Whether you’re traveling for a road show, trade show or training seminar, it can be difficult to foster an environment of teamwork while you’re on the road. Travel naturally makes people a little anxious and short-tempered, but there are ways that you can get around that and have a successful and productive trip for all.
- Delegate responsibilities to each member. The easiest way to avoid fatigue and frustration is to make sure that each member of your team knows what they should be doing at all times. Don’t give them any room for confusion or error! Make one employee responsible for packing up any company materials, another employee responsible for the schedule and another employee responsible for dealing with things back home — it’ll make the entire trip much easier.
- Give employees their free time. If you’re full of energy and motivation, it can be easy to assume that your employees want to keep working on your project — whatever it may be — as well, but everyone needs their free time. In an unfamiliar city, it can be important to give employees some time on their own to rest and regroup. Otherwise, they may get overwhelmed.
- Don’t sweat the small stuff. Travel is full of incidental occurrences, some worse than others. Delays may happen, you may get lost and you may find yourself with canceled reservations. Remember that your team members will take their emotional cues from you. Take a moment to calm down and then ask yourself: How can I best fix this problem? Likewise, if you see another team member having problems, take a moment to ask them how they feel the situation should be best resolved.
- Keep your schedule as flexible as possible. Every day should be scheduled so that you’re always doing something, but also so that delays will not create a cascading effect that could ruin the entire day. Make sure that you have contingency plans in the event that something does not go as you intended. The best way to deal with problems is to avoid having a problem at all.
Naturally, there are some times when tempers may flare; even the most mild-mannered employee may get upset when, for instance, a flight has been delayed or critical items of luggage have been lost. Try your best not to hold it against an employee who loses their cool as long as they bounce back to their positive, constructive self as soon as possible.
Posted in: corporate travel, travel tips
