June 28, 2011

A Training Exercise and Tips for Ways to Reduce Wasting Time in Hotels, Restaurants, Inns and Hospitality Businesses

Lessons from the Field™

In my work with hospitality businesses, the question of how to improve things is a common question and assignment. Improvements can include: revenues, profitability, reducing turnover, safety, training, guest satisfaction, guest loyalty and time management. Over the years, I have worked with groups on each of these topics as a general manager, as a corporate executive and in workshops.

By John Hogan, CHA CHMS CHE CHO

There is never enough time to do everything, but there is always enough time to do the most important thing. Brian Tracy

In my work with hospitality businesses, the question of how to improve things is a common question and assignment. Improvements can include:

revenues
profitability
reducing turnover
safety
training
guest satisfaction
guest loyalty and
time management

Over the years, I have worked with groups on each of these topics as a general manager, as a corporate executive and in workshops. As an educator, I have addressed many of them in classes. Readers and members will find many of these topic areas covered in www.HospitalityEducators.com. As a consultant and a speaker though, the topic of how to better utilize time effectively is one that has a universal need to consider and address.

A Training Exercise to Reduce Wasting Time

The following can be done at a department head meeting and take no more

Set objective : to give people the opportunity to "think" actively about the many time wasters in today's hospitality business day and how they might be lessened.
Materials needed: meeting space appropriate to the size of the group, paper and writing utensils
Procedures:
- ask the group to think about time and how some days seem to work well and others seem to feel like a total waste.
- With this in mind, have each person write down their TOP TEN TIME WASTERS. Allow no more than five to eight.
- Form groups of three or four and have them compare lists to see which are common and which may not have been as top of mind as they really could be. Allow another five minutes
Compare the sub groups: Depending on the size of your groups, see if there are any surprises.
Look for immediate responses and buy in: Ask people in the total group for ideas on ways to improve the way they use time and how they might reduce time wasters.
Prepare a follow-up in two weeks: Ask for volunteers or assign a small number of people to continue the discussions in one on one or small groups. Have a collective report, recapped in a one page summary of best ideas.

If you would like to share your top 5 Time Wasters with me, I will include them next week with our collection of the top ten time wasters I have discovered with clients, in workshops or other research.

The first three submissions and what we consider to be the three most comprehensive lists will all receive a free one month membership at HospitalityEducators.com.

Please send them no later than July 1, 2011 to [email protected].

Hospitality Tip of the Week™

" Time is the coin of your life. It is the only coin you have,and only you can determine how it will be spent.Be careful lest you let other people spend it for you."Carl Sandburg

KEYS TO SUCCESS™ is the umbrella title for my 2011 programs, hospitality services and columns. This year's writings focus on a variety of topics for hotel owners, managers and professionals including both my "HOW TO" articles, HOSPITALITY CONVERSATIONS™, Lessons from the Field™, Hotel Common Sense ™ , THE P-A-R PRINCIPLE™

Human Resources