Consulting Journal: Techniques

Techniques: Overnight stays

by David Blakey

My advice on what to do each evening is based on what will happen the next day.

[Monday 27 January 2003]

Many consulting assignments require consultants to be away from home overnight. What you can do in the evenings when you are away from home in a hotel can depend upon what will happen the following day.

What happens tomorrow

The kind of evening depends on what you will do on the following day.

Arrive

If you have travelled to your client on the day before your meetings begin, then your evening is an ‘arrival’ evening. This means that your evening can best be spent in preparation for your first day. So an ‘arrival’ evening is often a ‘briefing’ evening.

You may also need to check maps and make sure that your travel arrangements are all set up. If your hotel is in a city and your client is in the same city, then you may be able to walk. You should check the weather forecast. If you need a taxi, then it is best to book one through the hotel: ask the concierge. If you have booked a hire car, check that it will be available.

Many hotels have a car hire desk. Get the person who makes your hotel bookings to check this.

You should relax during an ‘arrival’ evening. Eat in the hotel restaurant for speed and convenience or go out to a favourite or recommended restaurant if you have the time.

Continue

If you have spent the day working with your client and you will spend the next day working with them again, the evening is a good time to write up notes and prepare reports.

When you have finished those tasks, you can plan what you will do the next day.

Because of the amount of work you may have to do, you may want to use room service for your evening meal. If you have time, go to the hotel restaurant. Do not take work with you: it will distract you from the food. If you need to work through, you may as well just order sandwiches on room service.

If you have time, you might consider entertaining your client to dinner. Do not underestimate how long this will take. Consider also whether you might drink more alcohol in the company of your client than you would if you were alone. So, even if dinner is early, you may not be able to work effectively after it anyway.

Leave

If you will leave - without visiting your client - the following day, then the evening is ideal for entertaining. Do not add an additional night just to do this. If you can return home that evening, then you should.

You are unlikely to gain anything by working that evening. You do not have a need to prepare yourself for meetings, and your preparation of notes and reports can probably wait until you get home.

If your ‘leaving’ evening is after only one day of work, then you may want to write up your notes, but entertaining your client is an even better option for a short trip.

Things to avoid

There are some things that are best avoided during an overnight stay.

Experimenting with food

This is not the best time to try a cuisine that you have not tried before. It may also not be the best time to have something that you enjoy. Some people like curries; others like garlic. Avoid them on an overnight stay.

Drinking excessively

It is quite normal for people who do not live alone to feel lonely when they are away from home. There is a temptation to go to the hotel bar for company. Consider going to the hotel coffee shop, if they have one, or eating in the restaurant. Telephone your home.

Changing habits

If you smoke but you do not smoke in your bedroom at home, then do not book a smoking room. Instead, go to a lounge when you want a cigarette. If you do not smoke in your home, then leave the hotel and take a walk while you smoke.

I know someone who smokes who always books into a particular hotel because it has non-smoking executive rooms that have a terrace. He walks out onto the terrace and sits down there when he wants to smoke.

If you do not eat desserts or puddings at home, then avoid going on a ‘binge’ when you are away. The dessert trolley in the restaurant can be very tempting, but do try to stay with your usual habits.

It is not my position to tell you whether I think that particular habits are good or bad, or healthy or unhealthy. What I am saying is that you should keep to your habits as much as you can - whatever they are - when you are away from home.

Changing sleeping times

Staying up late really counts as changing habits. I mention it specifically because of the effects that it can have. Many people do not sleep well if they go to bed either too early or too late. The same applies to the time that they wake up. If you normally wake up at five o'clock, then it is better to wake up at five when you are away from home, even though you may not need to. If your work day starts at eight-thirty, and you can leave the hotel by eight o'clock to get there, you might decide to sleep in until seven o'clock. This can turn out to be a mistake rather than a treat.

Try to change your sleep patterns as little as possible.

Changing work methods

Finally, some of what I wrote above may not be useful to you if you never work out of office hours. If you do not work at all during the evening, ever, then you should consider whether you should follow my advice for what to do on the various evenings.

People have different times at which they work best. If you have found by experience that the evening is an unproductive time in your daily cycle, then it is better not to try to work in the evening when you are away from home.

Again, keep to your usual habits as much as possible.

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