Just as "be yourself!" is terrible social advice to people whose genuine selves kinda suck, "treat company money like it's your own" is a recipe for corporate disaster. A thread.
Everyone's relationship with money is different. At various points in my life, my personal travel has been "first class is the only thing I book" as well as "hahaha who can afford to fly, we're driving to California. From Maine."
When a manager says "spend company money like it's your own," what they're really saying is "spend company money like I spend my own." And it's impossible to judge as a third party just what that looks like.
Put more directly, someone who grew up with Family Money and someone who grew up never knowing when their next meal would be have radically different approaches to money.
If you're hiring junior people, it's incumbent upon you to give examples.
If you're hiring junior people, it's incumbent upon you to give examples.
Let's say you're going to re:Invent, and you don't book your hotel until a couple of weeks before. You can stay in a hotel on the strip for $800 a night, or you can stay six miles away at a Motel 6 for $150 a night.
You could argue either way. Don't make your staff do it.
You could argue either way. Don't make your staff do it.
Amazon famously only flies coach. The flight from Seattle to Australia is ~17 hours in the air, and lands at ~7AM local time.
"Customers wouldn't want us to spend money upgrading."
If you show up for a meeting looking punched awake, this customer prefers you stay home.
"Customers wouldn't want us to spend money upgrading."
If you show up for a meeting looking punched awake, this customer prefers you stay home.
Later on in your career once you've got some seniority, the play changes somewhat (but requires privilege to pull off).
If you want me to spend time away from my family working on your thing? I will eat, travel, and sleep the way I want to. Don't like it? Go yourself.
If you want me to spend time away from my family working on your thing? I will eat, travel, and sleep the way I want to. Don't like it? Go yourself.
Something I never really appreciated as an employee was how *expensive* it is to run a business. Staff cost a BOATLOAD.
The incremental expense of "traveling well" over "traveling via catapult" gets lost in the background noise.
The incremental expense of "traveling well" over "traveling via catapult" gets lost in the background noise.
What I do is tell my team to use their judgement BUT I ALSO GIVE REAL EXAMPLES.
"I took a domestic flight that was $400 one way to upgrade so I did it. The return flight's upgrade was $4400 so I didn't." ATL is a hole.
"I took a domestic flight that was $400 one way to upgrade so I did it. The return flight's upgrade was $4400 so I didn't." ATL is a hole.
That means that if someone buys a $800 upgrade that I wouldn't have? I can't really complain about it, just give guidance for next time.
If someone ignores guidance and makes you think you need a stricter policy, there's a great chance you just need to fire someone instead.
If someone ignores guidance and makes you think you need a stricter policy, there's a great chance you just need to fire someone instead.
I will now field questions from the audience and personal attacks from folks who work in Procurement.
We quote fixed fee for our projects. Our people travel on our dime / policy, not the client's.
Honestly, I think a couple of our clients were happier about that than the actual project, just because it was a fight they didn't need to wage internally.
Honestly, I think a couple of our clients were happier about that than the actual project, just because it was a fight they didn't need to wage internally.
https://twitter.com/jdanton/status/1409703221254266885
We explicitly define whether it's in or out of scope internationally. Domestically if a $5K trip makes the client happier, there's not a lot of reason not to go.
https://twitter.com/grhmc/status/1409705467270422529
Scenarios like this happen; that's life. How a company reacts says much about them.
I've had companies eat change fees when I screwed up booking a flight. It really helped my opinion of them.
I've had companies eat change fees when I screwed up booking a flight. It really helped my opinion of them.
https://twitter.com/0xmatt/status/1409706882986504198
If you're buying travel for analysts, press, or folks whose opinions really matter to you, and then cheaping out on it? Uh...
https://twitter.com/jpwarren/status/1409708516252684288
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