Workbook Seeks To Improve Travel Management
<H1>Workbook Seeks To Improve Travel Management</H1><H3>Judi Bredemeier</H3>A new workbook on reengineering travel, covering the basics and supplying worksheets, is available at discount pricing to members of the National Business Travel Association and the Association of Corporate Travel Executives.
The workbook, called "Reengineering Travel: Introduction to Process Mapping, Benchmarks & Best Practices," was written by consultant Bob Burke of T&E Management in Antioch, Ill.
"The underlying thesis is that the basic method of making travel arrangements is due for a change," said Burke, "and I'm trying to enlighten and encourage travel managers to explore reengineering. The whole process is in need of a hard look."
Reengineering recognizes the enormous changes in technology and the inter-departmental complexities of modern business, Burke said. "Reengineering steps back, looks at the process as a whole and seeks improvement," he said.
Burke warned that travel managers who are not familiar with the reengineering concept could get blindsided, "because in many companies the initiative is coming from other departments, like finance, outside of the travel department. Whether they want to reengineer or not, they ought to be thinking about it so they'll be prepared to respond when someone else raises the issue.
The pressure to reengineer is coming from a heightened awareness of costs, brought on by the commission caps last year, Burke said. "Companies are looking at costs and realizing that it costs about $75 in employee time to make each reservation, so they're beginning to think, 'Hey, if we're going to spend $75 or even $50 just to book each trip before we even go anywhere, there's got to be a better way.' Companies are starting to see the enormous waste in the whole process."
Burke said that neither the reservation process, which he describes as a "circus," or the expense-account process has changed much in 25 years.
"Mr. Traveler is in a hurry, spending somebody else's money and drives his request under the influence of frequent flyer benefits," he said. "He hears about the schedules over the phone from an overworked counselor reading from a possibly biased display. The counselor is laboring under the influence of both a productivity goal and a preferred vendor override goal."
Because few agencies are staffed to deal with the peak-request days of Monday and Friday, waits and callbacks creep into the process, making the process worse, he said. "Although only one trip is involved, the chances are good that the reservation will be modified, changed, canceled, voided, and partially or fully refunded before anyone goes anywhere," he said. "Reengineering seeks to look at this mess, untangle the string and develop a system that is efficient."
Burke's workbook for corporate travel managers has five sections: Travel Reengineering Basics; Process Mapping, User Interviews and Analysis; Travel Process Reengineering Worksheets; Travel Reengineering Government Study Results; and Best In Class Themes.
To order, contact Burke at T&E Management, 442 Winsor Drive, Antioch, IL 60002, or call (847) 838-2115. The regular cost is $35, and the discounted price for NBTA and ACTE members is $20.