By Lorraine Duffy Merkl, New York Post – 11/06/2006 – 12:00am
TRAVELING FOR BUSINESS? DON’T FLY OFF THE DEEP END!
Join the Army if you want adventure. If you want a job that entrusts you with off-site assignments, then start to think like a professional.
“Even when you’re off the clock, you’re always representing the company,” says Victoria de Falco, co-owner of Redpoint Marketing PR.
So, now that you’re flying business class, let’s have some class shall we? Keep these things in mind when it’s time to hit the road:
1. Dress professionally. Yes, for the entire trip. “Dress at your client’s level if not a little bit better,” says de Falco. During nonworking hours, wear business casual – not a bikini top and Mardi Gras beads.
2. Plan leisure activities wisely. That means just saying no to drugs, bar hopping ’til the wee hours, ladies of the evening and anything else that could result in being detained by the police.
5. Control your hormones. Far from your routine lives and loves, you and an associate may “get too personal,” as Sue Fox, author of “Business Etiquette for Dummies,” puts it. Compromising your career and good name for some biz-trip pillow talk? Leave this kind of action for TV movies starring Jennifer Love Hewitt.
6. Watch the whiskey. “It only takes two or three drinks” for personalities to do a 180, or weak constitutions to be displayed, warns Fox. Picture your superior, colleague or perhaps even your client holding your hair back as you puke. Scared straight yet?
After a hard day, you’re happy to watch pay-per-view and call your spouse. But what if your companions want to do the town?
If the party planner is . . .
* Your subordinates
Want to prove you’re a “cool” boss? Carousing with them is not the way to do it. “There are so many dangers for the senior person,” says “Business Etiquette for Dummies” author Sue Fox. And do you
really think they’ll respect you more after they’ve seen you chug?
* Your colleagues
They may see your not wanting to socialize as judgment, so never act self-righteous or disapproving. Instead, lie. Say you’re not feeling well, or that you still need to prepare for the next day’s presentation.
* Your boss
“You can’t get out of it, unless you don’t want to be around much longer,” says psychologist Jordon Levin. But if the suggested activity makes you truly uncomfortable, “Don’t do it,” says Fox.
* Your client
No getting around this one: Put on your boogie shoes.
