Productivity tips from executives who travel
By Douglas Gantenbein
Staying connected with employees and customers when you're away from the office requires more than having the newest gadgets. Three executives who travel as part of their jobs share tips for using wireless devices, e-mail, instant messaging, and more.
In Summary:
| • | Executives rely on highly compact devices such as smartphones and Tablet PCs. |
| • | To circumvent time zone issues, use e-mail and instant messaging. |
| • | Downloaded podcasts can provide perspective and information while traveling in cars, trains, or airplanes. |
For today's mobile executive, staying connected with coworkers, suppliers, customers, and partners isn't a luxury—it's a necessity. It's not easy to determine the best way to stay productive when you're away from the office, given the many options today. We asked three executives to share how they use mobile devices to get the job done.
 | I've used mobile computers for years, but there's something about a Tablet PC that's different from a notebook. A Tablet is a more personal device—I just grab it on the way to a meeting the way I'd grab a piece of paper. |  | | Greg Lush
CTO
The Linc Group | |
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Mike Wallenfels, president of Mountain Hardwear, a California-based maker of high-end outdoor clothing, tents, and sleeping bags. "About 50 percent of my time is spent traveling. Our business is a lot more global now. We have offices in Geneva and marketing and sales agents across Europe. We also have offices in Chile, Japan, and South Korea, and distributors in China, Taiwan, Australia, and New Zealand.
"[Of enormous help] is my Palm Treo 650, which is connected to my Microsoft Office Outlook calendar, contact list, and e-mail through a third-party software provider [Good Mobile Messaging from Mail Street, a Microsoft Gold Partner]. I've been carrying that for two years now. It's a complete extension of my world on [Office] Outlook—even the phone is pointless, as we have a new digital phone system that sends phone messages through [Office] Outlook. If a meeting isn't set up through an invitation in [Office] Outlook, it's not certain whether that meeting will actually take place.
"I still use a notebook computer a lot because I often have sales reports or other material to read, and it's tough to read those things on the Treo. I use an IBM [now Lenovo] notebook, the X40, which is the smallest one they have. Invariably, I get e-mailed an article or a document, and on the X40 I can read it easily.
"The biggest challenge I have is working with different time zones. I just got back from a week in Russia, which had an 11-hour time difference from my office. I warn all my direct reports about the time zone I'll be in and when it's going to be easiest to reach me. Then, when I wake up, I try to address all the urgent e-mails that come in overnight. I'll do the same thing in the evening after dinner. And I use my Treo to send instant messages to people when anything is urgent.
"Connectivity is also an issue. [In places such as Moscow] it's not always clear whether you can get [wireless] access or not. Our parent company, Columbia Sportswear, subscribes to a service called iPass that, for a monthly fee, gives you access to a lot of wireless or wired connections that would otherwise require a payment per connection or session. So I look at the list of what's available through iPass and make hotel and travel arrangements where I know I can use this service."
Greg Vigil, business unit manager for Denver-based Gates Corporation, a global manufacturer of automotive belts, hoses, and hydraulics. "We have offices in Europe, which I'll visit fairly often, and I'm also in Japan, China, Singapore, and other locations in Asia a few times a year. I've probably used every portable device available in the past few years.
"Right now I'm using a Cingular BlackBerry. It's probably my favorite device in terms of size and form factor. If I'm doing a lot of traveling where I have trouble getting a high-speed Internet connection, I'll carry around a Cingular 8125 with a slide-out keyboard. That comes in handy.
"When I travel domestically I'm on e-mail constantly with a mobile device. When I have any free time, I'll use it to check e-mail, and a lot of times I'll send myself notes of tasks to handle later. Internationally, it's a bit more challenging because of roaming rates, so I'll hook up a computer in a hotel [to access e-mail].
"I use text messaging quite a bit if I'm looking for someone. I'll send a message that says, 'I'm going into a meeting but can I talk to you in an hour?'
"I used to type a lot of e-mails into a [personal digital assistant, or] PDA, but I finally realized that I was taking five times as long as [necessary] to send an e-mail. Now, for something important or a long message, I'll leave those to do on my PC at night."
Greg Lush, chief technology officer for The Linc Group, a Houston-based company that provides building maintenance services to commercial and industrial property owners nationwide. "Being connected is critical for me because I have people all across the country with whom I need to stay in contact. Right now I'm testing the Motorola I930, one of the new smartphones that uses Windows Mobile. It's handy because we have a lot of guys in the field. It's the one thing I always have with me. I'll be standing in a line someplace, maybe when I'm with my wife shopping, and I'll use it to check e-mail or make phone calls.
"I'm also using a Tablet PC from Motion Computing. I've used mobile computers for years, but there's something about a Tablet PC that's different from a notebook. A Tablet is a more personal device—I just grab it on the way to a meeting the way I'd grab a sheet of paper. I use it to take notes. I also find myself walking around with it when I'm talking to people." [Lush conducted this interview using an Internet-telephone connection in his Tablet computer.]
"I'm an avid podcast listener. We were using the beta 2007 Microsoft Office system a few months ago, and one of the features that amazed me was the ability of [Office] Outlook to manage RSS [Really Simple Syndication] feeds. Now that's mobility! Once I set up my [Office] Outlook folder, it's done—podcasts that I request come to me like regular e-mail. When I drive home I have my Tablet sitting on the seat next to me, and I can listen to podcasts right out of [Office] Outlook—Wall Street Journal tech reports and others.
"Another really great mobile tool is [Microsoft Office] OneNote [OneNote is a note-taking program that allows the user to drag pictures from the Web, add charts, link to other Microsoft Office system documents, and record audio notes]. I take meeting notes with [Office] OneNote, and at the end of the meeting I clean up the file. From [Office] OneNote I can associate the meeting with an [Office] Outlook task. I also can use [Office] OneNote when I'm listening to podcasts and hear something enlightening—I'll just enter notes right there. I can look back over the past year and a half and see everyone I talked to and everything I read and every conference I attended where I took notes.
"I read articles about how being connected all the time interferes with your life, but I don't see that. If I don't want to be connected, I turn the thing off."
Douglas Gantenbein writes often about technology for Microsoft. A journalist for more than 20 years, his work has appeared in Business 2.0, Scientific American, Popular Science, and other magazines.
