Innovations

The Savvy Travel Office
Knowledge Workers at Work in FM

Kevin Wald

UW travelers are becoming increasingly savvy when it comes to making their arrangements. So it is more important than ever for the Travel Office to demonstrate their expertise and knowledge by sharing advice and recommendations about how to ensure customer needs can be met while still complying with state regulations.

Recently, New Directions spoke to Teresa Crisostomo to see how they are getting on....

“The last year was extremely challenging to the Travel Office” says Travel Office Supervisor Teresa Crisostomo. “Airline bankruptcies, constantly changing airfares, and the lingering after effects of 9/11 were just some of the issues that combined to test the resolve of each of us. And if that were not enough, the Business Travel industry itself is undergoing a technological revolution. How business people travel, how they book their travel – even how they think about travel is fundamentally changing.
In addition to these outside issues, Teresa was quick to add that “Last year was also a year of solid growth in so many areas. For example, we saw in increase in the number of expense claims being submitted rise to nearly 5500 a month (a 25% increase from the year before). But despite this increase, we maintained our goal of processing all TEV’s within 72 hours. A few years back, only 58% of expense claims were being cleared within 5 days. Now, that figure is more like 97%. And the response from our customers has been fantastic. They are delighted with our service.”

When asked how the Travel Office was able to achieve this, Teresa said she believes the answer lies with the professionalism and commitment to effective teamwork each staff member exhibited.

“It was amazing how staff all came together and made their contribution – everyone carried out the work with such dedication. I believe it’s a sign of a happy family. Everyone tried so hard to solve these problems they are proud of their work and wanted to make sure they met all the challenges head on.”

Teresa also emphasized that the hard work wasn’t just limited to dealing with the larger issue facing the Travel Office.

“Of course, we were also busy with other issues – we had to deal with a broad variety of questions and problems from all sections of the UW campuses, keeping the Travel website current, and we invested a great deal of time and effort in training, both through the formal Travel Class and visiting departments to offer specific guidance. Meeting these challenges was hard work, but we got there!”

Teresa was also quick to say the Travel Office can’t rest on its laurels.

“We still have so much to do. We are struggling to find an effective means to disseminate information to everyone on campus in a timely manner and we are also eager to hear more from our customers –what they want and need from us,” she mentioned.

Nevertheless, Teresa sees this as an exciting time.

“The success of the Travel Office is a good news story that heralds more positive changes to come in the future” She enthused. “This is what Financial Management is all about. We have the opportunity and resources to effect real change and improvement. No longer is it just more of the same way of doing things. That’s how the Travel Office is winning through!”