Is extensive travel in your future? Your leaders’ futures? And what does this mean for face-to-face communications?
Why ask? Well, the preliminary results of the leadership communications survey I’m currently conducting show that communication professionals are actively involved in helping leaders at all levels enable two-way communications with employees.
(By the way, you’re welcome to take this survey if you are responsible for leadership communications for leaders at any level—C-Suite, business unit/function or people managers, including front-line supervisors. The link is http://www.zoomerang.com/Survey/?p=WEB229KPHKAN8M. The survey is open until Thursday, Sept. 17. In return for your 15 minutes to take the survey, you’ll get a copy of the results.)
Often, two-way communications has meant face-to-face communications with people in the same physical space.
Yet, as the economy slowly rebounds, many—including those in the travel and hospitality industries—are wondering if we’ll ever return to the heavy travel schedules we enjoyed before the economic meltdown.
During the past year, many of us have adjusted to life off the road with more webinars, video conferencing, live computer chats, and old-fashioned conference calls. These methods are less expensive, less physically taxing, and more environmentally friendly.
Yet do these benefits outweigh the value of spending face-to-face time with people in other locations around the globe?
As with most things in business, the decision depends on the situation. What challenging issues are people dealing with at a location? When did you last show your face there? How many people are new? Are there important customers or other stakeholders who also merit a face-to-face meeting?
While you do (or finish) your 2010 planning, are you talking with your leaders about your travel plans? (By the way, wome of the early survey results are also showing that some communication pros think they could serve their leaders better if they could spend more time with them, including more time on the road.) You want to be strategic about travel rather than reactive.
And if you decide to pull back on your travel again this coming year, how will you maintain high-touch engagement in a more virtual world?
For example, if you’ve not done so yet, is it time to invest in more advanced technology? Should you encourage regional get-togethers and help plan them? Are you working with your meeting planners to take full advantage of any meetings you will be holding to ensure you’re getting maximum value from your investments?
What else can you do to keep lines of communication open and information flowing both ways?
Liz Guthridge is a consultant, author, and trainer specializing in strategic change communications. Department leaders of Fortune 1000 companies hire Liz and her firm Connect Consulting Group LLC when they need their people—who are confused, angry or in denial—to adopt complex new initiatives so they can quickly change the way they work. For more information, contact Liz, liz.guthridge@connectconsultinggroup.com or 510-527-1213. Follow Liz on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/lizguthridge.
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