Productivity

Making the most of business travel: how to work while on the road

Reading time:  2 Minutes

Over 1.3 million business trips are made everyday in the US. In China, the business travel market is set to grow by 12% in the next year. Despite this, many of us aren’t making the best use of this time – YouGov research shows 77% of business travellers find productivity lower than in the office. For 26%, these trips actually have a negative impact on their job satisfaction.

In fast-growing companies, with employees often covering several functions, going away on business comes with the territory. How, then, can managers keep their workers happy and productive when they’re on the road? Often, the key comes from a change in mindset.

ROI measurement

Work travel is one of the first targets when cutting overheads, but this is based on a mistaken perspective of value addition. In isolation, one conference or keynote speech is expensive, but the entire trip should be considered as a whole. Therefore, you also need to measure the returns on the day-to-day work done in the hotel or even in the airport – otherwise you’re losing several days-worth of productivity.

This means environment and location are crucial. Try not to compromise on physical surroundings any more than you would on workspace quality in the office, even if it initially may appear more expensive. This means that finding a coworking space while in a different city may cost more, but it could also improve your focus. Equally, working close to your clients delivers returns, with Regus research showing 67% of businesses worldwide find that physical proximity to clients drives sales.

Time

Rather than letting jet lag and tiredness destroy your schedule, timezones can actually help you work at (or even beat) the speed of business. You can find your productivity increasing by dealing with any issues you need to before everyone else in your company wakes up.

The travelling part of any business trip can be a black hole for efficiency, so accept you’re going to have downtime or time where you’re off-grid and plan accordingly. For example, schedule your work that doesn’t require a secure connection for any long layovers.

Sleep

Not getting enough sleep – particularly less than six hours – significantly slows down the brain’s prefrontal cortex, which is the part that controls innovation and creativity. So whether you’re negotiating deals, making presentations or visiting suppliers, getting a good night’s sleep is key. In other words, turn off all your devices before going to bed to minimise distraction and invest in a proper alarm clock – and you’ll wake up ready to face the day.