Roughly 1,090 SmartBrief on Leadership readers answered last week’s question: Considering the current economic climate, what is your company’s position on business travel?

• We are cutting down on business travel across the board, except in situations of absolute necessity — 415 votes, 38.1% 
• We are encouraging greater use of video/tele/Web conferencing as an acceptable substitute and a way to limit travel — 285 votes, 26.2% 
• Our current levels of business travel are still essential for business development and deals — 246 votes, 22.6% 
• We are cutting back by sending fewer people on a given trip — 98 votes, 9% 
• We expect business travel to increase in the next year or two — 46 votes, 4.2% 

Let’s face it.  No surprise here.  We all know that the first things that get cut in any kind of business downturn are training and travel.  What is different than even 10 years ago, is the improvements in alternate conferencing technologies.  Even with good cash flow, often video/tele/Web conferencing makes good business sense.  Think of all the time “lost” in traveling thereby productivity.  These technologies do not have to be a poor substitute.  With proper design and delivery, they can be a very viable choice.  

For this reason, 1-Focus International has begun to offer short teleclasses that can be attended live or listened to via audio at a future date.  Roberta has been trained in teleclass delivery and has been offering teleclasses for more than six years successfully.  Our initial series is based on EFT: “Living in Your Limelight.” For more information and registration instructions click here.

By the way, we love these short takes on Leadership from SmartBrief.  

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