Never Completely Out of Touch

Webillian.id-The problem with business travel, frankly, is that you’re not at your desk. If you are a manager or project leader, your need to stay in touch with your team and what is happening at all times is critical. This need seems to conflict with the idea of ​​business travel. But with modern technology and a little coordination on your part, you can maintain a reasonable level of connection to your important projects and team activities even while driving in the rental car or waiting for a flight at the airport.

The actual technology you use to stay connected may change over time. Whereas in the past we could only use pay phones in airports, we have advanced technologically so that you can travel and access your network via your cell phone, wireless computer, or a variety of other devices. So the first step is to determine the type of technology that will meet your need for connectivity as well as enable you to work productively in locations as diverse as the airport, the seat of your plane, or your hotel room.

Never Completely Out of Touch

As you perform a technical review of the available technology, be sure to research the durability of the equipment you use on the road. You may be able to purchase the most advanced equipment on the market today. But if this equipment can’t handle the rigors of travel including getting hit in your luggage or exposure to heat, cold, humidity, or any other harsh condition you might throw at it, then it won’t be the type of gear you’d want by your side on a long business trip.

Once you have settled on the device, you must configure or configure it to access the Internet as well as be able to make use of your company’s intranet and network. It is critical that you can communicate with your team and have access to company files so that you can stay on top of what is going on with your projects at home. For example, if you have your project team file status reports every Friday morning, you should be able to review those reports and give directions for action items from those reports quickly and efficiently, even if you’re on a ten-hour flight from Europe.

To manage your phone contacts, the idea of ​​just putting an “out of office” auto-responder on your office messaging service is until the last decade. Alternatively, you can redirect your office phone to your cell phone and receive your phone calls remotely so you can manage your business as if you were on site throughout your trip.

There is a proper technology currently available for you to be able to access your desktop computer and play it back on your desk in the office even while traveling. One such service is gotomypc.com. But there are many of these services or your IT department may have a methodology for enabling this access that you can use if you involve them in planning your trip. By accessing your computer daily or multiple times per day, you can activate your instance of Microsoft Outlook or whatever your email program and read and reply to important emails while relaxing in your hotel room after your out-of-town business meetings.
These are just a few of the technologies that make it possible to perform almost any function from the remote control that you could have done only in the office in the past. So do not accept road restrictions. Check out how to be fully connected while on your business travels and the result will be that you can keep all your important business projects moving forward at the same time.