05/ 30/ 2007
by Emma Johnson
How to stay connected on the road
Vince Thompson knows what a challenge it is to communicate with his office while on the go. A seasoned road warrior, Thompson, who was an AOL executive for seven years, often traveled cross-country, logging a dozen face-to-face meetings per day—all while managing a team back home in California. "I would assume I could work in my hotel room all night after dinner, but client dinners would always run late, and I'd be so exhausted," he says. "I'd oversubscribe myself—and when you're on the road, you just can't do that."
Thompson's no longer with AOL, but that hasn't changed his travel schedule. As the owner of Los Angeles-based Middleshift, which helps its media clients figure out ways to create revenue, he's still logging the miles, but has learned how to better juggle his breakneck schedules, management duties and the flood of daily messages screaming for a reply. "The key is building in downtime and preparing in advance," he says.
Follow these tips to make staying connected more manageable on your next business trip:
Send an away message. Thompson sends his staff and top customers an e-mail outlining trip dates and alternative contacts, which helps cut down the number of messages chasing him through his travels. For anyone you may have left out, customize your voicemail greeting and set up an auto-reply for incoming e-mails with the same information.
Prioritize the pressing issues. Ask your staff to send you an outline of what projects they need your attention on each morning you're away. Even if you can't address all these items on the road, at least you'll have a thorough to-do list upon your return. If your business runs in cycles, save these outlines so you'll have an idea of what you'll need to prepare for in advance of the next trip. "It would be a shame to repeat the same cycle of issues on each trip," Thompson says.
Let technology help. New technology like SimulScribe lets you read your voicemail. Using voice recognition software, it converts voicemail messages into text and sends them to your mobile phone, PDA or e-mail account, giving you access to important messages no matter where you are. Other products like Intellicom's Innoport allow users to streamline voicemail, e-mail and fax into one account accessible by cell phone or Internet. Applications like MojoPac, which you can download on any USB-enabled device, allow users to access their entire desktop computer contents, including settings, preferences, files and applications from a remote location.
Designate a time to stay connected. While away, don't try to return messages with your normal frequency. Instead, Thompson says, set aside a chunk of time twice daily to check and answer messages.
Web Extra
To learn how to back up the work you do on the road, go to the "Web Extras" section of www.NFIB.com/toolsandtips.
