by Dr.
John
Hogan, CHE CHA CMHS
June 27, 2011
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.
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 Tips 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™ and Principles for Success.
|
Feel
free to share an idea for a column at
[email protected]
anytime or contact me regarding consulting,
customized workshops, speaking engagements … And remember – we all need
a
regular dose of common sense,
John
Hogan is
a successful
hospitality executive,
educator, author and consultant and is a frequent keynote
speaker and seminar leader at many hospitality industry events. He is Co-Founder of
www.HospitalityEducators.com, which
delivers
focused and affordable counsel in solving specific
challenges facing hospitality today.
www.HospitalityEducators.com
is a membership site offering a wide range of
information, forms, best practices and ideas designed to help
individual
hoteliers and hospitality businesses improve their market penetration,
deliver
service excellence and increase their profitability. Individuals
wishing to
contribute materials may send them
[email protected].
Special
pricing is in effect for a limited time that also includes several JOIN
NOW
BONUSES, including a complimentary copy of LESSONS FROM THE FIELD- A
COMMON
SENSE APPROACH TO EFFECTIVE HOTEL SALES.