(Published November 9,2009)
I've been running all over the countryside giving open enrollment meetings. In the last two weeks, I've been to 15 towns or cities in six states, giving sometimes as many as eight meetings a day (counting both first and second shift meetings at the same location). I've done a lot of driving. The driving time has given me the opportunity to reflect on a few ideas that I'll remember for next year's meetings.
Check local news. I was blindsided the other day because the employees had heard a news report that the local hospital was in negotiations with the new health insurance carrier. I live 130 miles from there. I had no idea. But next year I may consider checking up on the status of local contracts before I go into a meeting.
Confirm addresses. I was handed a schedule and told, essentially, "This is where you have to be and the times you have to be there." On at least two occasions, the addresses on the schedule were incorrect. In one of the instances, it didn't make much of a difference; the building number was only off by three buildings, and I was easily able to find the actual location. But in the other case, the difference between Prospect Street and Upper Prospect Street resulted in my not being able to find the location at all, until I called them and said, "This is where I am — where are you?" I was a good two miles away. They were on Upper Prospect — my schedule said they were on Prospect. If I'd confirmed the address on their website, I'd have seen it. (And I just this minute stopped writing long enough to go to the website and confirm the addresses for tomorrow's meetings!)
Check driving times. I've known for a long time that you need to add at least 15 to 30 minutes to the times Mapquest tells you it will take (and my experiences with Mapquest are another whole blog), but even making that allowance, some of the times were just too tight to manage. Whoever made up the schedule evidently did not know that you can't trust Mapquest times and needs to allow for that kind of thing — or the detour I hit on one road that delayed me for 20 minutes and even just plain traffic. It's not too hard to build extra time into a meeting schedule.
Of course, such things are not always within your control. I had no say in the scheduling, for example. But if you do have a way to utilize these ideas, I hope you'll find them useful. They would have helped me a lot!
Catherine Bannon is an HR consultant in Marshfield, MA (catherine.bannon@gmail.com). Bannon worked for 10 years in HR management before starting her consulting practice.
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