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Stop
Changing. Start "Doing It Differently"
at Your Hotel!
By Jim Hartigan May 26, 2011 There is a famous quotation about doing things differently that has been variously attributed to Benjamin Franklin, Albert Einstein, Mark Twain, and even as an old Chinese proverb. My research indicates, however, that its first known appearance in print is in “Sudden Death” by Rita Mae Brown and it goes like this, “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again but expecting different results." You laugh.
It happens in the hotel business too.
We do things because, “We’ve always been done
that way.” That, and change is
scary. So crippling is the fear of
change, that there is an entire domain in the management practice
dedicated to
helping individuals and organizations cope with this phobia - “Change
Management.” It’s ironic because in my
29 years as a hotel professional the only constant that I’ve found IS change. Therefore,
embracing the fear of change, I
suggest that we declare the end to “Change Management” and the birth of
“Doing
It Differently” (DID). To usher in our
new era of DID, here are 7 Requirements of DID.
The next time you need to “change things” at your hotel,
implementing
these 7 requirements will help your hotel team members “Do It
Differently”
quite naturally. Requirement 1 - Understand
the “why” and the “what” of the change and then communicate it to
others. “Because that’s the way the
boss wants us
to do it” has never been a good reason. Neither
is “because it says so in the employee handbook.” If
you are serious about getting your team to
do things differently, you have to listen to their favorite radio
station –
WII-FM – “What’s In It For Me”! (Incidentally,
this station also was playing on great-grandma’s victrola when she
first hacked
that bird in half!) Clearly and openly
articulating why things are going to be different as well as what
exactly is
going to be different (and more importantly – what is staying the same)
is a critical
step to gaining team buy-in to doing things differently. Requirement 2 - Be
candid about the magnitude of the change and put it in the proper
perspective.
The first key word here is
“candid.” You notice the requirement
does NOT say to be “honest” about the magnitude of the change. It might sound like semantics, but the
difference is this: candid is honest AND comprehensive.
Honesty alone isn’t enough. The
second key is this concept of
perspective. Even in the most wide
sweeping organizational change - proper perspective can reduce the
barriers to
doing things differently. Identifying
what will stay the same comes in handy here too! Requirement 3 - Identify
individual’s fears and concerns and work through them.
As has already been said – change is
scary. Fear in the workplace is a funny
thing. It can occur at the individual level, or it could spread
throughout the
entire team. At the micro level, what
scares one team member about changes in the work place may be a
non-issue for
another. However, fear can also spread
quickly throughout the office via rumors, suppositions, and overly dry
poultry.
Helping team members identify their
individual fears and concerns is an important role for a leader during
times of
DID. Requirement 4 - Give
people an opportunity to grieve the loss of their dear friend:
familiarity. As Shakespeare said, “He
that lacks time
to mourn, lacks time to mend.” As humans, we are drawn to consistency and
familiarity. It provides comfort and
security. There’s a story of a Fortune
100 company that just laid-off over 400 people.
One enterprising leader decided to display a coffin in the
work area and
offer an opportunity for co-workers to place mementos of “the old days”
in the
coffin, in a time-capsule way, which was then buried outside the
offices. The entire team was not only
permitted, but
also encouraged to participate. In
today’s sometimes backward world, you have to wonder how a visionary
leader
like that wasn’t one of those laid off. The
team was lucky they weren’t. Requirement 5 - Don’t
just poke at it ... make the change! We’ve
all heard “rip the band-aid off quickly.”
In this sense, be skeptical of
“multiple phases” and protracted timelines.
Change is hard. Change is
scary. Why keep cutting the bird in half
– put the entire bird in the oven and see what happens!
When you want to DID – remember the Chinese
proverb made famous by Evel Knievel, “It doesn’t work to leap a
twenty-foot
chasm in two ten-foot jumps.” Requirement 6 - Stay
focused on what’s most important right now.
You have a business to keep running.
Customers to serve, products to produce and/or deliver,
invoices to send
(hopefully) and all the other trappings of keeping a successful
operation….well,
operating. No one can predict the
future, but at this precise moment – I’m in Memphis, so I take Elvis
Presley’s
lead and TCB, Baby…“Take Care of Business.”
Don’t let change get in the way of taking care of the
guest! Requirement 7 - Celebrate
the transition once the change has been accomplished. Sure,
you may not feel like celebrating,
but recognizing and rewarding behaviors is proven to increase the
likelihood of
the behaviors being repeated. You’re
doing things differently, but what stays the same is life goes on and
your
business continues to exist - and hopefully thrive.
While you may not be flush with cash after a
major organizational change, celebrations are always popular among the
team so
don’t miss the opportunity to do so. Celebrate
the small stuff - like a moist turkey…or just having gravy. At the end of
the day, stay flexible, things change. The
next time there is a need to change "It" - Don’t. Just
Do It Differently. Whether it was
Einstein, Franklin, Twain or
Brown, practicing the 7 Steps to Doing It Differently (DID) won’t drive
you - or
your hotel team - insane. Until next
time remember take care of the customer, take care of each other, and
take care
of yourself! About the Author: Jim Hartigan, Chief Business Development Officer and Partner joined OrgWide Services, a Training/e-Learning, Communications, Surveys and Consulting firm in April 2010 after nearly 30 years experience in the hospitality industry, including the last 18 as a senior executive with Hilton Worldwide. Jim’s last position was that of Senior Vice President – Global Brand Services where he provided strategic leadership and business development and support to the $22B enterprise of 10 brands and more than 3,400 hotels in 80 countries around the world. His team was responsible for ensuring excellence in system product quality, customer satisfaction, market research, brand management, media planning, and sustainability. |
Contact: Jim Hartigan Chief Business Development Officer & Partner OrgWide Services 165 N. Main Street, Suite 202 Collierville, TN 38017 office: 901.850.8190 Ext. 230 mobile: 901.628.6586 [email protected] www.orgwide.com |