In the pages of the novel about a White House staffer, written by Kristin Gore (yep, that guy’s daughter), the protagonist describes the schedule of the fictionalized president: “12:06 pm – 12:07 pm move to Roosevelt Room”; “12:08 pm – 12:27 pm Discussion of Labor Dispute”; “12:27 pm – 12:30 pm Return to Second Floor Residence”. The character describes this tight schedule as ludicrous, as I am thinking, wow; this is a good way to work in the travel time between meetings in Dave’s calendar. Are you thinking: Get. A. Grip.
Maybe.
Fact: Scheduling the calendar for the CEO can sometimes make you think you are the character in a novel, or make you wish the mess you have made were all fiction.
Take for instance, maintaining the CEO’s travel arrangements. He can travel to one city per week, sometimes two, and if he should leave the country…. It is not just the challenge of scheduling meetings at the correct time (time zone please!) at the correct office, it is transferring him to the meeting, and verifying if it is easier to walk, take a taxi, maybe car service, or jump on the train, or back on a plane. So, there are maps, (which make some coworkers chuckle) hanging on the wall, map pins pointing to pivotal BzzAgent meeting locations.
The whole thing can be overwhelming, especially when after I have located the appropriate London tube stop, Dave will ask, “But how do I get from the stop to the meeting?”
WHAT?!!
Ok, so now accustomed to these questions, I am armed with a variety of online resources. I think to myself, how did the assistant in the 1960’s transfer the CEO around – by using tracing paper and a bucket of colorful markers?
I’m still looking into this because I take my chewed pencil tip and salute you.
So I consult my list of website favorites, like London’s most accurate site for walking directions, Walk it, (includes calories burned!), or Tube Planner to find the nearest tube stop with minutes calculated. If not, I just might send the CEO down the wrong road (well, ok, maybe I’ve done this once, ok, maybe twice…um, shoot, hangs head in shame over laptop).
Quick! Convert dollars into pounds.
There is of course the staple site, maps.google.com for all things map related. There is Trip Advisor (hey, isn’t this a frog?) for things like reviews of hotels, restaurants…. Oh, and for the all important NY cross street, I seek help from Manhattan Address. If I’m off a block, (no, don’t say it!) it can wreck the whole meeting day! For a brief executive bio or company contact info I speedily click Zoom Info.
When a conference call between two different time zones is imminent, I first seek the site World Clock, and then if Dave is about to board a flight at the end of the call, a quick click of the mouse later I am on the page, Faa.gov for up to the minute airport delays and closings. Green dot is good! The website, Weather.com will provide information about rain or shine.
So, basically it takes an online community to transfer a cutting edge CEO around the globe.
It cannot be done by Assistant, alone.
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Wow, I’m out of breath just reading that!
In the olden days, there were tricks of the trade to help out with the oh-nos of travelling.
1) Keep two watches: one on local time one on home time (especially important if you have to call in to the office back home and actually want to talk to a human)
2) Map collecting: whenever you go anywhere, pick up maps, even if it’s just a connecting city on a flight. If you don’t need it now, you just might need it later, or a co-worker will.
3) Information sharing: Make notes on routes, hotels, restaurants, good service, bad service and keep them in a file on the city. It’s useful to refresh your memory when returning to the location, and even more useful to share with collegues so they can avoid traps and maybe even have a good meal while away.
But in the end, the big thing in the olden days was that we knew not to overschedule. Flight delays, traffic jams, unexpected sickness, bad weather, can all take their toll on even the best pre-planning.
If you can find a copy of the book (or audio book) Hit the Ground Running by Mark H. McCormack, it has some excellent ideas on coping with frantic business travel. Who knows, maybe you can find it on PaperBackSwap.com (I LOVE that site!).
I hope the Able Assistant found something in my blatherings to help.
appreciate the tips. I’ll look for the book- I like the title!
This is an awesome post. I think I am going to link some of these areas to my blog site. You are one busy person eh!!!!!!! Keep up the good work.
Bravo, Maria. That was fantastic!