the absurdities of the workplace. We also get serious with real advice from business experts.
According to airline hold times, business trips are back. But as cross-border restrictions fluctuate, basic air travel can be trickier to navigate than recycling stations at Tim Hortons.
Before dusting off the NEXUS card, remember that anything can change: You might encounter longer flight delays and new documentation requirements while waiting in line.
With that in mind, here are a few not-so-helpful tactics to consider when preparing for your next professional expedition, along with real, practical advice from an expert business traveller.
❚ WFA (Work from Airport): Flight delays fall within three main categories: mechanical issues, weather and miscellaneous. Now that everyone’s adept at working from home, consider a WFA plan while hovering for updates about the 6:40 to Newark. Airports already have power outlets, so just bring an industrial dolly with your desk, second monitor, whiteboard, and pillow. Pros: You’ll never technically be away from your desk. Cons: Even Aeron chairs aren’t built for naps.
❚ Send a stand-in: Got a big pitch approaching but Zoom won’t do the job? Save the hassle and send an artificial proxy to the meeting in Knoxville. Just ship an old-school cardboard cutout (with mic and camera), then ask the team to set your standee at the table. You can even tailor your corrugated avatar with a customized thought bubble.
❚ Jury road: Pre-pandemic travel carried unspoken rules of commuting with colleagues, including the “What’s In Your Security Bin?” personality assessment. Basic rules are the same: Prep a notebook entitled “Paths to New Revenue.” Depending on your job function, grab a copy of Wired or Golf Digest (never Russell’s Puzzles). Confidential to new flyers: Use a Sharpie to write “Aeroplan Elite” on your luggage tag.
And now for practical advice from a frequent business traveller:
Workish recently spoke with Liane Davey, cofounder and principal at 3Coze Inc., keynote speaker, and NYT bestselling author (You First: Inspire Your Team to Grow Up, Get Along, and Get Stuff Done), and recently The Good Fight, who told us that when planning business travel, aim for fewer and better trips, expect the unexpected and be empathetic.
Q: Are you planning to travel to the U.S. for business this fall?
A: Yes, I expect to be giving keynotes and facilitating in-person offsite sessions with my clients in the fall. While my strategy facilitation work has been well-suited to online collaboration, team effectiveness work and keynote speaking lose something without being together. I’m keen to have the opportunity to travel again.
Q: Are you seeing more client requests for in-person travel or are companies still planning virtual engagements?
A: The majority of requests I’m getting for the fall are for virtual sessions. That’s partly because clients have realized they can get more done with less wear and tear by working in virtual environments, and partly because I’m able to charge lower rates if I don’t need to spend two days travelling for a onehour keynote. And COVID uncertainty is still playing a role, as many organizers are tentative about committing to in-person sessions when new variants might emerge this fall. That said, we have our first in-person sessions planned for the end of September.
Q: Should professionals add criteria when accepting business trips or will travel be on a case-by-case basis for the foreseeable future?
A: I think it makes sense to have your own set of guiding principles based on what you’re comfortable with. For example, if you have a vulnerable person in your home, you might not be comfortable travelling and taking on that risk to them. If you have boundaries for when you will or won’t travel, it’s good to state those upfront. It doesn’t need to be too formal, but be clear that you’re signing on to travel, for example, ‘as long as health guidelines continue to say it’s safe,’ or ‘as long as kids are in school because my partner can’t be home during the day.’
While we’re using COVID as the basis for these decisions, the pandemic has been a good reset on business travel that I hope will continue to guide our behaviour long after the pandemic ends. If too much travel was conflicting with your concerns about the environment, or about your own physical or mental health, you might want to influence your team to skip travel for anything less than a oneday meeting, or to provide a virtual option for all but a small handful of in-person sessions in a year.
Before COVID, I was expected to attend one-hour planning meetings in person because it ‘just wouldn’t be the same’ over video. In the past year, I’ve seen CEOS hired, multimillion-dollar sales completed, and full strategies built from startto-finish without a single in-person meeting. It’s time to tell a different story about what must be in-person.
Q: Should companies allow for longer timelines for business travel?
A: While the world is readjusting to being on the road again, I suspect travel will be a little less efficient than normal. I’ve already started seeing the social media posts from friends who are stuck in airports. The good news is that if we travel for business less frequently, and for more important reasons, it will be easier to justify providing sufficient time to get to and from a meeting.
Q: What’s in your business travel toolkit these days?
A: Depending on where and how you’re travelling, you might need to be aware of airline restrictions and required forms, federal rules and exemptions, vaccine passports, even what’s available for meals or entertainment.
And get up-to-date information on what’s required when you’re arriving home. Are there isolation requirements, proof of a negative COVID test, or other hurdles you have to jump when you’re exhausted after a business trip? Best to know those requirements in advance.
And remember, many jurisdictions are still going in and out of lockdowns. So what was true last week could be out-of-date today.
Q: What steps are you taking to prepare for the unexpected?
A: I was such a pro at business travel before the pandemic. Now, I feel a little anxious about whether I’ll still have my travel mojo. I know I’ll be doing a few things to increase my confidence and comfort before and during the trip.
I’ve never been a bag-checker, and that will serve me well if connections are less reliable. I’ve also started buying travel insurance, just in case. The most important plan I have is to be extra, over-the-top nice to the people who will be helping me make these trips. Gate agents, customs officers, food service workers and flight attendants have had an incredibly challenging 18 months. I can only imagine how hard it is to keep your good humour as a bunch of rusty travellers now take out their frustrations on them. I’m practising how to not look dodgy while smiling at them in a mask.
Sandy Marshall (@Marshallsandy) is a Partner at Norman Howard, and a Chicago Emmy-nominated writer and producer. Got a topic for Workish to tackle? Email us at Fp_work@ Postmedia.com. You can follow Sandy at: twitter.com/ Marshallsandy or linkedin. com/in/sandymarshall/.