Why I like phone briefings

2007-10-26

I was asked today whether I could pop into town for a half hour briefing next week, and I said I'd prefer phone in the first instance. When asked why, I gave the following example of my London routine. I thought it would be useful to post it here for future reference:

- leave home, 07.45
- Get train, 08.08
- Arrive Paddington, 09.25 (on a good run)
- Get tube, 09.35
- Walk to destination, arrive 10.15
- Briefing finishes, 11.15
- Walk to tube, 11.30
- Tube to Paddington, arrive 11.50
- Next Train, 12.30
- arrive at station, 1.50 (on a good run)
- get home, 2.15

So that's 6 hours 30 minutes for a 1-hour briefing.

Don't get me wrong, I love meeting people face to face, and it would indeed be preferable in many cases. With phone briefings I can quite literally fit 5 times as many in (allowing for coffee breaks), which is also time well spent!