Maximize your time: the best time management tips for business travellers

In the age of Zoom, Teams & Co, business trips are becoming less frequent, but face-to-face meetings are still essential for important topics. The diary for business trips is usually full to bursting and many appointments have to be managed within a few days - often even at different locations. Effective time management is essential for optimum productivity on business trips. With these tried-and-tested tips, you can make time your ally, stay productive and get the most out of your business trip:

Good preparation is key

Before every business trip, create a detailed schedule with all important appointments such as meetings, conferences or presentations. Always allow for unforeseen events such as traffic jams or delays in air or rail traffic and build in appropriate time buffers. Also plan time for breaks and relaxation. A well-thought-out schedule will help you avoid bottlenecks and divide your time efficiently between all upcoming appointments.

Helpful apps for business trip management

There are various apps and tools that can help you organize your travel plans. Examples include Lanes & Planes, SAP Concur, Egencia and TravelPerk. These applications have been specially developed for business travel management and allow you to manage your flights, hotel and rental car bookings as well as all appointments conveniently in one place. The applications can be compared with classic travel booking tools such as Booking.com and Check24.de. With these apps, you always have all the important information at your fingertips and can use your time effectively. Travel expense reports can also be completed quickly and easily at the end of the trip.

Prioritize tasks

This tip doesn't just apply to maximizing your time on business trips; due to the particularly limited time available, it is even more important to define the most important tasks when travelling. If you don't manage to complete all your tasks in the allotted time, you may have to rebook flights or plan another overnight stay. This causes additional costs and organizational effort. Therefore, identify the most important tasks of your business trip in advance and set priorities. Priority should be given to the tasks that have the greatest impact on your goals. You can also delegate less important tasks to colleagues. This will allow you to make the best use of your time and concentrate on the essentials.

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Effective communication with all business partners

Clear and precise communication is crucial to avoid misunderstandings and save time. Use emails, conference calls or video conferencing in preparation for the trip to communicate efficiently with colleagues, customers and other business partners. Make sure that all relevant information is communicated clearly and comprehensibly to avoid queries and unnecessary delays.

Making sensible use of waiting times

Unplanned delays during a business trip are not uncommon. But instead of getting annoyed, you can turn flight or train delays into something positive. Use this time effectively by completing tasks that are not location-specific or do not require specific equipment. Answer emails, read important documents or repeat the lecture you have to give during the business trip. This is effective time management.

Efficient travel with the right means of transport

If possible, choose the fastest and most comfortable means of transportation for your business trip to save time. Give preference to direct flights to avoid unnecessary stopovers. Use local public transport at your destination or rent a car, whichever is most efficient. Plan your itinerary in advance to minimize traffic jams or delays. In large cities such as Paris or London, public transport is almost always preferable.

Plan breaks and stay productive

One of the valuable productivity tips for business travelers is to plan periods of rest during a business trip. This may sound like lost time, especially for the workaholics among you, but many studies have shown that regular breaks, even if they are only short, increase personal productivity.
You should therefore also plan breaks during a business trip to maintain your productivity. Allow yourself brief moments of relaxation to clear your head and recharge your batteries. Use this time to recover, reflect or simply switch off.

Delegate tasks where possible

Good time management for business travelers clearly includes delegating tasks to colleagues. It is best to identify tasks that you can delegate before the start of the business trip. This reduces your own workload and gives traveling employees or colleagues who are holding down the fort at home the chance to prove themselves and take on responsibility. It's basically a win-win situation for everyone involved, especially new employees can show what they can do. The prerequisite is, of course, that you trust your colleagues to take on such tasks. But they wouldn't be your colleagues if they didn't work responsibly and reliably.

Being organized saves time and is easy on the nerves

All of us have probably experienced this stressful situation before. You are standing in front of the immigration officer and can no longer find your passport or other important documents relating to your travel route or hotel accommodation. Such an unpleasant situation makes your pulse race, but it is completely unnecessary. Always keep all important travel documents to hand in a safe and easily accessible place. A handbag is ideal for women, a briefcase or hand luggage for men. Keep all documents well organized. This avoids time-consuming searches at passport control, at the car rental counter or at hotel check-in and reduces the stress factor. It is best to check everything again the evening before departure.

Learn from experience

When the business trip is over, most people immediately focus on the new challenges that await them at home in the office. However, it can be worth taking a quick look back. It is best to reflect on your time management strategy after every trip. Rarely does everything go perfectly and exactly according to plan. Identify areas where you can improve and optimize your approach. These are minutes well spent that will increase your productivity on business trips from time to time.

Conclusion

Business trips can be stressful, especially if they take you to different time and climate zones or to countries where you don't speak the language well or at all. You cannot change these factors, but effective time management is entirely up to you. These tips will help you to maximize your time on business trips. It starts with good planning in advance, but also includes making good use of unforeseen waiting times at the airport and ends with a brief reflection on your own time management after the trip. By following these productivity tips for business travelers, you can make the most of your time during a business trip and achieve your planned goals.