business trips

Business trips: 10 keys to organize them

The business trips are the order of the day. It is an activity increasingly frequented by companies due to the emergence of business opportunities, collaborations, events, international fairs and meetings outside the city where we work.

Before reviewing anything regarding the destination city we must define or clarify what the objectives of the trip are. For example, what do we want to achieve with this trip? If we want to make new contacts, perhaps we should organize our agenda very well so that we can make the most of our time there.

Once we have clarified the objective of our professional trip, we will plan our stay. Here are some tips for organizing your business trip.

Travel documentation

Before starting any kind of business trip, and especially abroad, we must have all the necessary documentation in order. Depending on the destination and our nationality we will need one type of documentation or another.

  • Identity card. We must have at our disposal some document that identifies us.
  • Passport. It is necessary to be able to travel to foreign countries
  • Travel Insurance. Having travel insurance is very important in case any problem occurs at the destination. If we don't have one, we recommend that we hire one.

Business travel can involve a number of problems such as lost luggage during the use of any transportation in the city.

After all, we are constantly on the move with all kinds of documentation and mobile devices. Therefore, it is common for us to lose some belongings.

It is important that we look at the coverage of the travel insurance. Some of them are: medical assistance, civil responsibility, cancellation, etc.

Take out the tickets

Another important part in the management of business trips is the search and booking of train, flight or the means we will use to reach our destination.

Depending on the management of our company we will have to take the tickets out on our own or not. If we do it on our own, it is advisable to do it well in advance to avoid unreasonable prices, since our company in the majority of the occasions will prefer the most economic options.

Schedule Meetings

Time during business trips is gold. Managers' schedules are very tight and they have just enough time. Therefore, we must have organized all the meetings that we are going to have during the trip.

However, even when we have everything under control, there are usually unforeseen events. At any time there may be an important meeting that we cannot miss.

Therefore, it is always good to leave an "empty" margin of time for those unforeseen events that may arise.

Time Zone

Keeping an eye on the time zone doesn't hurt. This is important if there is a lot of difference between our country and the destination we are going to travel to.

If we are going to be on a plane for many hours it is advisable not to schedule meetings first thing in the morning as we will not be in our full capacity. In this case it is better to rest a little and carry out our activities once we are in an optimal way.

In addition, knowing the type of weather is fundamental to organize what kind of clothes we're going to take in the suitcase. We don't want to take a coat with us when the place we're travelling to has a warm climate, do we?

Luggage on business trips

Once we are clear about the destination city, the number of days and the weather, it is time to start packing.

We have to take into account the weight and size of the luggage if we are going to make our professional trip by plane in order not to exceed the allowed limit.

Some journeys are often long and require us to carry the suitcase for too long. Therefore, as a tip, we could bring clothes that do not need ironing. This way, we won't find our clothes wrinkled once we get to the hotel.

In addition, we can also take some garments different or more comfortable than usual, in case there is any planned after hours.

Working devices

It is essential to have the usual devices with an internet connection that we use during work: telephone, laptop, tablet, etc... in order to be able to work during the business trip.

In addition, constant contact with our company is essential. Therefore, we'll have to talk if it's it is necessary to contract some kind of tariff for mobile calls and data before we start the trip.

Let's not forget the batteries and chargers needed for all our devices, the types of adapters we need, as well as the passwords for our terminal accounts.

Accommodation on business trips

An important filter at the time of hotel search is how close it is to the place we're going to have a meeting, an event, etc.

Therefore, we will try to choose an accommodation that is well connected to the airport or train station, which we will use.

The days during business trips are often exhausting. Therefore, it is a great advantage to have the accommodation very close by once we finish our task to go and rest soon.

In this case, it is important to check if the accommodation has services that affect our comfort such as the type of bed, noise insulation, parking, restaurant and other details that make our stay much easier and more comfortable.

A good tip when choosing a hotel is to look at the opinions of the users to see how their stay there was. Although nowadays almost all hotels have Wifi, it is important to make sure that there is an internet connection in case we need to work from the room.

Transport

Moving around the city is common on business trips, and more so if it is a big capital.

When we do the site search it would be convenient to see how long it takes to go from one place to another, as for example from the hotel to the event we go to, in order to avoid unforeseen events and having to walk around the city.

This point is very important if we have scheduled meetings because, if we have two meetings in a row, we will have to think about how to get around.

It is also important depending on where the accommodation is located. If our hotel is far away from the airport or some place of interest, we may need a vehicle to get around.

Therefore, it is time to assess what type of vehicle we will need. There are times when we will need to ask for a taxi because we'll have to travel on time. However, on some occasions we anticipate that we will need to move around the city a lot.

To do this, it may be better to think about choosing a rental car. This way, it will be cheaper for us than if we are constantly booking taxis.

Destination Information

Although it is not a priority when preparing a professional trip, it is quite advisable to do a brief search on the city where we are going to stay.

Details such as the distance between the airport and the hotel, places to have lunch with potential clients, etc., are important in order to save as much time as possible and avoid unexpected setbacks.

In addition, it is not too much to know places of interest in case at some point of the trip we have time to spare and we can devote it to personal leisure.

Cost Control for Business Travel

Esta tarea es trabajo para el departamento financiero y es cierto que resulta algo desconcertante debido a la cantidad de facturas que acarrean los viajes profesionales.

Therefore, the most convenient thing to do before travelling is to apply for a credit card from the company with which you can make all the payments.

In addition, if our company has designed a travel policy we'll have to conform to it and not exceed the expenses of the established limits.

In VyooTrip we can make our payments and control the expenses during the trip avoiding those multiple invoices at the end of the month for the financial department since they unify it in one, saving a lot of time during the accounting process.

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