How To Keep Your Office Running Smoothly When You Travel For Work

While it’s fun and exciting to be flying around the world and engaging with others, it can also be a challenge to keep the office running smoothly when you’re away.

It’s extremely important your employees are trustworthy, andyou can depend on them to keep the company running effortlessly when you can’t be present. Be wise and put measures in place that will help you to stay on top of what’s going in the office when you’re on a trip. If you leave it up to chance,you risk running into complications and unwanted situations that could have been avoided.

Check in Often

Get good about checking in with your employees often when you’re away on business. Pick up the phone and call them and actually talk to a few different people. Be prepared with a list of questions or concerns, soyou’re making the most of your time when engaged in these conversations. Set up a regular check-intime with a point person and then also randomly pick up the phone and call whenever the mood strikes you to see who’s around and working. Set an alarm or reminder on your phoneif you have to so you’re consistent, andyour staff knows you’ll be watching.

Assign Roles & Responsibilities

Make sure people know what they’re supposed to be doing while you’re gone on your trip. A greatidea is to assign roles and responsibilities and document each person’s duties, sothere’s never any gray area about what they should be getting done. For example, it’s important to make sure employees continue to get their pay stubs even though you’re not in the office to oversee the task. You can view here the importance of a pay stub and why you need to make sure your employees are receiving them on a regular basis.

Put A Leader in Charge

Although you’re the boss, it’s a wise idea to put someone in charge who can be the leader in the office and replace you when you’re not physically there. Grant them the ability to make critical decisions and manage the employees who are in the office until you return. This way you can trust that tasks are being completed and there’s someone who is closely watching what’s going on, sothere’s no foul play. You can get in touch with them whenever you need to get a daily and weekly report about what’s been happening in the office without your presence.

Stay Connected at Your Meeting or Client

These days there’s no excuse as to why you can’t be in constant touch with your office when you travel. For example, use email and your phone to stay connected and come to the rescue should there be any problems that arise. It’s not a good idea to completely check out once you arrive at your destination and just hope that all will be well when you get back to your desk. Use your breaks wisely and find somewhere quiet where you can dial in towhat’s happening back at your workplace and answer emails or respond to messages.

Participate in Regular Videoconferences

Another excellent way to keep your office running smoothly when you travel is to participate in video conferences on a regular basis. This way you can see everyone who you’re speaking with and seamlessly get the lowdown on what’s been occurring without you and what you’ve missed. It’s easier to speakabout sensitive or complicated issues over video conferencethen it is to try and email or text about it. Make it a point to continue to hold your company-wide and department meetings through video even though you may be traveling and not physically in your workspace.

Don’t Micromanage

It’s going to be very tempting to want to know exactly what’s happening at all times when you’re away traveling. Be extra careful not to micromanage your employees when you’re travelingfor business. Hire people who you trust and know will do a good job, andyou shouldn’t have to worry. Avoid shooting off emails every few minutes and making it clear to your staff that you have no faith in them to keep your company functioning without you there. It’ll be tempting to want to doubt or second guess your employees, but remember how good of a job they do when you’re present and let that give you the confidence you need to trust they’ll continue to do a solidjob for the duration of your trip.

Surprise Your Employees Every so Often

You can keep your office running smoothly when you travel by surprising your employees once in a while and not always scheduling your check-ins. For example, show up a day or two early unexpectedly or call a meeting when they least expect it so you can see how everything’s trulygoing. If they always know when you’re going to call or show up,they may start to slack a bit, andthis could upset you. Catch them off guard and keep them on their toes by not being so predictable all the time. This way you can trulysee who your superstars are and pinpoint the people who are causing most of the trouble.

Conclusion

Traveling is hard enough work as it is, but now you also have to worry about what’s going on back in the office when you’re gone. While you don’t want it to distract you or take away from your business meeting, you should be prepared to handle the situation with poise. Use these tips to help you run a smooth operation when you travel, soyou don’t return having to deal with a big mess. Although it’ll take a little extra effort on your part, you’ll thank yourself down the road when your business is thriving, andyou don’t have to spend time fixing what broke all because you weren’t physically present.